Influencing climate policy - a startup guide
We recently co-hosted a panel event with members, Subak: “Guerrilla policy change - how startups can understand and influence climate policy”.
Joined by panellists from across the SV ecosystem, including members Baroness Bryony Worthington, Dr Michal Nachmany and Amali de Alwis MBE, we explored how startups can take a position in the policy landscape.
So, where should we start & how should we interact with policy?
It’s no news that entrepreneurs building new businesses have their heads down focusing on work, on their returns, or on building products. The time and resource constrained nature of startups means that policy isn’t often at the top of your list.. we get it!
But it’s important to remind ourselves that policy permeates everything we do - both as citizens and as organisations - so having an understanding of the policy landscape is pretty important.
So where do we start? How can startups assess their respective policy landscapes? According to Dr Michal Nachmany, founder and CEO at Climate Policy Radar, a climate startup should begin with a mind mapping exercise of where their organisation interfaces with policy issues. This exercise is about understanding who your counterparts are, the blockages to implementation of your solution, and crucially, the people responsible for the policies that block you or enable you. Climate Policy Radar works to speed up, and ease, this exercise of assessing policy - as it’s not always easy to gain access to this information.
Once step one is complete, it’s important to make this a part of team conversation. In your weekly team meeting, ask ‘what happened in the policy landscape this week that’s relevant to our team?’ It’s so easy to get caught up in business-as-usual but, by starting conversations, we can bring awareness to the importance of policy in our respective businesses.
And how can startups get involved with policymaking and dialogue with policymakers?
With an extensive climate policy background, Bryony Worthington, who co-authored the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act, argued that evidence-based policymaking is vitally important to make policies effective and reduce unintended consequences. If you have compelling evidence and data underpinning what you are proposing, civil servants are more likely to listen: they want to find independent voices amongst a landscape of lobbying from vested interests. Luckily, this enables start-ups to have an outsized influence and impact, even with limited resources.
So, how do you influence policy with little or no budget? According to Michal, it’s through radical collaboration. Find collaborators, whether companies, other civil society organisations, or academia, and work together to grow momentum for the issue you are campaigning for, most broadly speaking - climate action.
Current policy blockers for climate startups, and how to navigate them
Let’s take the example of energy storage. In this industry, there’s a VAT issue (around 20% on energy storage, around 5% on coal) which puts startups working on energy storage at an immediate market disadvantage. How can they, as a small organisation battling against large organisations with vested interests and more resources, influence this policy? Despite campaigning, it is really challenging as a small organisation. The key is collaboration and working with data to underpin your proposition.
For many startups, an important lever for influencing policy is also the opportunity for green job creation. As James, Partner at Sustainable Ventures, points out, it’s important to remember that the majority of the new jobs to the economy are created by businesses that are under five years old. As we now know, these organisations aren’t equally represented in policy. Therefore, it’s critical that policymakers are engaging with early-stage organisations, ensuring the right support infrastructure to accelerate and scale these startups, and in turn boost green job creation.
And how can small organisations push narratives in the media?
According to panellist Michael Holder, Deputy Editor at BusinessGreen, there are lots of opportunities for climate tech startup stories to land in the media, but there is also a lot of noise. With innovation happening so quickly, the bar is changing rapidly, so if you’re trying to land your news in the press, be aware of relevant policy and its context in the news. Linking relevant news on policy back to your value proposition or product can be a powerful way to stand out.
The panel concluded with a discussion on how best to communicate your story. Understanding the psychology of how humans react to stories can help to understand how best to influence policy. Framing your story in a way that motivates and provokes a realistic optimism is more likely to be effective than a story full of doom and gloom.
As a final point, Bryony noted how research in the USA found that both sides of the political spectrum engaged with a plan of action, and responded to data-driven, actionable insights. Understanding how to communicate your story effectively for a certain audience is critical if you want your story to have a genuine impact.
So, what are the key takeaways ?
Map your policy landscape as a team to identify key contacts and blockages.
Underpin recommendations to policymakers with an authentic, data-driven approach.
Collaborate with diverse organisations with similar objectives to build momentum.
Policymakers need to better support and engage with job-creating early-stage startups.
To harness the media, linking your product with wider policy makes for a better story.