When consumer goods companies, financial institutions, cities and more rolled out bold promises to curtail carbon emissions a few years ago, one sector was conspicuously silent: venture capital.
Now, though, they’re showing up to the net-zero party — having spent the past two years thinking about it. A group of 23 firms announced on Tuesday the Venture Climate Alliance, an initiative to encourage early-stage investors to stop greenhouse-gas pollution and help the companies they fund do the same. Member firms pledge to cut or net-zero out their own greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 or earlier, a timeframe that is crucial to limiting global warming to 1.5C. Their portfolio companies should aim to be net zero by 2050. The VCA includes general investors, such as Union Square Ventures, Tiger Global and DCVC, and firms dedicated exclusively to climate tech, including Clean Energy Ventures and Galvanize Climate Solutions.
