Venture capital firms join to strong-arm startups into ‘net-zero emissions’

Venture capital firms across the United States and Europe Tuesday formed an alliance which will compel startups to commit to a net-zero emissions plan in order to receive funding.

The Venture Climate Alliance (VCA), which involves 23 firms, will require startups to pledge their commitment to eliminating all their carbon emissions by 2050 to “combat climate change”.

"We invest in climate tech companies that are transforming multi-billion dollar industries. As public markets, asset managers, and policymakers implement 2050 decarbonization goals, disclosure of climate-related risks, carbon emissions, and impact will matter for everyone– including those at the earliest stages of business building. As investors, it's our role to prepare our teams for the realities of the markets that they're operating in," said Prelude Ventures Managing Director and VCA founding member Gabriel Kra in a statement.

The VCA praises Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union’s Green Deal, which contain several “climate change”– related measures. It will work with startups to “develop best practices for collecting, interpreting and reporting carbon emissions, and climate impact data, as well as tools and guidance to help to overcome barriers associated with aligning early-stage investments with net zero goals.”

The initiative vindicates those who have been warning about the climate autocracy exhibited by financial institutions.

Some economists and lawmakers have predicted that banks and financial institutions will become the “new legislatures” particularly when it comes to complying with environmental messianism. 

“They can’t pass the Green New Deal in the United States Congress,” said New Hampshire State Rep. J.D. Bernardy, “but the banks can certainly implement it. The major banks, financial management firms, and insurance companies are de facto deciding how we will be able to live. They are becoming our new legislatures.”    

American Legislative Exchange Council Chief Economist Jonathan Williams predicts that if enough progressive pressure is brought to bear on the financial system, it would mean “having people’s freedoms eroded without any legislation ever having to be passed, whether it’s companies with a radical take on ESG or FICO personal credit scores.” 

Climate messianism such as the VCA’s becomes even more questionable when considering that all the world’s carbon emissions are likely already absorbed by trees.

As confirmed by AI program ChatGPT, there are over three trillion trees in the world, with the average mature tree absorbing between 48 and 200 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. The trees return oxygen into the atmosphere via the process of photosynthesis. 

Around 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere per year, meaning that according to the lowest estimates, trees can absorb over 20 billion more tons of carbon emissions than there actually are.