Climate Tech Centre Stage in Gartner’s Hype Cycle Report

With the intensification of the global climate crisis, businesses are increasingly turning to technology to meet sustainability goals and adapt to a changing world. 

It’s been widely reported that AI is a double-edged sword as although it holds immense potential to optimise resource use and accelerate climate solutions, it’s not without controversy — and its power-hungry nature cannot be overlooked.

In global consultant Gartner’s 2024 Hype Cycle for Environmental Sustainability, the firm provides a roadmap of 38 key innovations poised to reshape how organisations approach environmental challenges.

This comes as the world faces the harsh reality that the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal is slipping out of reach. Gartner says that businesses must shift from climate mitigation to adaptation strategies to survive. 

What is a Gartner Hype Cycle?

A graphical representation that illustrates the maturity, adoption and social application of specific technologies, the Gartner Hype Cycle helps portray the real risks and opportunities of innovation. 

Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Environmental Sustainability report

Ranging from AI for sustainability to net-zero data centres, Gartner puts forward ways that operations can be future-proofed while ensuring growing demands for climate adaptation are being met. 

It also warns that rising energy demands from technologies like generative AI could offset these gains, underscoring the need for a balanced, strategic approach.

On the subject of balance, Gartner’s VP Analyst and KI Leader Sarah Watt says: “Enterprises should adopt an impacts-based mindset. 

“This means looking at the range of solutions available and assessing where to invest to best protect critical business outcomes, for example, regarding extreme weather events. A combination of digital, engineering and nature-based solutions will be put in place to adapt to a changing climate. 

“Climate change impacts can still feel far away. However, some of these impacts are being seen through more severe weather events.

"This impacts business.”

Returning to AI’s double-edged sword conundrum, Sarah also advises that assessing whether technology is the right tool in solving sustainability challenges and must be balanced with caution of impact.

“This is a question of applying the right technology to solve the right types of problems,” she adds. “This means making sure that the benefit of using AI exceeds the impacts created.

“AI can be used to optimise everyday sustainability activities by helping with data collection, insight and suggesting actions to, for example, reduce emissions. It can also be used to respond to customer questions or help suppliers identify emissions reduction pathways. 

“AI can also be used in a game-changing way, for example, to identify new materials which are circular or predict climate change impacts.”

AI — along with all other applicable technology innovations for climate action — is not a one-solution fix to sustainability issues facing businesses, governments and the planet today.

Many companies are looking for interim solutions while waiting for more advanced energy technologies that can help accelerate the trajectory toward sustainability longevity. 

Sarah outlines some of the most effective ‘bridging’ strategies or technologies she has seen in helping businesses progress towards things like net-zero in the short term.

“One of the big hurdles in the energy transition is to address thermal energy needs,” she begins. “These needs have been met by a range of fuels from coal to natural gas. We have seen a strong focus on electrification — however, this is not always cost-effective. 

“Where natural gas is used, the focus has been on efficiency through mechanisms like heat recovery. It's about doing more with less, until and alternative scales.”

She adds that Gartner is observing hyperscales looking for low-carbon solutions — with attention recently turning to nuclear energy.

Smart cities and green agriculture practices, Sarah continues, can play a major role in the future of climate-focused sustainable technology solutions and is hoping they will gain more traction as time goes on.

She says: “Smart cities and sustainable agriculture are both interesting areas which can address sustainability needs by using technology. We are also keenly watching both new biology and space innovations to understand their applicability to sustainability challenges.”

Progress in helping tackle climate change head-on

Despite hurdles in technology’s roll out and effectiveness, it's not all doom and gloom and waiting for future innovation to arrive, however.

Focusing specifically on business balancing short-term financial priorities with longer-term climate and sustainability commitments, Sarah advocates for tenacity and determination in this area.

“This is a tricky issue,” she advises. “There is a tension between short-term market performance expectations and longer-term commitments to sustainability goals. One of the ways to overcome this is to match interim sustainability deliverables with financial timelines and build in controls into the decision-making process. 

“Reaching ambitious sustainability goals requires concerted effort over time. Delaying action, locks enterprises into future, potentially unknown costs, if goals are to be met.

Sarah is quick to highlight that innovation is happening here and now that can enable businesses to reach these longer-term targets, with tangible results coming about thanks to the application of technology for the sake of sustainability. Saying that, there’s no magic bullet and effectiveness is subjective.

“It depends on what we mean by a 'making real difference,’” Sarah deliberates, using voluntary carbon offsets (VCOs) as an example. “In terms of emissions, the impact is hard to measure, as VCO projects have faced a credibility crisis in terms of emissions accounting.

“VCOs will be an important part of helping companies to get to net zero but should always be the action of last resort. There are multiple technologies that could improve the authenticity of VCOs from geospatial data to blockchain. 

“However, it will be a combination of these types of solutions and standards that are needed to rebuild customer confidence in this mechanism.”

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