HSBC and Google Cloud to expand the Climate Tech Ecosystem

As part of this collaboration, HSBC will be partnering with companies enrolled in Google Cloud's GCR-Sustainability program, aimed at fostering solutions that promote carbon emission reduction, enhance sustainability in value chains, and facilitate ESG data processing to identify climate risks.

Through this partnership, Google Cloud will introduce GCR-Sustainability companies to HSBC's specialized climate tech finance team, offering venture debt financing options. Key objectives of the partnership include expanding the GCR-Sustainability program's partner network and facilitating financing opportunities for companies within the ecosystem, in line with HSBC's commitment to deploying USD 1 billion of climate tech finance.

Representatives of HSBC emphasized the importance of partnerships and innovative financing solutions in scaling up technologies crucial for global decarbonization. She highlighted the role of combining financing support, cloud technologies, and connectivity to accelerate the growth of climate tech vendors.

In a recent announcement, HSBC and Google Cloud have joined forces to support climate mitigation and resilience efforts.

Google Cloud echoed the sentiment, stressing the need for a global ecosystem of technology providers to address climate challenges. He emphasized the importance of supporting firms driving climate action, especially those in the Google Cloud Ready - Sustainability ecosystem.

The partnership kicked off with a venture debt financing package from HSBC to LevelTen Energy, a GCR-Sustainability-validated company specializing in renewable transaction infrastructure for the clean energy economy. Ross Trenary, Chief Financial Officer of LevelTen Energy, expressed excitement about the collaboration and how the venture debt package will facilitate the scaling of their platform.

This partnership builds upon HSBC's existing initiatives in climate finance, including the launch of a credit risk advisory tool on Google Cloud and the announcement of its ambition to deploy USD 1 billion in financing to early-stage climate tech companies. Additionally, it aligns with the launch of HSBC Innovation Banking, aimed at supporting innovation businesses and their investors.

All aboard the climate salvation train

It appears that big companies are starting to embrace the climate change mentality more and more. Mastercard has also entered a memorandum of understanding with CarbonSifr, a climate tech company based in the UAE, with the goal of advancing climate action in the MENA region.

This partnership aims to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region with initiatives related to climate awareness and measuring their carbon footprint. Additionally, it will support various stakeholders in integrating climate action into their payment processes using local data.

One of the primary objectives of this collaboration is to address the challenge faced by businesses in measuring their carbon footprint, particularly as more than 70% of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions originate from their supply chain. By joining forces, Mastercard and CarbonSifr seek to provide small businesses in the MENA region with the necessary tools to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon footprint.