COP 28: tech firms lead climate action

18th December 2023

Global Data

Sheryl Miles

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COP 28, the 28th annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting that took place in Dubai, has delivered some progress towards addressing the climate crisis.

Technology companies collaborated with the UN, reinforcing their commitment to sustainability goals. Initiatives like the AI Innovation Grand Challenge demonstrate the tech sector's pivotal role. Partnerships, such as the UN-Microsoft collaboration and Telefónica's accelerated environmental goals, underscore the sector's impact on global climate action, according to GlobalData, one of the leading data and analytics companies.

GlobalData believes that COP 28 has successfully started to recognise the vital role that technology has to play in addressing the climate crisis. Initiatives like the UN Climate Change Technology Executive Committee (TEC), together with Enterprise Neurosystem, a non-profit open-source artificial intelligence (AI) community, have launched the AI Innovation Grand Challenge to identify and support the development of AI-powered solutions for climate action in developing countries.

Robert Pritchard, Principal Enterprise Technology and Services Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “It is encouraging that COP 28 is bringing parties together from governments and industries to map long-term opportunities to address the climate crisis. At the same time, the tech sector continues to innovate independently.”

The partnership announced at COP 28 between the UN and Microsoft to create an AI-powered platform and global climate data hub to measure and analyse global progress in reducing emissions is one example of positive developments.

Another is the decision by Telefónica to expedite its environmental goals, moving forward its commitment to reduce operating emissions by 90% and value chain emissions by 56% to the year 2030. This acceleration aims to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2040, encompassing emissions reductions throughout its entire value chain.

Pritchard concludes: “The combination of the inevitably slow process of getting 190 countries to agree policies and methodologies to address the climate crisis combined with the stated commitment of tech sector companies to improve their own performance and help customers to act more sustainably is good news for the planet. By COP 29, GlobalData expects many such further developments from the tech sector as it continues to lead in addressing global environmental challenges.”