It’s a familiar refrain: future technology will one day solve the climate crisis. Common as the belief might be, this yearning for the inventions of tomorrow runs the risk of blinding us to the opportunities of today. Instead of placing our faith wholeheartedly in vague visions of the future, GlobalFOCUS places ours in the very real solutions of the present. Current technology exists that has already shown promise to transform the climate crisis for the better. Instead of relying on a hypothetical solution to global warming, we advocate for using the existing technology to begin combating the problem immediately. If we manage to strengthen current innovations and advances in technology, not only will the climate gains be enormous, but vast new economic markets will arise as well.

Launched in 2008, 12 Climate Entrepreneurs is GlobalFOCUS’ main vehicle for supporting green innovators and a project that has taken the above reality to heart. Our focus is on highlighting climate entrepreneurs in Scandinavia – and in other regions later – that are developing and selling revolutionary solutions that have the potential to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions on a global scale. Another important criteria to be considered as “One of the Twelve” is that the solutions must be fitted for massive markets like China and India.

In our first phase of the project, we set up a jury consisting of eminent experts from Europe and Asia and, through international media, to put out the word about the competition. After receiving a broad range of candidates, the jury selected the 12 best examples with the best ideas for how to move towards climate neutrality. After profiling the winners, we also engaged them in extensive interviews where we asked them to identify the main barriers to their success and growth. These findings, along with the profiles and our analysis, were then condensed into a major research report, published in Chinese, English and Swedish.

Perhaps the most influential GF project to date, the report generated enormous interest from the media, investors, policy makers and the public alike. Half a year after its release, the Swedish government presented the budget proposal for 2009. For the first time, 80 million € was set aside for “Climate Innovation,” a decision some have linked to our report. Jakob Rutqvist, the GlobalFOCUS project manager in charge of the project, was nominated at the 2009 Globe Awards for Environmental Excellence in New York for his work. To date, more than 30 international media outlets have covered the project and we have held presentations at institutions such as the European Parliament, United Nations, Energitinget, Vinnova and Nutek about our findings.

In 2010, we’re returning to the 12 Climate Entrepreneurs project, via several new initiatives. An extension of the 12CE Report, this initiative studies what has changed for the cleantech sector since its release. One of the main conclusions of the first part of the 12CE project was that inadequacies in the supply of early stage financing constitute one of the main hurdles for growth in the cleantech industry. In this follow-up project, progressive players in the venture capital industry, as well as a number of cleantech companies and progressive policymakers, will be involved in crafting actionable plans to mitigate the problem.

Download the final report here

Project Leader: Jakob Rutqvist, contact info: "jakob [at] globalfocus.net"