As we enter the ultimate few months of 2025, a yr that has confirmed unstable for geopolitics, local weather tech is going through a brand new world. One that’s outlined by these quickly shifting geopolitics, extra cautious buyers and an growing deal with opportunistically rebranding local weather to resilience. 

“Resilience” – as local weather tech – is a buzzword that doesn’t imply a lot. It may possibly embody making provide chains extra resilient and impartial, but it surely can be a euphemism for defence. 

As a founder, it’s essential to comply with your north star and never be led by distractions. Rebranding to resilience is a seemingly straightforward approach to faucet into new cash swimming pools, but it surely doesn’t remedy the issue of really growing expertise that clients wish to purchase.

What’s resilience tech?

This previous yr has seen an enormous shift in attitudes in the direction of local weather tech, reflecting altering political realities. Whereas local weather tech has all the time been about innovation, what the market more and more calls for are options grounded in buyer worth. Tangible outcomes, clear unit economics, not simply daring concepts.

After which there’s the phrase local weather itself. What as soon as was a unifying name for motion now typically reads as a political stance. Working in local weather has turn out to be political. With extra governments leaning into conservative agendas, local weather tech is now not only a class – some understand it as an announcement. That makes messaging difficult, particularly for firms that wish to scale internationally or safe public funding.

Add to that the geopolitical shifts of the previous couple of years – Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, rising protectionism, fractured provide chains – and we see a brand new theme rising: resilience. Governments and industries alike are hungry for options that help power independence and provide chain safety. And so, the framing shifts from saving the planet to safeguarding economies. From local weather to resilience.

The alternatives and anxieties sparked by a rising resilience sector

Buyers are seeing a robust future in resilience, which is mirrored in the way in which funds are being allotted. For instance, the European Funding Fund just lately permitted €8.9 billion of latest financing for investments in safety, defence and important uncooked supplies – all sectors becoming below the resilience umbrella.

A brand new urge for food out there opens up new doorways. Firms can entice new buyer segments and scale internationally. Nevertheless it additionally raises new questions. Resilience, particularly when tied to technological sovereignty, is a lens that invitations dual-use. Some applied sciences that help electrification or decarbonisation additionally serve army functions. Battery techniques are a first-rate instance. That makes it all of the extra vital for local weather tech firms to be clear on their positioning, values and the outcomes they wish to allow.

Whereas there are some buyers who love the notion of dual-use and actively push it, others are extra hesitant.  European Funding Fund head Marjut Falkstedt has emphatically acknowledged that it’s going to not finance weapons and ammunition with its new financing, however others are but to commit. It’s a debate that’s beginning to decide up velocity now.

The place does this depart local weather tech?

Amongst all of the debates and uncertainty surrounding resilience, one fact stays clear: the transition to net-zero is not only mandatory – it’s inevitable. 

Funding for European local weather tech formally fell by 71% within the first half of this yr in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, from €21.7bn to €6.2bn. However in actuality, the drop hasn’t been fairly as dramatic because the numbers recommend. Slightly, local weather investing has fractured as options that have been beforehand branded as local weather tech are being reclassified as AI or defence, two areas which have loved an enormous enhance in funding just lately. Investments in European AI firms have already grown by 61% in 2025 thus far, and funding into European defence elevated by practically 30% over the identical time interval. 

So, whereas there’s no denying that local weather tech shouldn’t be in its heyday, it’s vital to know that the scenario shouldn’t be as clear-cut because it appears at first look. That is additionally solely the present scenario, and never consultant of long-term expectations. Whereas geopolitics continually shifts, influencing funding in defence on a short-term foundation, local weather tech stays as very important as ever – that’s not going to alter.

Taking a stance

The emergence of resilience tech throws up new, typically uncomfortable and ethically difficult questions for firms within the local weather tech area. Navigating the brand new actuality of our sector requires all concerned – whether or not that be founders, buyers or companions – to take a stance and know the place their pink line falls.

It’s one thing that’s very near me. Because the starting, I based my firm to work within the local weather tech area, and our articles of affiliation clearly state that we will solely function on this space. That’s why we now have determined to work solely with firms whose core mission is to sort out the local weather disaster.

We gained’t inform tales for applied sciences that may very well be turned in the direction of surveillance, weapons or oppressive techniques. If different purposes of their expertise are incidental, comparable to various proteins for meals resilience, we will settle for that. We all know the world is usually extra sophisticated than a easy sure or no. Actuality is extra nuanced. Resilience can imply many issues. If it’s a local weather expertise now dressed otherwise – superb. If it’s a shortcut to keep away from saying defence or weapons, then no. 

The tough half is arriving at a clear-cut reply. In the end, most selections are binary; they drive you to take a stand. We ask these questions in conversations. After having had these discussions, we’ll know the place our potential clients stand. It’s both a sure or a no. We all know our stance. What’s yours?