Login
Stay Connected with ImpactAlpha

Get ImpactAlpha Open, our free weekly newsletter.

Submit
By signing up you agree to receive marketing emails from ImpactAlpha Inc. and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Blockchain/AI/IoT | Paul Fehlinger and Johannes Lenhard
Why VC investors need a 1.5°C goal for responsible tech

Like the 1.5°C goal for climate, responsible tech needs a clear North Star to guide investments and innovations. To build an ecosystem of …

responsible tech
Climate Finance | Lynnley Browning
Global banks back $706 billion in fossil fuels amid broader retreat on climate pledges
Place-Based Investing | Roodgally Senatus
With collaborations and catalytic capital, place-based pioneers look to expand their impact
Creative Economy | Laura Callanan
The talk outpaces the walk: Three tough truths about impact investing
creative economy
Return on Inclusion | Dennis Price
McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen: Philanthropy has the right and responsibility to counter attacks on DEI (Q&A)
Tonya Allen DEI

Dealflow

Latest impact investments across asset classes and geographies

The Brief

Read by thousands of impact pros daily

rice field in Asia
May 13, 2024 | ImpactAlpha
The Brief: Defining a North Star for responsible tech

Greetings Agents of Impact! 🔌 On this week’s Plugged In: Better, cheaper and faster climate impact. Climate volatility is here. Stonly Blue of …

Today’s brief

Featured: LP / GP

Why VC investors need a 1.5 degree Celsius goal for responsible tech. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics and other disruptive technologies are transforming labor productivity, human-machine and human-nature relations, and the social fabric. To deliver long-term value for themselves and society, tech innovators and investors need a North Star akin to the globally agreed goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, argue Paul Fehlinger of Project Liberty Institute and Johannes Lenhard of Venture ESG. “Venture capitalists and limited partners need to align on processes, incentives and alternative investment models that go beyond the high-risk ‘move fast and break things’ mentality of the 2010s,” the authors write in a guest post in ImpactAlpha. The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold for global warming is the result of four decades of research by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This North Star metric serves as a guide that uses science-based targets, incentives for climate-positive innovation, and penalties for negative externalities.

Dealflow: Agrifood Investing

Rize scores $14 million to reduce emissions and boost livelihoods for rice farmers. Rice is a staple crop for more than half of the global population. Demand is projected to double by 2050. But traditional rice cultivation practices, such as flooding fields, consume large amounts of water and release methane gasses. “Mitigating the environmental impact of rice cultivation is essential in the fight against climate change,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Breakthrough, along with Wavemaker Impact, Temasek and Temasek’s GenZero, launched Rize last year to reduce the environmental footprint of rice cultivation. The Singapore-based startup helps small rice farmers implement sustainable farming practices, while lowering costs and increasing crop yields. “We are not just aiming to cut down 100 million tons of carbon emissions, we are also enhancing the economic stability of farmers, ensuring that improved farmer livelihoods and reduced emissions go hand-in-hand,” said Rize’s CEO Dhruv Sawhney. 

Signals: Climate Finance

With more than $700 billion for fossil fuels, global banks retreat on climate pledges. “Energy pragmatism” is the new euphemism for continued investment in fossil fuels. Emboldened by high oil prices, producers are orchestrating megamergers and doubling down on oil and gas. Their enablers: global bankers. The world’s largest banks provided some $706 billion in financing for oil, gas and coal last year, even as the planet experienced its warmest 12 months since record-keeping began in 1850. JPMorgan Chase boosted its fossil fuel financing by $2 billion, to just under $41 billion for the year, making it once again the largest fossil fuel funder, according to a new report, “Banking on Climate Chaos.” “Major banks have squandered yet another year to take decisive and ambitious action on climate,” says Sierra Club’s Adele Shraiman, an author of the report released today. 

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Don’t miss these upcoming ImpactAlpha partner events:

Subscribe to ImpactAlpha

Find the alpha in impact.

  • What comes with a subscription?
    • The Brief: Award-winning daily newsletter
    • Full Access: Unlimited, ad-free articles on ImpactAlpha.com
    • Community: Exclusive Slack channels, calls and events
    • Career Hub: Job board and career-building resources
    • Data and tools: Open funds database, climate deal mapping, and more.
Start Here

Previous Briefs

Must-reads on ImpactAlpha

Blockchain/AI/IoT | Paul Fehlinger and Johannes Lenhard

Why VC investors need a 1.5°C goal for responsible tech
Agrifood Tech | Roodgally Senatus

Rize scores $14 million to reduce emissions and boost livelihoods for rice farmers
circulareconomy | Roodgally Senatus

Mycocycle snags $2.2 million to recycle waste into fungi-based materials
Climate Finance | Lynnley Browning

Global banks back $706 billion in fossil fuels amid broader retreat on climate pledges

Impact Voices

Provocative opinions and insightful analysis from the community

Deploy!

Following the sustainable and renewable energy transition to every community.

Ownership Economy

Strategies for navigating the ownership economy, wealth-creation and shared prosperity.

Career Hub

Build your impact career on ImpactAlpha

Careers | Aunnie Patton Power and Ashley Lewis
10 tips to speed your transition to an impact finance career

There is no denying that impact finance is one of the most sought after spaces in finance right now, but what does it …

Careers | Lauren Cochran
How to get a job in impact investing

NEW Job Board

    • Full Time

    Social Impact Associate

    • Full Time

    Investment Analyst

    • Full Time

    Sales Development Representative

Load more listings
Search the Job Board

More Stories