Google is launching an accelerator for climate change startups

Google's Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt on Tuesday announced a new startup program to help and encourage startups working on sustainability products. Startups hoping to create commercial businesses in the sustainability world face special problems, Brandt told the crowd in Lisbon attending the Web Summit tech conference, where the announcement was made. These startups struggle with everything from a lack of investors to difficulties finding other startups with similar goals. So Google is looking for 8-10 startups from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to take part in a six-month accelerator program in early 2020. Applications for the first cohort will open soon and Google plans to organize a second cohort later in the year. Google will judge the startups based on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals including poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice, Brandt says.