The current period has many similarities with 2010. At the time, cleantech was described as a “hype,” a trend whose interest seemed already declining in the US. Today, sustainability is being challenged from all sides — delays announced in Europe with the omnibus (CSRD, …) or fluctuating US tariff policies echo this. A very similar situation to 15 years ago, but with one major difference: the momentum of an established ecosystem!

Our vision for the years to come is clear: cleantech is the spearhead for implementing decarbonization plans, and sustainability is the driver that will help companies build resilience. Resilience is essential to withstand a turbulent environment increasingly subject to economic, political, climatic, or geostrategic crises.

Cleantech and sustainability will converge to become ultimately inseparable. In the coming decade, we will likely see a repeat of the quality management systems (ISO 9001) era, now under the “ESG” acronym. The challenge of this remake will be to avoid the bureaucratic excesses of ISO 9001 and instead leverage the lessons of the past 40 years.

Sustainability must be seen as a way to understand and mitigate risks in a turbulent environment. Implementing an ESG approach with its Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria is a risk management tool that will help companies, including SMEs, navigate a highly unstable and evolving environment. It acts as a compass to establish a roadmap and risk management strategy.

Our view is that a sustainability approach incorporating an analysis of the environmental footprint of a company and/or its key products will have become the norm in 15 years.

The priority work to achieve this is to demystify the subject, share concrete examples, and above all develop a pragmatic approach to accelerate the realization of these footprints. The goal is clearly to make them financially and humanly accessible to SMEs. For example, simplifying the creation of life cycle analyses or carbon footprints, by developing generic or industry-specific solutions… Some may call this utopia, to which we reply: let’s innovate!

The second essential axis to realize this vision is to continue the internationalization of cleantech solutions. The domestic market is very small and acts as a demonstration showcase, while growth clearly lies in foreign markets. In this context, and in addition to leveraging synergies among current initiatives, it would be wise to strengthen our presence in selected foreign markets with permanent showrooms.

These spaces — a sort of swissnex or industrial Swiss Business Hubs — would typically be venues where companies can showcase their solutions and equipment, make them available to clients, or run tests in their environments. Closer ties between multinationals and SMEs, for instance through partnerships with international groups headquartered in Switzerland, would further increase the impact of this initiative.

The rocket has launched: our collective challenge is now to ensure sustainable propulsion. This requires, immediately, stronger support for pre-industrialization and industrial scaling of solutions, supported by leveraging synergies between public and private actors.

The impact of climate change is no longer a distant horizon — it’s here and now. And the cleantech ecosystem already has the solutions. So… let’s meet again in 15 years for a new assessment. Until then: full speed ahead to action!