Net Zero Business Models

9PATHWAY THREE: ECO‐STARTUPS, NEW VENTURES, SPINOUTS, AND INDUSTRY DISRUPTORS

“If we don't solve the climate issue, aviation will be severely restricted.”¹

—Val Miftakhov, CEO and Founder, ZeroAvia

Pathway Three companies are innovative new ventures with no legacy fossil fuel–based products, organizations, or business models that need to be transformed. They are either eco‐startups or have been spun off by established companies as separate eco‐startup entities. Pathway Three companies are eco‐experiments with exponential growth potential.

Although Pathway Three companies develop and offer “green” zero‐emission and eco‐friendly products and services to their customers, their business models may not yet be fully developed or immediately capable of achieving net zero emissions. For example, a startup company may be established to penetrate carbon‐free markets but is dependent on electricity produced from fossil fuels or supply chain partners that are working to achieve net zero. Pathway Three companies are, however, committed to achieving zero emissions and often have set near‐term and long‐term science‐based emissions‐reduction targets. Pathway Three companies have a relatively low degree of net zero transition planning complexity because they tend to have net zero business models from the start and require leaders with leadership capacity in the operational and business systems‐thinking domains, as will be discussed in Chapter 13 (see Exhibit 9.1).

Many Pathway Three companies ...