The Impact of Climate Tech Businesses on Sustainability and the Environment

Climate technology businesses are applying engineering, data science, and biological innovation to the core problem of our era: reducing greenhouse gas emissions while building systems resilient enough to function in a changing climate. Their work spans energy, agriculture, transportation, construction, and materials — and the pace of development across all of these sectors has accelerated significantly since 2020. Understanding what climate tech actually does, and where it connects to everyday growing and land stewardship, matters for anyone working with soil and seeds.

Reviewed by The Rike editorial team — sustainability + horticulture practitioners since 2019.

Renewable Energy: Replacing Fossil Fuels at Scale

The largest share of climate tech investment and deployment is in renewable energy — solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal. The cost of utility-scale solar and onshore wind has fallen by more than 80% since 2010, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), making them the cheapest sources of new electricity generation in most markets. Battery storage technology is closing the intermittency gap, enabling grids to store surplus renewable generation and dispatch it when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

For growers and rural landowners, the practical implications include falling costs for solar irrigation pumps, off-grid power systems for remote growing operations, and opportunities to participate in agrivoltaic systems — dual-use land arrangements where solar panels and crops share the same acreage, with the panels providing partial shade that can benefit certain crops in hot climates.

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS)

Carbon capture technology removes CO₂ from the atmosphere or from industrial emissions streams and either stores it underground or converts it into useful materials. Direct air capture (DAC) pulls CO₂ directly from ambient air; bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) combines biomass energy production with CO₂ sequestration. Both approaches are expensive at current scale but are improving rapidly.

The most cost-effective and immediately scalable form of carbon capture, however, remains biological: healthy soil, perennial root systems, and cover crops sequester carbon through photosynthesis and root biomass at a fraction of the cost of engineered systems. Nitrogen-fixing legumes like sweet clover build organic matter and sequester carbon while simultaneously reducing synthetic fertilizer inputs — a double climate benefit. Sweet Yellow Clover Seeds (15,000 seeds, non-GMO) are a practical, low-cost entry point into biological carbon sequestration for any grower with open ground to cover.

Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Innovation

Agriculture accounts for roughly 10–12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC — and is simultaneously one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate disruption. Climate tech in agriculture addresses both sides of this equation: reducing emissions from farming while building resilience against drought, heat, and shifting growing seasons.

Key innovations include:

• Precision agriculture: sensors, drones, and AI-driven analytics that optimize irrigation, fertilizer application, and pest management, reducing input waste and associated emissions.
• Alternative proteins: plant-based and fermentation-derived proteins that produce a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional livestock, per unit of protein delivered. Edamame and soy-based foods are among the most established plant protein sources with a well-documented lower carbon footprint than beef or dairy.
• Biotech crop resilience: drought-tolerant and heat-resistant varieties developed through conventional breeding and biotechnology to maintain yields under more variable conditions.
• Regenerative agriculture platforms: digital tools that help farmers measure, verify, and monetize soil carbon sequestration through carbon credit markets.

Growing your own plant-based protein is one of the most direct ways to participate in the food system transition that climate tech is working to enable at scale. Edamame Soybean Seeds (600 seeds × 2-pack) are a beginner-friendly, high-protein crop for home gardens, containers, and raised beds — a direct connection between your growing space and the plant-based food system that climate tech is scaling globally.

Smart Cities and Green Mobility

Urban areas account for more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions, making city-scale climate tech among the highest-leverage interventions available. Smart city platforms integrate energy management, traffic optimization, building automation, and waste systems to reduce urban resource consumption. Electric vehicles (EVs), expanded public transit, and shared mobility platforms reduce transportation emissions — the largest single source of greenhouse gases in the U.S., per the EPA.

Green infrastructure — urban tree canopy, green roofs, bioswales, and community gardens — complements engineered climate tech by managing stormwater, reducing urban heat island effects, and sequestering carbon in living systems. Community gardens and urban food forests are recognized components of climate-resilient city planning in an increasing number of municipal climate action plans.

Investment, Policy, and the Role of Collaboration

Climate tech businesses require capital, policy support, and cross-sector collaboration to scale. Global climate tech investment reached over $1 trillion in 2023, according to BloombergNEF, driven by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, EU Green Deal funding, and private venture capital. Government policy — carbon pricing, clean energy tax credits, sustainable agriculture subsidies — shapes which technologies reach commercial scale and how quickly.

For growers, the most relevant policy developments include USDA conservation programs that pay for cover cropping and soil health practices, state-level incentives for on-farm renewable energy, and emerging voluntary carbon markets that compensate landowners for verified soil carbon sequestration.

Quick Facts

• Renewable energy cost: solar and onshore wind costs fell more than 80% between 2010 and 2023, per IRENA.
• Agriculture’s share: farming accounts for roughly 10–12% of global GHG emissions, per the IPCC — and is a major carbon sink when managed regeneratively.
• Urban emissions: cities generate over 70% of global CO₂, making urban climate tech among the highest-leverage interventions available.
• Biological carbon capture: healthy soil and cover crops sequester carbon at a fraction of the cost of engineered direct air capture systems.
• Climate tech investment: global investment exceeded $1 trillion in 2023, per BloombergNEF.

Grow Your Part in the Climate Solution with The Rike

The most accessible climate tech available to any grower is a packet of seeds. Biological carbon sequestration, reduced synthetic inputs, and resilient food production start in the ground. The Rike carries seeds for crops that contribute directly to the agricultural side of the climate solution:

• Sweet Yellow Clover Seeds (15,000 seeds, non-GMO) — Nitrogen-fixing cover crop that sequesters carbon, builds soil organic matter, and supports pollinators — biological climate tech at seed-packet scale.
• Edamame Soybean Seeds (600 seeds × 2-pack) — High-protein plant-based crop for home gardens and raised beds; a direct contribution to the lower-carbon food system climate tech is working to scale.
• Moringa Oleifera Seeds (250 seeds) — Fast-growing multipurpose tree that sequesters carbon, provides edible biomass, and thrives in warm climates with minimal inputs.

→ Shop all seeds at The Rike — grow your contribution to a regenerative food system