Investments in Chinese climate-tech firms expected to grow ‘significantly’ amid pivot to low-carbon economy: Deloitte

Investments into Chinese climate technology companies is expected to grow “significantly” as the world’s largest greenhouse-gas emitter pivots towards a low-carbon economy to drive the next phase of growth, according to consultancy Deloitte.

Funding received by climate-tech companies in China accounted for 32.5 per cent of the global total as of the end of July, having more than doubled from 15.1 per cent in 2020, according to data provided by Deloitte’s climate-tech-focused unit GreenSpace Tech and market data provider Pitchbook.

China’s percentage of this investment is expected to grow in the future, Mohit Grover, Deloitte China Hong Kong climate and sustainability leader, said.

“It’s very clear that China has a large economic transformation happening that is pivoting towards a low-carbon economy,” Grover said in an interview. “There is a lot of interest from financial institutions and various organisations having the need to invest in future climate technologies. We absolutely expect this to grow significantly.”

From 2000 to 2022, around 2,400 climate tech companies were founded, 9,000 funding deals were made, and US$148 billion was invested in these firms, according to a Deloitte report released in November.