Climate tech: What technologies are behind climate projects?
Climate tech categories at a glance
Current policies would put the world on a pathway towards 2.3–2.5°C of warming. The 1.5°C goal is out of reach with current measures. Reducing emissions within a company's own value chain is the most important lever. But it is not enough on its own.
This is where climate projects come in. They use a range of technologies – from forest protection and improved cookstoves to direct air capture. These technologies are collectively referred to as climate tech: technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (carbon reduction), remove CO₂ from the atmosphere (carbon removal), or prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere (carbon avoidance).
Climate projects are based on different climate tech solutions. Here you will find the key technologies – from nature-based approaches to technical solutions for carbon removal.
How does a climate project work with …?
Afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR)
Category: Carbon removal | Nature-based solution
Afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects (ARR) create new forests or regenerate degraded land through tree planting and soil conservation measures. Trees and plants absorb carbon and store it in wood and soil. The projects create habitats for wildlife and increase biodiversity. Trees and shrubs stabilise the soil with their root systems and prevent erosion.
Project example: Afforestation with spekboom, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Biogas
Category: Carbon reduction | Renewable energy
Biogas projects use organic waste, manure, or agricultural residues to generate renewable energy. In biogas plants, biomass ferments in airtight digesters to produce biogas. Without these plants, methane emissions from waste storage would escape into the atmosphere. In countries like India or Vietnam, families use gas from small-scale biogas plants for cooking, replacing charcoal. Households using small-scale biogas plants reduce their energy costs and benefit financially.
Project example: Eco-friendly cooking with biogas, Punjab, India
Blue Carbon
Category: Carbon removal | Nature-based solution
Blue carbon refers to the carbon stored by marine and coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass meadows, and salt marshes. These habitats sequester large amounts of CO₂ and play a critical role in climate action. Blue carbon projects restore mangrove forests and protect valuable coastal ecosystems. These coastal systems also reduce erosion and mitigate the impacts of storms, flooding, and tsunamis.
Project example: Restoring 225,000 hectares of mangrove forest, Sindh, Pakistan
Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)
Category: Carbon removal | Technical solution
Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) captures CO₂ emissions from industrial processes and repurposes them as a raw material – for example, in the production of concrete, fuels, chemicals, or plastics. The carbon is temporarily stored while also finding an economic use. This benefits emission-intensive industries in particular, such as cement, steel, and chemicals, where emissions are hard to abate.
Project example: Converting waste into a carbon store, Bristol, United Kingdom
Improved cookstoves
Category: Carbon reduction | Energy efficiency
Around one third of the world's population relies on harmful cooking methods (WHO, 2024). These include cooking over open fires or using polluting fuels such as coal. Improved cookstoves address this by using heat energy more efficiently. They reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent – and with it, CO₂ emissions. At the same time, pressure on local forests decreases, as less firewood needs to be collected.
Project example: Improving indoor air quality, nationwide, Somalia
Improved forest management (IFM)
Category: Carbon avoidance and carbon removal | Nature-based solution
Around 10 to 15 percent of global CO₂ emissions result from deforestation and forest degradation. Improved forest management (IFM) aims to increase the carbon storage capacity of forests and to preserve them in the long term. Measures include extended rotation periods, reduced timber harvesting, or a complete halt to logging.
Project example: Forest management creates opportunities for the Maya community, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Ocean protection
Category: Ocean protection | Nature conservation
The ocean stores a quarter of the CO₂ in the atmosphere and 93 percent of the heat from the greenhouse effect – making it a critical buffer against climate change. Warming, overfishing, pollutants, and waste threaten this balancing function. More than 12 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. In many developing countries, the infrastructure for proper waste disposal is lacking. Various initiatives prevent plastic waste from entering the ocean while also improving the living conditions of collector communities.
Project example: Collecting plastic in coastal regions, worldwide
Microloans
Category: Carbon reduction | Social impact
Microloans enable households in low- and middle-income countries to access climate-friendly technologies – such as improved cookstoves, water filters, or solar lights. Households receive small loans to purchase the technologies and repay them over a defined period. The products significantly reduce CO₂ emissions and decrease pressure on local forests, as less firewood is needed.
