2026 Climate Tech Trends: National Security and Resilience

The past year marked a shift toward climate tech investment driven increasingly by national security priorities, particularly supply chain resilience for critical minerals and infrastructure hardening¹. Geopolitical uncertainty, trade restrictions, and renewed government involvement across the U.S. in strategic industries have accelerated the convergence of climate tech, national security, and domestic manufacturing. 

In Part One of this series, we explored how AI, grid modernization, and firm power are working to reshape climate investment around speed, reliability, and infrastructure deployment. In Part Two, we examine a parallel shift as climate tech is increasingly intertwined with national security, industrial strategy, and resilience. 

Critical Minerals and Reindustrialization

As electrification and defense demand expand, domestic production capacity is being viewed as a strategic imperative. Direct lithium extraction, bio-based mineral recovery, and rare earth magnet production are advancing from pilot to commercial scale more quickly as demand outpaces earlier expectations.

The Southeast stands to benefit from reshoring production due to its manufacturing base, logistics infrastructure, and access to relatively low-cost energy.

Startups in our region contributing to this trend include:

• Vulcan Elements – working to reshore rare earth magnet production for applications including semiconductors, AI data centers, and electric motors.
• Minerva Lithium – domestic lithium manufacturing that offers a safer and energy-efficient alternative to traditional refining. 
• Lithium Technologies – domestic lithium manufacturing utilizing waste rock, mine tailings, and direct ore bodies.

Adaptation and Resilience

Extreme weather is no longer theoretical. It is measurable and expensive. Damage from storms and wildfires has increased substantially over the last 20 years, and billion-dollar disaster events have risen sharply, according to SVB and NOAA data².

Capital is shifting toward resilience and adaptation. Utilities, municipalities, and insurers are investing in technologies that reduce outage risk, limit infrastructure damage, and accelerate recovery. Energy storage for extreme weather and distributed energy systems are gaining traction as reliability becomes a financial necessity rather than a policy goal.

Water Infrastructure

Water infrastructure is emerging as a focal point. Aging systems combined with population growth and more frequent storms are increasing demand for improved treatment, monitoring, and distribution. Utilities face mounting regulatory pressure to remove persistent contaminants and improve efficiency.

One contaminant category of regulatory focus includes PFAS, which are forever chemicals detrimental to human health and increasingly found in air, water, and food supplies. In 2024, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized standards for maximum content of certain PFAS compounds in drinking water³. 

The Southeast, with high exposure to hurricanes and flooding, and with military and government sectors seeking PFAS removal, serves as a proving ground for water resilience technologies.

Startups in our region contributing to this trend include:

• Sorbenta – develops sorbents that remove PFAS. 
• NALA Membranes – advanced reverse osmosis membranes for water treatment.
• AxNano – platform to capture and destroy PFAS.
• Natrx – platform to help communities identify, deploy, and monitor coastal and flood resilience technologies.

AgTech and the Built Environment

Agriculture and the built environment are adapting as well. Climate-resilient crop treatments aim to stabilize yields amid drought and heat. Storm-resistant building materials are gaining adoption as insurance requirements tighten and building codes evolve.

The Research Triangle and associated corporate partners have led to innovations at the intersection of agricultural resilience and technology. North Carolina alone is home to over 200 AgTech companies focusing on crop resilience, genome editing, and sustainable farming⁴.

Startups in our region contributing to this trend include:

• Avalo – AI-powered platform to develop climate-resilient seeds and crops. 
• Plantd – manufactures carbon-negative building materials. 
• Biomason – produces a low-carbon alternative to traditional concrete. 
• Upstream Biotech – crop protection against climate change and disease.

Emerging Technologies

Geoengineering approaches, including large-scale carbon removal, atmospheric interventions such as cloud seeding, and ocean-based solutions, continue to advance, though they raise complex scientific and regulatory considerations. At the same time, biotechnology and climate tech are converging in areas such as biomining, bio-based mineral extraction, and AI-driven materials discovery. While still nascent, these areas represent long-term opportunity spaces that we expect to follow closely as technical readiness and market clarity improve.

At Blueridge Climate Ventures, we see significant opportunities for investment across these key areas of climate innovation. Our focus is on identifying scalable solutions which address AI and energy demand, strengthen infrastructure, enhance resilience, and support economic growth across our region.