• Zeroe, a carbon management startup based in Dubai, offers a platform that helps streamline the flow of finance from the global North to the global South.
• The firm’s innovative solution provides comprehensive carbon accounting, and an AI-enabled decarbonization planner, making it easy and affordable for companies to measure and reduce their emissions.
• Zeroe is already working with businesses in the UAE and Indonesia and sees significant climate financing opportunities for growth in Africa, especially North West, North East, and Southern Africa.

Climate finance: “There is enough money; we just need to make it flow.” This statement by Lauren Haworth, Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Zeroe, succinctly captures the current state of climate finance. During an interview at the AIM Congress 2024, held in Abu Dhabi, she shared insights on the steady but insufficient growth in climate finance deployment, which reached over $1.2 trillion in 2022.

However, the challenge ahead is daunting: to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming target, $8 trillion must be deployed annually until 2030 and $12 trillion every year for the following two decades. The gap between the current deployment and necessary climate finance is enormous, but innovative companies such as Zeroe are working hard to help bridge this divide.

The Rise of Zeroe

Zeroe is a carbon management platform based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), co-founded by Farouk Jivani (Tanzania, USA) and Ali Najafian (USA). The platform is designed to catalyze the flow of finance from the global North to the global South, by facilitating robust emissions reporting which enables access to earmarked funding.

“Our overarching mission is to facilitate the flow of capital from developed countries (Global North) to developing countries (Global South), while also integrating the value chain between Eastern and Western markets, and digitizing the entire process,” Lauren explained.

Zeroe’s platform offers an advanced carbon accounting platform capable of measuring a company’s emissions across all scopes (1, 2, and 3). This system provides comprehensive reports that align with the major international and local reporting frameworks.

Additionally, Zeroe plans to unveil an AI-enabled decarbonization planner, enabling companies to transition seamlessly from measuring their emissions to planning and executing their decarbonization strategies. Zeroe offers a robust solution at a fraction of traditional consultancy costs, Lauren noted.

The 13th edition of the AIM Congress 2024 offered a critical opportunity for Zeroe. “AIM Congress is the nexus of where global investment stakeholders convene,” Lauren remarked. Zeroe’s participation in the Congress startup pitch competition was focused on brand awareness, networking and forging strategic partnerships. With $2.3 million already raised in the first quarter of 2024, Zeroe is poised to expand its reach and impact.

Addressing climate finance in the African Market

Africa presents a unique and promising market for Zeroe. Lauren expressed optimism about the continent’s potential: “Africa is a place where everything can happen… there are a lot of companies born out of Africa working with technology to improve the lives of communities and the planet.”

Zeroe is already engaging with companies in the UAE and Indonesia, and sees immense opportunities in the North West, North East, and Southern Africa, Lauren revealed. By helping companies in these regions measure their emissions and generate precise reports, Zeroe aims to unlock the financial flows essential for financing their net zero projects and ideas.

Overcoming challenges in climate finance

One of the biggest barriers to increased climate finance flows to the Global South is education and awareness. Many companies have operated using legacy business systems with disparate data hubs (if any at all) and are often slow to adopt new sustainability measures. As Lauren pointed out, “We are currently witnessing a global shift towards sustainability, particularly in accounting. Integrating sustainability into your business operations will require a material change in the way that people conduct business.”

Adapting to emerging regulatory changes on climate finance 

Zeroe’s adaptability is a great advantage in navigating the complex regulatory regime of carbon management globally. The platform’s model-driven architecture allows for quick adjustments to regulatory changes, ensuring continuous compliance without downtime, Lauren explained. This flexibility is crucial as regulations across jurisdictions evolve and businesses seek to align with new standards.

UAE is a strategic base for global trade

Choosing UAE as its base of operations was a strategic decision for Zeroe. The UAE’s substantial efforts to become a hub for climate innovation make it the ideal location for ideation, technological pioneering and the facilitation of global partnerships in climate finance.

“UAE feels like the new center of the world,” said Lauren, highlighting the region’s diversity and innovative spirit.

Moving Forward

The urgency to scale up climate finance cannot be overstated. As Lauren demonstrated, achieving the 1.5 degrees’ Celsius temperature reduction requires a massive increase in financial deployment.

The gap between what is available and what is needed is vast, but with platforms like Zeroe, there is hope for industries seeking to change the narrative. By leveraging technology, innovative financial instruments, and forging strategic partnerships, Zeroe is bringing to the world a critical initiative poised to channel the necessary funds to where they are needed most.

For businesses and investors alike, the message is clear: now is the time to act. Companies must integrate sustainability into their core operations, not only to comply with emerging regulations but to contribute to the global effort to mitigate climate change.

Investors, on the other hand, have a responsibility to ensure that their funds are deployed effectively and transparently. Zeroe is offering a pathway to achieve these goals, providing the tools and expertise necessary to navigate the complex and evolving terrain of carbon management and finance.

With the right investments and strategic actions, the world can close the climate finance gap and make significant strides toward a sustainable future. The journey is challenging, but with innovative solutions and collaborative efforts, achieving a 1.5 degrees’ Celsius reduction in temperatures is within reach. As Lauren put it, “There is enough money; we just need to make it flow.”

Read also: Small-scale farmers hit hard by 44 per cent decline in climate finance flows