Project example: Women driving the energy transition, nationwide, India
Biochar
Category: Carbon removal | Nature-based and technical solution
Biochar is produced by burning waste biomass without oxygen (pyrolysis). It is a permanent carbon store. When used in agriculture, biochar improves the water and nutrient retention capacity of soils, neutralises acidic soils, and prevents fertilisers from leaching into groundwater. Biochar is one of the most promising climate tech innovations at the intersection of nature and technology.
Project example: Biochar for healthy soils, nationwide, Ghana
Clean drinking water
Category: Carbon reduction | Energy efficiency and social impact
Around 2.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Many families have no choice but to boil water over open fires. This produces CO₂ emissions and, depending on the region, drives increasing deforestation. By treating water chemically (for example with chlorine) or mechanically (with water filters), or by making groundwater accessible through wells, these CO₂ emissions can be avoided.
Project example: Water filters for households and institutions, Western Region, Uganda
Solar energy
Category: Carbon reduction | Renewable energy
Solar systems convert sunlight into electricity (photovoltaics) or heat (solar thermal). The energy generated is typically fed into the national or regional power grid, reducing the share of fossil fuels in the energy mix. Solar projects prevent not only CO₂ emissions but also the release of various pollutants associated with conventional power generation.
Project example: Solar plant enabling access to electricity, Blitta, Togo
Swamp forest restoration
Category: Carbon removal | Nature conservation
A swamp forest is a woodland ecosystem with permanently or periodically waterlogged soils. The wet soils store large amounts of carbon, contribute to cooling the microclimate, and act as natural water reservoirs in the landscape. The goal of restoration measures is the ecological enhancement of degraded swamp forests and the re-establishment of near-natural vegetation and water conditions. This involves removing non-native trees, retaining deadwood, and promoting native species such as alder and willow.
Project example: Boosting biodiversity and climate action, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Forest protection (REDD+)
Category: Carbon avoidance | Nature-based solution
Forests are among the most important carbon sinks on the planet. They absorb around one third of the emissions caused by human activity each year. Forest protection projects ensure that forests are preserved in the long term and that protecting a forest is valued more highly than clearing it. Project stakeholders work together with local communities to protect the area from harmful influences. To achieve this, the projects create alternative sources of income and educational opportunities.
Project example: Protecting rainforest and creating opportunities, Lábrea, Brazil
Hydropower
Category: Carbon reduction | Renewable energy
Hydropower plants use the energy of water to generate electricity. Water is channelled through a turbine, which turns under the pressure of the water and transfers energy to a generator that converts kinetic energy into electricity. This principle applies to all types of hydropower plants: from small run-of-river plants to pumped-storage facilities at lakes. The energy is fed into a regional power grid, making the energy supply more diverse and improving energy security in the region.
Project example: Hydropower that creates resilience, Virunga, D.R. Congo
Wind energy
Category: Carbon reduction | Renewable energy
Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy of wind into electricity using generators. In many regions worldwide, energy is still primarily generated from fossil fuels. Wind energy can replace part of this emission-intensive energy. The projects create jobs in installation, maintenance, and operation, and expand local infrastructure.
Project example: Wind power replacing emission-intensive electricity, Tamil Nadu, India
Climate tech: Climate action requires a diversity of technologies
The climate crisis cannot be solved with a single technology. What is needed is an interplay: nature-based solutions, energy efficiency projects, and technical approaches to carbon removal.
The SBTi provides clear direction: in the near term, it encourages companies to direct their contributions to high-integrity projects that deliver significant climate impact and provide social and environmental co-benefits – especially in regions most affected by climate change. From 2035 onwards, the emphasis shifts to projects that permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere.53
For companies, this means: a balanced portfolio of different climate tech categories maximises impact, reduces risks, and lays the foundation for a credible climate action strategy.
Which climate project fits your company?
Ready to invest in climate projects but not sure where to start? Our short project quiz helps you find climate projects that match your company – based on your priorities, preferred regions, and desired impact. In just three clicks, you'll receive two curated project recommendations.