For most companies, sustainability initiatives center around measuring emissions that result from the production of a product or service and its accompanying energy needs - otherwise known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions - and setting goals to reduce the organization’s overall operational footprint. Sustainability tends to grow out of a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, or motivated by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, and is often overseen and implemented by conventional sustainability experts and teams, of which there are many.
But there is a marked difference between the needs of a company seeking solutions to decarbonize, and those of climate technology startups (climate techs), or companies that possess solutions fueling the green transition. Climate, sustainability, and circularity form climate techs’ pathway to monetization, unlike companies for whom sustainability is a side note.
Imagine a conventional plastics manufacturing company that has committed to lowering its emissions and implementing more circular solutions into its feedstocks in recent years. An internal sustainability department, or outside consultants, probably set goals and designed a plan for the company to achieve them. Their efforts likely focus on identifying areas of improvement within their value chain and implementing changes (so long as they do not unreasonably impact the company’s bottomline, generally). Now imagine an innovative startup with a plastic solution that uses less virgin materials and has a lower embedded carbon footprint than conventional plastics. The climate tech seeks a partnership with the manufacturer, but securing even a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) depends only in part on the novel material’s technical specifications and price point. Success also hinges on the startup’s ability to effectively communicate how the climate tech's solution addresses the client's needs, requiring a deliberate positioning of sustainability in communications and sales strategy.
The plastics climate tech will be most successful if it can justify how diversifying the partner’s portfolio of thermoplastics advances their sustainability goals, while simultaneously presenting an opportunity to lower adoption risks and expand the company’s competitive advantage. To do this, climate techs must possess a rare expertise grounded in comprehensive, yet highly integrated knowledge of sustainability, regulation, and corporate psychology.
Climate techs seeking support from sustainability experts generally have two options: develop an in-house sustainability business function, or work with outside consultants. Climate Tech Propel embodies the best of both by developing dependable, long-term relationships without straining a startup’s growth strategy with extra hires. We act as your quasi in-house sustainability department. Climate techs should specialize in their core competency – developing scalable technologies – and Climate Tech Propel will support them with our core competency – applied sustainability.
We firmly believe that solutions can close the greenhouse gas emissions gap, and are passionate about providing comprehensive sustainability services for impactful companies in various stages of development. From companies in the seed stage to those securing $100s of million in funding, our services leverage a unique skill set in business, finance, and public policy to integrate sustainability into the very fabric of a climate tech’s PR, marketing, sales, and fundraising efforts.
To us, clients are partners, not projects. We translate each client’s goals into competitive strategies for communications, outreach, sales, and funding that are differentiated by sustainability. Climate Tech Propel is equipped to address varying needs, from environmental economic modeling and due diligence, to writing press releases and running social media, we do it all to propel climate techs toward continued growth and success.