• Sixty-six percent of organisations say climate technology is now essential or soon will be.
• Data barriers block adoption, with 72% reporting fragmented or inconsistent information.
• Government policy and incentives remain decisive, cited by 77% as a primary driver of investment.

A shifting centre of gravity for climate tech

A new climate technology report suggests the conversation has moved far beyond pilot projects or early signals of interest. For most organizations, climate tech is becoming part of the operational core rather than a peripheral experiment. Two-thirds of respondents, or 66%, say the technology is essential today or will be in the near term, a shift that places climate tools alongside mainstream digital and operational investments.

Momentum is building, but not at an even pace. Twenty-one percent of organisations have already begun investing through existing budgets, and another 21% expect to do so within two to three years. Yet capability and readiness vary widely, creating a gap between ambition and execution.

The report frames climate technology not as a distant hope but as a “present-day imperative,” pointing to its growing role in decarbonisation strategies, operational planning and compliance frameworks.

Where investment is accelerating

Climate tech spending is still in its formative stage. Only 15% of organisations currently invest with a well-defined financial or strategic rationale attached to each deployment. Instead, 42% fall into what the report calls the “cautious investment” category—testing incremental applications without locking in long-term strategies. Another 21% invest for non-financial returns such as brand value, ESG performance or stakeholder expectations.

Energy efficiency remains the entry point for most companies, followed by carbon compliance tools and traceable, lower-emission supply chain systems. Emerging priorities include green finance capabilities, carbon offsetting infrastructure and climate risk analytics—fields increasingly tied to investor disclosure, creditworthiness and regulatory supervision.

The research positions accountants and finance teams as central actors in this transition. With organizations seeking clearer ROI metrics, risk analysis and investment governance, the report argues they are uniquely placed to “bridge the gap between aspiration and action.”

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The data challenge holding progress back

Despite rising interest, the report presents a stark assessment: most organisations do not yet have the data foundation needed to embed climate technology at scale.

Seventy-two percent cite fragmented or inconsistent data as the primary constraint. Several organisations describe internal information flows that are mismatched across business units, supply chains or digital platforms. Weak governance, limited internal literacy and poor integration among existing systems contribute to the bottleneck.

Even when data is collected, capabilities remain thin. Twenty percent of organisations say they cannot interpret outputs from climate tools, while 15% cannot measure returns on investment. That gap has implications for financing, disclosure readiness and regulatory compliance, especially as global standards such as ISSB and evolving assurance requirements raise expectations for high-quality emissions and risk data.

Policy as the accelerator

Public policy remains the single most influential external factor. Seventy-seven percent of respondents cite government support—through tax incentives, regulatory clarity, funding programmes or skills development—as essential to scaling climate technology. The report suggests that high-performing markets tend to combine long-term policy certainty with incentives that de-risk early investment.

In this landscape, climate technology becomes a cross-government and cross-industry coordination challenge. Organisations note that while voluntary frameworks have helped build early awareness, mandatory standards are now shaping investment decisions, technology adoption and board-level oversight.

What executives should take from the findings

For leadership teams, the research points to a shift in what defines competitive preparedness. The organisations moving fastest are those that have aligned data governance, finance functions and operational systems around climate objectives, rather than treating climate tech as an isolated procurement exercise.

The report highlights this convergence: operational efficiency, financial materiality and climate impact are increasingly tied to the same technology stack. That has implications for audit committees, disclosure teams, sustainability officers and CIOs. It also reinforces the need for clearer integration between climate commitments, systems architecture and capital allocation.

A practical roadmap for scaling adoption

To support this transition, the report introduces the Climate Tech Readiness Toolkit. It offers diagnostic questions, system-integration tests and investment-mapping tools to help organisations evaluate data quality, identify capability gaps and quantify value creation. Designed for finance teams and senior decision-makers, the toolkit is intended to translate climate ambition into operational and financial metrics that executives can act on.

A global inflection point

The findings capture a sector moving from aspiration toward structural transformation, but not yet at full readiness. Climate technology is reshaping investment flows, supply chains and compliance architecture, yet the data challenge remains the sector’s defining obstacle.

As governments expand incentives and regulation tightens, the organisations that integrate climate tech into core governance and financial planning will be best positioned to meet accelerating transition expectations. The report’s message is clear: climate technology is no longer optional. The readiness gap, not the ambition gap, will determine who moves ahead.

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