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The inaugural , developed by the United States Embassy & Consulate New Zealand and UniServices, the research application and commercialisation company of Waipapa Taumara Rau, University of Auckland, saw a veritable who鈥檚 who of New Zealand and American government and business share their ideas and expertise.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Minister of Climate Change James Shaw, Minister for Research, Science and Innovation Ayesha Verrall, and Minister of Transport Michael Wood spoke via video, while U.S. Ambassador Tom Udall and Rod Carr, chair of He Pou a Rangi | Climate Change Commission took the stage in person.

Many inspiring innovators spoke, including Sean Simpson, founder and chief scientific officer of LanzaTech; Will Barker, co-founder and CEO of Mint Innovation; Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI); Audrey Zibelman, a member of President Biden鈥檚 National Infrastructure Advisory Council; Anthony DeOrsey, research manager of Cleantech Group; Alice Havill, business fellow with Breakthrough Energy; and Ian Short, co-founder of The Connective.

Bringing together different players was a major goal of the conference, and it worked 鈥� there was plenty of k艒rero (conversation) between new connections and a consensus grew that the only way to solve the climate crisis is to collaborate through 鈥渃o-opetition.鈥�

Trade and finance for change

One major theme of the discussions was that international agreements, including trade agreements, can be major forces for climate-positive change.

Historically, trade agreements have 鈥渢ended to pull in the opposite direction鈥� from international climate change agreements 鈥� but that鈥檚 starting to change, said Minister Shaw.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a Biden administration initiative involving 14 countries that collectively represent 40 percent of global GDP, names both trade and 鈥榗lean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure鈥� among its four key pillars.

鈥淭rade rules can and should support climate action,鈥� said Mark Sinclair, New Zealand chief negotiator for the IPEF.

Ambassador Udall agreed that trade, particularly climate-friendly supply chains, can be a 鈥済ame changer.鈥� However, more capital is necessary to invest in innovation, nurture the next generation of clean technologies and scale them, he said.

The U.S. administration is committed to the goal set in 2009 of mobilising US$100 billion a year for climate action in developing countries, but working with the private sector could mobilise trillions, said Udall.

To build a world where myriad companies and organisations are tackling the climate crisis, more needs to be done to nurture cleantech innovation, multiple speakers said.

DeOrsey, who authored the '' report commissioned by Callaghan Innovation, said New Zealand is behind most small advanced economies in key ways. New Zealand has fewer cleantech companies trying to raise capital 鈥� and those that try struggle.

鈥淣ew Zealand needs to innovate like a Muay Thai fighter鈥� 鈥� through combinations of surprise moves rather than knockout punches, said DeOrsey. In more concrete terms, that means concentrating on niche areas and developing clusters in those areas.

New Zealanders also need to think big, to 鈥渟hout loudly鈥� about companies that are doing well and embrace international investors from places such as Silicon Valley, said Sir Stephen Tindall, founder of The Warehouse Group.

Page Crahan, general manager of Tapestry, X鈥檚 moonshot for the electric grid, said we need to tap into the 鈥渂eginner鈥檚 mindset鈥� we had as children to bring in breakthrough technology and radical solutions to tackle the huge problems we face.

A major theme of the conference was that decarbonising must go hand in hand with equity.

Energy needs to remain affordable and reliable, without poorer people ending up with polluting older technologies, said Zibelman.

Part of making cleantech available to everyone is ensuring it can be rapidly deployed and used everywhere without incompatible systems such as different chargers, said Zibelman.

鈥淭he physics are pretty much the same everywhere, so we should be looking for sameness wherever we can.鈥�

Cleantech needs to be inclusive of all genders, said Professor , Theresa Gattung Chair for Women in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland.

Woods gave the startling statistic that only two percent of venture capital goes to female founders. Simply getting young women into STEM isn鈥檛 enough 鈥� more needs to be done to address systemic sexism and harassment, she said.

Not only must Indigenous people, knowledge and lands be treated with respect, they must have the opportunity to lead in cleantech, said several speakers.

Newly promoted Associate Professor of Waipapa Taumata Rau said the M膩ori worldview emphasises duties to both past and future generations. This worldview can reframe the way we see business and innovation.

鈥淏eing a good ancestor is a mindset consistent with a worldview that says you鈥檙e part of nature, not apart from nature,鈥� said Hikuroa.

Havill of Breakthrough Energy said the greatest value of New Zealand cleantech might be in its ability to bring in m膩tauranga M膩ori and a different kaupapa 鈥� way of operating 鈥� based on holistic values.

Tui Kaumoana and Tori McNoe of UniServices talked about creating structures to assess Indigenous intellectual property and build businesses that take a te ao M膩ori perspective. Companies and researchers have to consider their responsibilites to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which might mean partnering with M膩ori from the outset and considering how company or licensing structures meet commitments to M膩ori, they said.

A M膩ori view of success includes people and land as well as profit, multiple speakers said. H膿mi Rolleston, who is general manager te ao M膩ori and science services at Scion, gave the example of the Minginui Nursery, which is both reforesting the country with native plants and providing jobs in a remote area where there were formerly almost none.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing okay on their balance sheet but they鈥檙e doing much better off their balance sheet,鈥� said Rolleston. 鈥淗ow do you measure rangatahi who can see their future?鈥�

McNoe also spoke about the rangatahi (youth) who make up the bulk of the M膩ori population and will therefore drive the future and its economy. She used a whakatauk墨 (proverb) to sum up:

鈥淜ia whakat艒muri te haere whakamua. We walk to the future with our eyes fixed on the past.鈥�

The Blue & Green Technology Conference was supported by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Callaghan Innovation, Ara Ake, T膩taki 杏吧APPUnlimited, and the U.S. Commercial Service.