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techUK will be at COP 28 from Monday to Thursday this week, bringing daily blogs of activities and announcements.

The COP process rumbles on as the back slapping over Loss and Damage fades out to more arguing over the influence of fossil fuel. It was energy day and a lot of the focus was on how to accelerate the transition to renewables. There were big announcements from oil and gas firms to decarbonise their operations (scope 1 and 2) by 50%, and pledged to end flaring and methane. However, this was not received well by many I spoke to as they are still not committing to cutting production. Expect more discussions on the role of fossil fuels, arguments on phase down vs phase out, and the realpolitik that many countries are not willing or able to adopt renewables at scale quite yet.

Elsewhere the UK and Singapore have been co-authoring the Global Stocktake which puts them in a leading position to shape the text. Delegates have not been impressed with the recent changes in policy from the UK which makes life a bit harder when trying to get others to adopt tougher targets in the Global Stocktake, especially on renewable rollout and energy efficiency measures.

Team techUK also had a very busy day. It started with a fantastic roundtable we hosted as part of our partnership with Climate Action who run the Climate Innovation Zone. We convened members, government representatives, academics and international bodies to discuss how emerging technologies can help deliver resilience and adaptation. The key themes were data, data and more data, and how to ensure insights can be leveraged, as well as not imposing solutions on countries or communities. This kickstarts a workstream we’ll be doing on emerging tech and resilience and we’d love to get members involved!

We also went to the Blue Zone, the biggest ‘inner sanctum’ imaginable with hundreds of events, pavilions, and of course the ever-important negotiations. Highlights were getting case studies from across the world of local innovations, as part of the UN Global Innovation Hub, and hearing from the World Bank and IMF on unlocking data in countries with poor infrastructure and connectivity to make it easier for development banks to invest. It was also great to meet with ICC colleagues at Chez ICC and to swing by the UK Pavillion for sessions on renewables and to meet with the DEZNZ team to see how negotiations were going.

The day concluded with Teo at a desert dinner with other partners from the Green Digital Action campaign (which we urge members to join) and myself at ‘Exeter House’ to get a preview on global tipping points and to meet with scientists and industry colleagues convening at the University of Exeter hub. They have led the way on so much of the science and how it can translate into real business action.

• ICYMI: The UK, USA, Canada and Germany committed to only procure low emission steel and concrete, and to harmonise carbon accounting standards for construction products. Given the scale of procurement from these countries this is a biggie.
• Fun fact of the day: The Nigerian Delegation to COP has 1,411 people.
• Sighting of the day: On several occasions (and what must seem deliberate) bumping into Graham Stuart MP, the UK Climate Change Minster, and former COP President Alok Sharma. Otherwise seeing Hillary Clinton and being driven around on a gulf buggy, and I think Emma Radacanu at the hotel hosting the Sustainable Innovation Forum. Assume she is on holiday…
• What will tomorrow bring: Teo will be in the Blue Zone all day and is speaking at a National Grid panel and I will be speaking at the ATOS Sustainable ICT conference on circularity and how climate is impacted by material efficiency. Otherwise, we’ll be at the Google and New York Times climate dinner as well as the UK Climate Leader dinner.

Written by Craig Melson, Associate Director for Climate, Environment and Sustainability, techUK