BlackRock CEO Says Next Billion-Dollar Startups Will Be In Climate Tech

At the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Saudi Arabia on Monday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he believes the next 1,000 billion-dollar start-up companies will be climate tech companies, CNBC noted.

Fink highlighted the importance of keeping the planet safe, calling climate change a “business opportunity.” Fink said getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 will require a “revolution in the production of everything we produce and consume.”

“Investments in low carbon projects in emerging markets will need to be more than a trillion dollars a year — more than six times the current rate of investments of about $150 billion a year,” Fink said.

PitchBook data pointed out that venture capitalists would complete $7.7 billion worth of clean-tech deals in 2021. The figure is a sharp uptick from past investments. Between 1996 and 2005, there was $300 million in clean-tech investments. In 2001, there was $4.3 billion invested in clean tech.

The public sector is expected to play a stronger role, as well. In September, the Biden administration showed how the U.S. could move toward producing almost half of its electricity from solar power by 2050.