Human-induced climate change is recognized as the single greatest existential threat to humanity. On April 19 the TAO + Climate Curious CleanTech Symposium brought together panelists from local, national and, international companies, state government officials and ecosystem accelerator groups, all of whom recognize the threat climate change poses to Oregon and the rest of the world.
This event was in partnership with the Israel Consulate to the Pacific Northwest and included speakers like Omer Fein, chief economic adviser to the Israel Economic & Trade Mission. Fein spoke about the importance of climate tech innovation to other companies around the world, and he expressed an interest in fostering stronger ties between Oregon’s and Israel’s cleantech innovators and investors.
What did speakers and panelists with experience working for brands such as Lululemon, Synapse Product Development, Amazon and Nike share?
While many companies already have climate goals in place, the challenge of realizing and scaling such improvements is where technology proves invaluable. Current and former employees spoke about what their companies are doing to integrate sustainability and climate change initiatives within larger organizations– but also some of the challenges of communicating and measuring results.
“In the last five years, we’ve seen a real maturing of the climate tech and sustainability space,” said Cyrus Wadia, former director of product sustainability at Amazon. “Before, companies could say whatever they wanted to about their brand, however, those days are over. There’s now a very high bar over what green claims an organization can make to consumers.”
Corporate accountability and supply chain transparency are now top priorities for many Oregon businesses, and not just because it’s popular. State and federal regulators increasingly look to invoke legislation to combat climate change. Last year, the SEC proposed legislation that would require certain climate-related disclosures to be included in registration statements and periodic reports.
However, attendees agreed that too much regulation can negatively impact a business’s ability to operate efficiently. Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read discussed the local government’s role in accelerating clean tech development here in Oregon.
“Oregon has historically been a leader and first mover in embracing clean technology solutions, with public-private partnerships like the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute driving local innovation,” said Read. “While new technological ventures inherently introduce risks, the goal of the government is to take on the risk before handing it off to the private sector.”
Speakers from Alder & Co, VertueLab, OpConnect, Community Energy Labs and ESS, also participated in the half-day symposium, highlighting tangible ways Oregon businesses are tackling climate change through technology. From applying a software layer on top of HVAC systems in public schools to cut emissions, to installing vehicle charging stations at multi-family properties without any changes to the grid, Oregon businesses are rolling out cleantech to reduce human impact on the environment.
Despite the progress though, one consistent challenge reverberated across all sessions: a labor shortage in the trades. While clean technology solutions continue to be developed, widespread adoption will depend upon a robust pipeline of trade workers capable of building the infrastructure behind the scenes.
This is part of a regular guest column written by the Technology Association of Oregon in collaboration with Mission North If you are interested in submitting a guest post please email Malia Spencer at mspencer@bizjournals.com.
