A Massachusetts economic development agency has released a plan to grow the state's climate technology sector.
Climate tech as it's known, is an industry which looks to come up with solutions to combat and adapt to climate change. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is spearheading the effort. Jennifer Le Blond is the managing director for emergent climate technology for the Mass CEC.
"This is an emerging industry, and Massachusetts is already at the forefront of this emerging industry and it has enormous potential to have significant economic development goals," Le Blond said.
Some of the strategies to foster business growth include providing grants and tax incentives. An economic development bill signed by Governor Maura Healey last year provides some of the funding for that.
There's also a plan to create more job training opportunities
"Education is going to be fundamental," Le Blond said. "It's the pipeline of our workforce development into climate tech. We're working very closely with our workforce team to make sure that a lot of educational plans are being put in place and that will be disseminated across the state."
Le Blond said the plan looks to draw from the unique attributes each geographical region of the state has to offer as another way to bolster the climate tech industry.
The overall goal is to create 35,000 jobs over the next ten years, while training 25,000 individuals.
Along with the economic aspirations, there is also the goals of helping the environment. The agency estimates that 34% of emissions reductions needed to reach global net zero emissions targets will come from technology not yet on the market.
The plan will focus on several different sectors such as energy, transportation, reducing carbon in manufacturing while also promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
