The State will be urged to invest in the “hidden eco-system” of Irish firms developing hi-tech solutions to the climate crisis when Finance Minister Michael McGrath visits a sustainability and trade summit this week.

On Friday (May 26), Mr McGrath is attending the ‘Investing in Innovation for a Sustainable World’ conference – a two-day event hosted by Ireland’s only Asia think tank, Asia Matters, in partnership with Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Munster Technological University (MTU).

And shortly after his keynote interview with Asia Matters’ chair, and former Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes, at MTU’s Cork city campus, an industry expert will tell business leaders that hundreds of climate tech companies based in Ireland are slipping through the state-support net.

David McGee, the Environmental, Social and Governance Lead with PwC, will say the firms are using the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and energy technologies to create innovative solutions to the climate crisis.

But because climate tech businesses are spread across a number of sectors, including energy, food and construction, their ground-breaking work is not getting the backing from government agencies it deserves.

Speaking ahead of the conference, Mr McGee said he expected to find only a couple of dozen of climate tech businesses across the island of Ireland when he began compiling his PwC paper, ‘The Irish Climate Tech Opportunity 2023’.

“But we found almost 250 in the Republic alone,” he said.

“We really need to think about climate tech as a sector in its own right, even if it cuts across several industries, such as food and energy, because this will encourage agencies like Enterprise Ireland and the IDA to actually look at these companies and say ‘what support can we give?’.”

Mr McGee also said climate tech firms were leading the way in providing innovative solutions to reducing emissions, while government-led regulations were “only getting us there slowly.”

“Our report found that more investment the Irish climate tech sector was required,” he added.

“This includes nurturing opportunities in offshore renewable energy and the decarbonisation of heat as well as transition technologies, such as carbon capture.”

He is now calling on the Government to introduce a public/private partnership model similar to Denmark’s not-for-profit State of Green project, which provides organisations seeking to reduce their emissions with access to more than 600 Danish firms providing low-carbon solutions.

“The Danish State of Green initiative is a perfect example of what can be achieved,” he said.

“There is a climate tech ecosystem out there in Ireland, but it is hidden.

“It needs support and joined-up thinking because there is a huge opportunity there for investors.”

The Asia Matters’ summit begins at midday on May 25 at the Carberry Group’s headquarters in Ballineen, West Cork, where a visit to Carberry’s award-winning, climate-neutral farm – Farm Zero C, in Bandon – is planned.

To register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/asia-matters-summit-cork-investing-in-innovation-for-a-sustainable-world-tickets-629231206477

See more stories here.


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