Future forward: Closing infrastructure gaps for climate innovation

Climate innovation is no longer the main issue in addressing the world’s most pressing climate challenges — the bigger issue is the speed of scaling it to meet the global climate targets set in the Paris Agreement.

The scientific discoveries needed to decarbonize the global economy have already been made. The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil, put the spotlight on what climate action looks like today — a trillion-dollar pipeline for grids and storage, a quadrupling of sustainable fuels by 2035, decarbonizing energy systems, enabling climate-smart agriculture, and greening AI. Scientific ambition is not what is holding us back.

Yet it was acknowledged that the world is "off target,” with scientists warning us that maintaining the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is now out of reach, since it demands cutting global emissions by between 35% and 55% by 2035 — a near impossible task. In fact, the latest predictions estimate that we will witness temperature increases of between 2.3 and 2.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.

Although more than 119 countries updated their nationally determined contributions, or national plans, evidence shows systemic hurdles block growth: under 10% of needed adaptation funds reach low-income countries; climate tools stay small-scale because support networks and investment channels are missing; and action in energy, transit, and construction is falling behind.

The issue isn't missing solutions. But three major structural gaps — fragmented financing, isolated research and innovation ecosystems, and poor collaboration and coordination frameworks — are preventing proven climate solutions from moving beyond the laboratory or pilot stage into large-scale global deployment.  

The way forward: Democratizing access to funding  

Many credible ideas stay small due to insufficient, fragmented investment flows. While the capital outlay for climate finance must increase to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, the primary constraint is not the availability of global capital — it’s the pathways, trust mechanisms, and institutional infrastructure through which capital is allocated.

Developing economies alone will require $310 billion to $365 billion annually by 2035 to fund adaptation efforts, yet they currently receive only $26 billion. Many viable climate projects — such as African-based solar cooperatives and Asia-based water technology ventures — struggle to attract investors due to limited visibility, comparability, and verifiable track records.

The solution lies in information-based and discovery-driven infrastructure that enables viable climate projects to be easily found, assessed, and validated in ways trusted by global markets. Stronger coalitions can enable separate forces to create joint pools of funding, connect buyers with suppliers, and enhance collaboration beyond financing.

Overcoming silos by building global alliances

Implementation capacity remains uneven worldwide, leaving many regions unable to deploy large-scale projects efficiently. A united worldwide effort matters most where regional partnerships and global collaborations are already showing promise in expanding impact.

Initiatives such as cross-border innovation boosters or online climate networks that connect scientists, creators, funders, startups, community groups, and the public sector can help create pathways for viable climate projects to access solutions, funding, expertise, and deployment capability. Case in point is Tencent’s TanLIVE platform, and specifically the example of the ClimateTech Search application, the world’s first federated search engine dedicated to climate technologies, to help key players connect, access verified data, and find climate solutions through an open, transparent, AI-powered platform.

Developing economies must have equitable access to these systems from inception. Co-designing infrastructure with low- and middle-income countries ensures that equity is embedded, not retrofitted. Take, for example, Tencent’s Africa Climate Investment Tracker, or ACIT, built on TanLIVE infrastructure. Developed in partnership with the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative, or AGII, the tool is designed to make African climate initiatives more discoverable, credible, and investable. 

Such structures are vital global assets — just like clean energy systems or eco-friendly transit — and require robust oversight that builds reliability, transparency, and shared accountability, along with public-private partnerships and cross-sector collaborations that strengthen skills and trust.

Leveraging platforms for enhanced coordination

The urgency of the climate challenge and the sheer scale of the work ahead demand more efficient and adaptive methods of coordination among entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors. National commitments can face a bottleneck without a broader consensus, stalling global rollouts and confining validated solutions to local environments.

A corrective pathway lies in a networked structure built on shared yet independent platforms where organizations retain autonomy. Still, their data, tools, and knowledge can link up, stack against one another, or combine across fields to break down silos and speed up implementation.

This approach reflects the open-source spirit, where shared resources and transparent collaboration become the foundation for progress. By adopting open standards and enabling the free exchange of data, tools, and best practices across the global climate community, we can foster a culture of collective problem-solving.

Transforming pledges into implementation

COP30 highlighted that it is neither motivation nor creativity that is missing in global efforts to address climate change, but a joint, durable infrastructure for worldwide cooperation. Linked yet independent networks would let all partners jointly spot, assess, and scale climate solutions, free from top-down control.

The global adoption of climate solutions thus relies upon building strong systems and structures that can deploy technologies at the pace science demands, through digital platforms and initiatives that build real connections across isolated projects. That also involves collaboration among communities, government bodies, companies, universities, and nonprofits, all working together without silos.

The next phase of climate progress relies on rapid, worldwide collaboration to spark, synchronize, or drive networks, turning lab results into broad use. The next phase will thus not be defined by scientific breakthroughs, but by our collective ability to scale existing solutions through interconnected, equitable, and future-ready infrastructure.

Find out more about how Tencent is supporting climate innovation through their latest applications on TanLIVE and updates on the CarbonX program.