Highlights From Trellis Impact 25: Collaboration, Innovation, and the Next Chapter of Climate Action
The Trellis Impact 25 conference brought together climate leaders, sustainability operators, founders, investors, policymakers, and emerging practitioners to explore the next wave of progress in climate and sustainability. This year’s gathering reflected a notable shift across the field: a move from ambition to execution, supported by deep collaboration, maturing technology, and accelerating market alignment.
A Community Accelerating Together
One of the most meaningful themes was the emphasis on community. Throughout roundtable lunches, breakout discussions, and informal connections across the expo floor, attendees highlighted the importance of shared learning, peer support, and cross-sector coalition-building. The work of climate and sustainability continues to scale through strong networks and trusted relationships.
Nature Strategies Enter the Mainstream
Sessions led by experts from Pure Strategies and other corporate sustainability teams underscored how nature and biodiversity programs are rapidly becoming core elements of corporate strategy. Companies are moving toward structured nature footprinting, value chain analysis, and integrated climate-nature action plans, signaling a new level of maturity in the space.
Corporate and Startup Collaboration Matures
A central theme across sessions led by Trellis Group and contributors from Activate and Pachamama Ventures was the evolution of climate innovation partnerships. Organizations are building more effective pathways for bringing new technologies to market, emphasizing trust, aligned expectations, clear KPIs, and long-term collaboration structures.
Sustainability as a Growth Engine
Communications and brand leaders, including voices such as Annie Longsworth from ERM Shelton, highlighted a growing truth across industries: sustainability is becoming a driver of brand value, customer loyalty, and commercial growth. Impact and business performance are increasingly moving in the same direction.
AI for Climate Operations: Unravel Carbon Spotlight
A standout presence on the expo floor was Unravel Carbon, led by CEO Grace Sai. The company is pioneering the use of AI agents purpose-built for sustainability teams, supporting workflows such as emissions measurement, product carbon footprinting, disclosure support, and climate risk analysis. Their work illustrates how intelligent automation is becoming an integral part of scaling climate action within large organizations.
Innovation On Display
Across the exhibit hall, climate innovators showcased hardware, materials science breakthroughs, and deployment-ready solutions. Companies such as Solvari Solar and 4th State Energy demonstrated that the climate technology ecosystem is extending beyond software into hands-on, infrastructure-scale tools.
The real standout was Dexmat which was named the “Trellis Climate Tech Startup of 2025,”. It was recognized for its conductive nanomaterial Galvorn, which is lighter and stronger than copper and has wide application potential in energy, transportation, and aerospace. Backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, Shell Ventures, and other advanced-materials investors, Dexmat exemplifies the new wave of climate tech builders solving structural resource challenges with scalable innovation.
Trellis Impact 25 offered a clear view of the momentum shaping the sustainability and climate field in 2025: execution-focused strategies, stronger partnerships, accelerating investment, and a deep commitment to collaboration.
As the ecosystem continues to expand, community leadership, trusted partnerships, and technology-enabled innovation will play an essential role in driving lasting, scalable change.
