"The Money Is Here": Using Patents To Secure Cleantech Investment

The UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, wrapped up last month after a two-week programme in Glasgow. With the aim of bringing parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP26 resulted in government commitments to curb methane emissions, reverse forest loss, get rid of the internal combustion engine, accelerate the phase-out of coal, and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. World leaders left the conference with laundry lists of targets and policy initiatives, but where did the conference leave the cleantech sector?

Investment into cleantech was one of the many initiatives at the forefront of COP26. The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) was launched during the conference to accelerate investments into green energy transitions and renewable power solutions, which included a $10 billion USD backing¹. However, according to the International Energy Agency's