COP27: Global agreement in green tech

Speaking at the COP27 negotiations in Egypt, the Business Secretary announced over £65 million investment to help speed up the development of new green technologies – backed by the talent and expertise of British business.

This builds on the legacy of COP26 in Glasgow, where the UK founded a coalition of countries to scale and speed up the development and deployment of clean technologies and drive down costs this decade, known as the Breakthrough Agenda.

Mr Shapps said it will be the efforts of entrepreneurs, innovators and the international community that will help cut global emissions in the coming decade and achieve net zero by 2050 – something today’s investments will help achieve.

These measures will help expand a whole global market in clean energy technologies, making them accessible and affordable to developing countries – and enabling UK companies to share their talent and expertise in this vital and growing industry.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Green means growth, and with our existing talents in clean technologies, UK businesses could be world leaders in an industry that will only expand, creating jobs for generations to come while also protecting our precious planet.

“At COP27 we are leading international efforts to ensure these new innovations can be more accessible and affordable to heavy, energy-intensive industries in some of the world’s poorest countries.

“These agreements are a key part of us achieving our net zero targets and our global efforts to cut emissions – but I am also proud that they will mean more countries will benefit from the knowledge and expertise we have nurtured here on UK shores.”

The UK is already a world leader in the latest green technologies, ranging from the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, to the manufacture of electric vehicles.

These announcements not only highlight the UK’s leading position on tackling climate change; they also show how this country is influencing international markets to go greener, in a way that gives the UK an advantage over other countries in delivering jobs, growth and investment in the UK.

The Business Secretary announced:

• That the UK has built a coalition of governments, representing more than half of global GDP, who will take forward actions to speed up the development of new alternatives to fossil fuels for the carbon-intensive sectors, so that by 2030 they use the cheapest and most attractive options available to businesses in emerging and developing economies
• A UK pledge of £65 million towards the world’s first large scale Industry Transition Programme, by the Climate Investment Funds, to support energy-intensive industries in developing economies including India and Indonesia to go green
• UK Government’s support, alongside Germany, for a new funding window for projects developing innovative and transformational clean technologies. Set to open in 2023, this funding from the Mitigation Action Facility will go to key priority sectors – energy, transport, and industry – identified in the Breakthrough Agenda at COP27. This will support developing countries to achieve their goals for tackling climate change and reducing emissions

This comes on top of the Prime Minister’s announcement of a further £65.5 million for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility, which provides grants to researchers and scientists to accelerate the development of innovative clean energy technologies in developing countries. Since the UK-led fund was launched in 2019 it has so far supported 76 projects, including the creation of biomass-powered refrigeration in India, prototype lithium-ion batteries in Nigeria and clean hydrogen-based fuels for steel production in Morocco, among other innovations. Its beneficiaries have praised the programme for its ability to identify business and community needs as it unlocks innovation opportunities.

CEO of the Climate Investment Funds, Mafalda Duarte said: “Emissions from hard-to-abate industries are concentrated in developing countries and set to rise.

“With support from the United Kingdom and Sweden, the first-of-its-kind CIF Industry Decarbonisation program will support developing countries, manage transition risks, and seize emerging economic opportunities.

“This investment platform will bring to bear concessional finance, technical assistance, and partnerships to ignite transformation across industries like steel, cement, and aluminium.”