How to Make an Impact: Secrets to Climate Startup Success

Hear from Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Innovation at the Grantham Institute of Climate Change and the Environment, as we dive into the climate startup ecosystem.

Innovation can provide powerful responses to environmental risks, from AI tools predicting the spread of wildfires in real time, to seaweed-based packaging replacing plastic at mass scale. But in fact, innovation means more than just inventing new technologies – it also means changing the ways we do business today, and helping connect these solutions with the people who can best make use of them. That’s why in today’s episode, we’re diving into the climate innovation ecosystem. We explore:

• The challenges and opportunities for early-stage climate startups, from scaling to securing investment;
• How business model innovation is just as crucial as new technology in creating real-world impact; and
• What risk professionals can do to engage with, and support, climate innovators.

To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr

For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate

If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com

Links from today’s discussion:

• Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/
• Undaunted: https://undaunted-hq.org/
• Notpla - Sustainable Packaging Made from Seaweed: https://www.notpla.com/

 

Speaker’s Bio

Alyssa Gilbert, Director of Innovation, Grantham Institute of Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London

Alyssa leads a team focused on developing research, innovations, and talent to address environmental challenges. Alyssa played a key role in setting up the COP26 Universities Network to tackle climate change. Previously, she worked in policy design and evaluation services at Ecofys, covering areas like emissions trading, carbon pricing, and climate finance. Alyssa has extensive experience working on environmental and climate change issues in various countries and has a background in journalism and research.