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Climate change has increased the severity of California wildfires in recent years, turning the skies above San Francisco and Silicon Valley dark red.
近年來，氣候變化加劇了加州野火的嚴重程度，使舊金山和矽谷的天空變成了暗紅色。
Despite this, the local tech sector’s contribution to addressing climate change is mixed. Electric vehicles are popular and companies such as Amazon and Meta have pledged to reach carbon neutrality. But the sector has yet to produce solutions to help slash global emissions rapidly at scale.
儘管如此，當地科技行業對應對氣候變化的貢獻好壞參半。電動汽車很受歡迎，亞馬遜(Amazon)和Meta等公司已承諾實現碳中和。但該行業尚未拿出有助於大規模迅速削減全球排放的解決方案。
New subsidies for renewable energy will not change that, unless investor outlooks change, too.
對可再生能源的新補貼不會改變這一點，除非投資者的前景也發生改變。
US climate bill bounty adds up to almost $370bn. This includes $60bn to encourage more domestic manufacturing of devices such as solar panels and $27bn for green banks to help get clean tech projects off the ground. The hope is that by 2030, the US — the world’s second biggest greenhouse gas emitter — will reduce emissions by 40 per cent compared with 2005 levels.
美國氣候法案獎金總計近3700億美元。其中包括600億美元用於鼓勵更多的太陽能電池板等設備的國內製造，以及270億美元用於向綠色銀行提供幫助啓動清潔技術項目的資金。人們希望，到2030年，世界第二大溫室氣體排放國美國的排放量將比2005年的水準減少40%。
There are signs the private sector is stepping up. US venture capital investment in climate tech companies reached $56bn last year, up 80 per cent on the previous year, according to Silicon Valley Bank. Recent successful funding rounds benefited the likes of Afresh, a San Francisco company developing tech to prevent food waste.
有跡象表明，民營部門正在加快步伐。矽谷銀行(Silicon Valley Bank)的數據顯示，去年美國對氣候科技公司的風險資本投資達到560億美元，同比成長80%。最近幾輪成功的融資使舊金山開發防止食物浪費技術的公司Afresh受益。
But there is wariness towards the sector, too. A decade ago, a number of clean tech start-ups collapsed, including Solyndra, a solar-panel maker. Low prices for fossil fuels and competition from China took a toll on incentives. Impatient VCs withdrew capital.
但人們對該行業也持謹慎態度。十年前，包括太陽能電池板製造商Solyndra在內的許多清潔技術新創企業倒閉。化石燃料的低價和來自中國的競爭對激勵措施造成了損害。急躁的創投撤資。
This year, there has been a broad slowdown in tech start-up funding as rising interest rates curb demand for risky ventures. Data from PitchBook show the valuation of early-stage US start-ups fell between the first and second quarters.
今年，隨著利率上升抑制了對風險投資的需求，科技新創企業的融資普遍放緩。PitchBook的數據顯示，美國新創企業的估值在第一和第二季度之間有所下降。
The tech sector’s contribution to addressing climate change will depend on investor appetite for risk and long-dated projects. Clean energy tech start-ups tend to be expensive and R&D intensive. Traditional five-year investment horizons do not apply.
科技行業對應對氣候變化的貢獻將取決於投資者對風險和長期項目的偏好。乾淨能源科技新創企業往往成本高昂，且研發密集。傳統的5年投資期限並不適用。
But there are also plenty of grants, tax exemptions and other incentives. VCs can help start-ups claim these. Climate tech success will reward investors with flexibility and vision.
但也有大量的撥款、免稅和其他激勵措施。創投可以幫助新創企業實現這些目標。氣候技術的成功將以靈活性和遠見回報投資者。