Chevron CEO on modern leadership: You can’t be afraid to make yourself heard

Chevron CEO on modern leadership: You can’t be afraid to make yourself heard

Chevron announced the launch of its new energy fund Thursday with a commitment of $300 million toward low-carbon technology investments.

Future Energy Fund II is the eighth venture fund to come out of Chevron Technology Ventures, which seeks to invest in innovative companies driving solutions for a cleaner future.

"We'll be focused in on some of the more difficult to decarbonize sectors of the economy," Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC's David Faber in an interview recorded Wednesday afternoon. "The primary motivation here is not a profit motivation, it's to nurture technology."

For an oil and gas company like Chevron, it can be hard to have ESG-centric investors look beyond its traditional energy portfolio. Wirth said, however, that as the demand for clean energy steadily grows, Chevron will continue to explore new technologies in furtherance of environmental, social, and corporate governance investment.

"This is not a cliff that will occur abruptly, this will be an evolution more than a revolution," he said in an interview for the "Evolve: The Faber Interview" series.

When it comes to leading the energy transition, Wirth said the investments Chevron has made in battery technology is less established compared with legacy companies in wind or solar power. "We