Quantifying organisational-level climate innovation performance: measuring climate value of patent portfolios

Abstract The development and diffusion of climate technologies is crucial for achieving ambitious environmental targets. The Paris Agreement commits its members to develop strategies for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of the century. Enterprises across different sectors play an important role in achieving these targets. Using the Y02 patent classification, this study proposes three metrics to quantify and assess the extent to which organisations contribute to developing technologies needed to combat climate change. The metrics include (i) one for the climate patent portfolio size (CPPS) of relevant technologies, (ii) the strength of the organisation’s climate technology related inventions, including a climate technology contribution index (CTCI), and (iii) a metric to assess the degree of specialisation, i.e. the degree to which organisations contribute narrowly or broadly to the development of climate technologies. We apply the metrics to a sample of the 104 most innovative organisations globally. Results indicate a strong sector dependence as well as stark differences across the top innovative global companies along all three metrics. The share of climate inventions within the organisations’ patent portfolios – represented by CPPS rel – varies from nearly 0.23% to 46.6%. Similarly, the CTCI and CSI scores varied across organisations, shedding further light on sector-specific characteristics. While these initial results are encouraging, we suggest the metrics to be tested further and further developed, e.g. to allow for more valid assessments for small- and medium-sized enterprises.