E Co. at London Climate Action Week’s Climate Innovation Forum 2022

26 July 2022, Category: All insights, News, Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of our 2022 E Co. interns, Joshua White, attended the Climate Innovation Forum in June – a flagship event of London Climate Action Week 2022. Read what he learned below.

E Co. is a proud member of the Climate Markets and Investment Association (CMIA), an organisation that leads a coalition of private sector actors to mobilise the trillions that will enable a transition to a climate-resilient, low-carbon, sustainable economy. They were kind enough to provide me with a ticket for the Climate Innovation Forum 2022, a flagship event of London Climate Action Week, which took place in the capital last month. 

The event connected leaders in policy, finance and innovation to drive the UK’s net zero transition. This was achieved by promoting sustainability, environmentally-friendly behaviours, and new, high-potential innovations and technologies. The event itself comprised of companies such as GRIDSERVE, while incorporating guest speakers such as entrepreneur Deborah Meaden and Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt. The event was also an incredible platform to connect with other like-minded thinkers from a range of sectors but all devoted to a goal of green sustainability. 

The core focus of the Forum was on the use of new technologies by innovative companies. An example of this was Nature Capital who enable high integrity nature-based carbon removal and regeneration projects. They have built the first automated platform that helps evaluate, design and structure ecosystem restoration projects through the monitoring of water/soil quality, wood/peatland, as well as biodiversity. The Forum was  important as it promoted creativity and discussion about these new strategies and technologies. Those attending are pioneers at the forefront of these green innovations. Exploring other companies’ ingenuity allowed for business growth as multiple ideas were exchanged and adopted.

Another key topic was the exploration of how to fill the energy gap as we decarbonise. There is still large demand for energy with growing populations. Geopolitics, infrastructure, and technologies play a big role in the future of our energy with multiple solutions arising. The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) is a body for environmental practitioners that attended and works with other businesses to adapt their behaviours to become more sustainable. Other solutions relied on wind turbines while GRIDSERVE facilitate the transfer to electric transport. Lord Turner highlighted the future use of green hydrogen with the use of electrolysis and haber-bosch process. This could enable Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to create low carbon energies from fertilisers and promote self-sustainability. Ben Wilson (Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer and member of the National Grid) stated we are leading in connecting energy infrastructure but there is room for expansion. 

From the range of companies, it was a real pleasure to talk to members of HELIOZ. HELIOZ is a Social Enterprise developing climate projects and offering high quality carbon offsets. Their global team implements safe water projects with its own technology for water disinfection using solar power. HELIOZ’s innovative technological approach and advanced project design ensure high SDG impact and premium quality carbon credits with added social value. 

“The Climate Innovation Forum was a great exchange of innovative thoughts on climate solutions and insight into future developments. We can’t stop to push these necessary discussions and all their aspects further – one being impact investment which is still in a beginning stage but is so important.” Niclas Schmiedmaier, CEO HELIOZ GmbH 

The event was useful as it enabled the catalysation for the fluidity and creativity of ideas to lead the next steps on limiting climate change. Speaking to the vast array of people demonstrated that there is passion, determination, and skills for real change. Multiple companies provided similar services that could work together whilst others vastly varied but strived for the same goals. This could provide solutions for other businesses as they provide incite from different backgrounds. All who attended could offer a symbiotic relationship by sharing knowledge, networks, services, and innovations. There may be some competition but with COP27 approaching and all companies working towards the same goal, cohesion is imperative and has never been so pertinent. The Forum is especially important to E Co. because of the project design we are engaged in. Funders such as the GCF are increasingly focused on the integration of technological innovations in proposals and the forum was an opportunity to learn in-person about which technologies are most viable in different context.

It was a wonderful experience to represent E Co. as an intern and I was able to see the intricacies, impacts and structures of the vast and niche companies working towards a net zero society. The event offered a chance for me to build on this knowledge while analysing the global projects that involve the same topics and technologies. I was shown the positive impact that these companies are implementing beyond the research stage. I also valued meeting with the experienced individuals behind these incredible companies, who continue to innovate with the goal of combating climate change. It was a true pleasure to see such ingenuity and resilience in the face of climate change so thank you, CMIA.

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