From Global to Local
BY Hannah WRIGHT
Image created using Midjourney.AI
Towards Climate Action at Speed and Scale
How can local action contribute to global climate impact, and vice versa?
As a longstanding sustainability advocate who also works for a UK local authority, this question was at the forefront of my mind as I packed my bags for the third time in as many years to participate in the 28th Conference of Parties, also known as COP28.
This 14-day event, organised by the hosting country (Dubai) and the United Nations, is an annual occurrence that has grown steadily to become the most critical global forum for countries and governments to agree on tackling climate change. Since its inception in 1994, COP has been hosted in different countries worldwide; this year, it was in Dubai. The irony of the location did not go unnoticed. Neither did the Hosting President, the chairman of the region's largest petrochemical oil company, which garnered significant criticism from all angles.
Titled the Global Stocktake, this year’s event was the first in a future series of five-year stocktakes, where all countries were obligated to share where they stand on climate action. The outcome – successful vs unsuccessful - depends on who you speak to, their industry, and how much progress they consider acceptable.
“There are many other ways to be part of building a cleaner, greener, safer future. I learned so much from COP, but here’s the greatest lesson: if we want a better world, we’ll need to throw a much bigger party. ”
Fossil fuels and renewable energies together with finance and investment have always been the hot topics in COP negotiations, supported in part by the predominant focus of these sectors in the Paris Agreement with it’s long-term temperature goal to keep the rise in mean global temperature to below 1.5 °C, and how both sectors significantly influence mitigation and adaptation measures globally. However, this year, additional industries were beginning to feel the burn from the eyes of activists, investors and leaders. For example, agriculture and unsustainable food systems were high on the agenda, which is important since almost a third of all global emissions are caused by this sector.
United by Hope
Yet not all of the outcomes associated with COP28 highlighted humanity's shortcomings and perils. I had the opportunity to interview, listen and learn from world leaders in technology, science, business, government and environment first hand. I was inspired by how individuals who have dedicated their lives to tackling global warming and beaten the emissions drum since the early 60s’, continue to stay motivated, passionate and determined.
Interviewing Sir Alok Sharma at COP28
Conferences like COP are necessary but not sufficient and based on my experience there and much closer to home, I do believe that there are five potential reasons for hope for the future.
Finance - For the first time, the amount of finance for climate action has never been stronger, with over $1.5 trillion invested globally into clean technologies. Such investment in clean technology is paramount; however, more must be done to achieve Net Zero. At the Sustainable Innovation Forum, Patricia Espinosa's opening speech reinforced this call for further investment, highlighting the International Monetary Fund’s statement that 80% of investment into clean energy must come from the private sector. The final Deal highlights in Point 70 “the need for governments to strengthen policy guidance, incentives, regulations and enabling conditions to reach the scale of investments… and continue enhancing their enabling environments”. These domestic mitigation measures, such as the National Adaptation Plan and the Nationally Determined Contributions, will see investment in local authorities to support climate action at a local level.
Clean Energy - Energy systems are changing. Deployment and uptake of renewables are accelerating at an incredible speed. We are starting to see a paradigm shift towards clean technology. Before, the conversation was focused on the singular ‘renewables’ as a generic term. In contrast, the focus is now on the ‘types’ of available clean energy and, more importantly, which is efficiently suitable for each solution. Locally, authorities will have more control over energy, enabling faster roll-outs of clean energy such as hydrogen and solar. They are also one of the most trusted organisational entities in the UK, with public trust for local authorities at 80%, whereas for energy companies, it is 41%. Leveraging this influence will be critical to the success of future energy projects.
Pace of Movement - A unified acceptance of advancing progress was apparent. Sir Alok Sharma shared an incredible statistic to support this message. He said, “Five years ago, 1 in 70 cars sold globally were electric; today, that is 1 in 5.” Such a phenomenal trajectory relies heavily on deployment, infrastructure, cost and public acceptance. Interestingly, many world leaders saw public policy as an effective tool to increase climate action. For example, Patricia Espinosa referenced Germany’s public policy on renewables, which was introduced in 2000 and was instrumental in the growth of renewable energy across the country. With the proper support and investment from the Government, local authorities are perfectly positioned to build capacity, internally and externally. Innovate UK’s recent Net Zero Living Programme enables local authorities to build capacity by investing in Net Zero Officers (internally) and funding projects (externally).
Technological Innovation - The resounding collective was that progress is only possible with technology and innovation. Conversations around big data and AI growth offer significant opportunities to support climate action across all sectors, such as Agri-tech, climate monitoring, data modelling, etc. Local authorities can be enablers of innovative solutions that help adaptive measures developed by local companies and groups. For example, England has significant water scarcity, pollution and wastewater issues. By working with water companies, local authorities could facilitate new innovative ways of recycling water, such as direct recycling, which has worked well in Singapore (NEWater Project).
Sense of Purpose - Over 120,000 people descended into Dubai, from world leaders and CEOs from all the major private sector organisations to tens of thousands of government delegates and non-government organisations (NGOs). One thing that everyone I met had in common was a resounding sense of purpose. Clearly, people differed on the types of solutions and which adaption and mitigation measures are more effective. Nevertheless, everyone agreed on achieving a sustainable, equitable, net-zero future and was united towards that end goal.
The Power of Local
2023 has been the hottest year ever, and the climate crisis remains the biggest challenge on the planet right now and for the foreseeable future. Yet whilst COP is no doubt a jamboree of vested interests, it did show me that everywhere we look there are businesses and places are getting on with the transition.
And even if national governments falter, we need to recognise the central role of towns, cities and rural areas working together in the fight against climate change, as we are seeing through our work on a new programme that Liminal is proud to be helping to deliver called Net Zero Living - a £60 million, three-year programme that aims to help over 50 places and businesses across the UK to accelerate the delivery of the transition to net zero.
“If we devolve more powers to local and regional authorities, there is a huge groundswell of individuals and businesses that want to get on with it.”
In spite of insufficient funding, local authorities can still directly address or influence up to 30% of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and more, through their influence in planning decisions, policy setting and defining local goals. For instance:
Local authorities are perfectly positioned to build capacity and capitalise on revenue from shared innovation and technology projects.
Tripling renewable energy capacity means local authorities will have more control when leveraging private finance.
Local authorities are the trusted enablers in the energy transition to zero and low emissions technologies.
Local authorities with control over waste will have opportunities for non-CO2 emissions, specifically methane.
Reducing road transport emissions requires urgent implementation of domestic mitigation measures and will encourage increased funds.
So if, like me, you are passionate about climate and a big believer in local action, do not underestimate your power. Through our work on building the Climate Tech Supercluster we know there is a vast concentration of climate talent, technology, research and funding coming together right now to unlock global opportunities and impact if we work together.
Everybody and everywhere has a vital role to play. The climate crisis truly is the unifying mission of our species and I refuse to give up hope, and will do everything we can to advocate for, and aggregate local actions at speed and scale.
Please do get in touch to find out more or get involved.
