Oxford Centre for Technology and Development

Climate
technology.
Commercial
reality.

Good ideas need a path to market. We connect knowledge, materials, intelligence and finance to help climate solutions move from promising pilots to real-world impact.

Explore our work
An OCTD executive programme brings financial and industrial leaders together in Oxford
Ideas meet action.St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Rooted in research. Built around relationships.Discover OCTD
14

Ventures in
our portfolio

8

Countries across
the portfolio

2

Oxford programmes
delivered in 2026

6

Institutions that have
commissioned our work

Workstream 04 / Climate Finance

Routes to capital,
followed through.

Most transition plans do not fail on ambition. They fail because the documentation, the evidence and the ownership structure do not yet meet what a lender requires — and nobody stays in the room long enough to close that gap.

We work alongside a company’s own team to audit readiness against lender requirements, co-prepare the case, match it to a development bank or financial institution, and stay involved through to a decision. The work is live with corporations in shipbuilding and other hard-to-abate sectors.

01Audit & review

Readiness measured against what lenders actually ask for.

02Guide & prepare

Documentation co-prepared with your team, gaps closed early.

03Connect

The proposition matched to an institution it genuinely fits.

04Follow through

We stay in it until there is a financing decision.

How the engagement works

A retainer covers the readiness and preparation work, typically over four to six months. A success fee applies on finance secured. Financing decisions remain with the relevant financial institution.

Explore Climate Finance
An expert speaking at an OCTD executive training programme

Knowledge & Convening

A room full of
possibility.

Our Oxford executive programmes bring senior financial and industrial leaders into conversation with the research — and with each other.

From flagship two-day programmes to a cohort built around your institution, we create the space for the next step.

Explore our programmes
St Edmund Hall, OxfordOpen & tailored programmes

Insights

What was said
in the room.

We publish what comes out of our programmes, so the thinking reaches further than the people who were in the room.

Programme report · June 2026

The Financial Assessment of Climate-Related Risks & Sustainability Regulations, and COP31

Eighteen pages from two days at St Edmund Hall with senior banking executives, Oxford faculty and Türkiye’s Directorate of Climate Change.

At COP31 in Antalya, 10–17 November. Eleven sessions across the Blue and Green Zones — see the schedule.

How we work

Insight opens doors.
Trust moves things.

The gap between a pilot and a market is often a gap in ownership, financing or relationships. We work across those boundaries, connecting the right people to a practical next step.

01

Research

Build a clear position on the barriers to commercialising climate technology.

02

Convene

Bring financial leaders, industry, innovators and policymakers into the same room.

03

Build trust

Develop relationships grounded in shared work and a clear understanding of the market.

04

Make it happen

Turn relationships into assignments, partnerships, product orders and routes to capital.

Our June 2026 programme led to carbon removal work with policymakers and companies. Our September programme brought development bank executives into conversations about financing those projects.

Get to know OCTD

Workstream 02 / Materials

Taking carbon out.
Taking plastic out.

Two markets that only exist once someone builds them: durable carbon dioxide removal, and biodegradable material that performs well enough to replace plastic on commercial terms.

Carbon removal

Building the demand side.

We work on market development and project origination for durable removal — connecting removal suppliers, industrial buyers, banks and public institutions, with a particular focus on Türkiye and the wider region.

Carbon removal work

Oxford Biodegradable Solutions

A product, not a pledge.

OBSL makes soil-biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastic that match it for durability in use and break down when buried. The marketing trial concluded successfully and the product is on the market, supplying nurseries including Allensmore and garden centres including K&S.

Biodegradable materials

OCTD Portfolio Ventures

Partner ventures.
Shared ambition.

Our portfolio brings together diverse technologies and business models addressing critical climate and development challenges.

We help innovators achieve commercial success and scale their solutions globally, supporting founding teams with commercialisation, sales and access to new markets.

Contact for more

A few examples give the range. Our Filipino partner Komunidad runs an AI-powered climate action platform combining risk assessment, reporting and multi-hazard early warning; Oleago in Türkiye produces faux leather from olive oil waste; GIVE, an Oxford spinout, is bringing down the cost of green hydrogen through solar-powered seawater electrolysis; LC3 makes a low-carbon cement from limestone and calcined clay; Nium synthesises green ammonia at low pressure and temperature; Allye Energy builds grid storage from repurposed EV batteries; Nzatu connects Zambian regenerative agriculture to European retail; and Wastespresso turns used coffee grounds into circular materials. Our own spinoff, Oxford Biodegradable Solutions, now sells soil-biodegradable alternatives to plastic to nurseries and garden centres.

These are illustrations rather than a catalogue. The portfolio changes as ventures grow, graduate or join us.

Submissions welcome · Worldwide

Are you a climate start-up?

We work with innovative ventures at any stage and in any field, supporting commercialisation, sales and access to new markets. If that is what you need next, we would like to hear about your work.

Tell us about your venture

Artificial Intelligence

In development · Grant funded

Better evidence.
Better decisions.

ClimateTechIQ is our AI-powered benchmarking project for early-stage energy ventures. It looks beyond return on investment to the structures that help climate technology scale.

Discover ClimateTechIQ
ClimateTechIQ
The assessment lens
Technology readiness

How far has the technology progressed?

Scalability

What will it take to move beyond the pilot?

Ownership

Does the structure fit the venture’s mission?

Governance

Can decisions support long-term decarbonisation?

Methodology in development with Improvability AI.
Funded by Innovate UK, with Eurogia · October 2025–September 2027

Our perspective

An Oxford base.
A world of context.

The hardest part is often deployment in markets where data is thin, capital is cautious and regulation is still taking shape. That is where local knowledge and relationships matter.

Our base
Oxford, United Kingdom

Research, convening and an innovation ecosystem.

Representatives
Türkiye & Indonesia

People working in the market.

Partner network
UAE · Philippines · India · USA · Zambia

A shared focus on emerging and frontier markets.

Global platforms
COP · London · New York

Climate conferences and Climate Weeks.

Reports and studies delivered for institutions including

EBRDUNICEFWorld Food ProgrammeGoogleMetaGaranti BBVA

Where would you like to start?

Join an Oxford programme, commission research, explore a materials partnership or discuss a route to climate finance.

Start a conversation