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The transition to net zero is a global challenge, one that we must all navigate together and at pace. For the UK and USA, the next 5–10 years are a critical period when it comes to meeting our ambitious 2030 and 2050 targets as set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

New and developing technologies have a vital role to play. At the individual level – travel and home heating; the city/regional level – housebuilding and retrofitting, travel systems and infrastructure – right up to the large-scale and industrial – Carbon Capture Usage and storage (CCUS), Direct Air Capture (DAC).

This event focused on how can we share our collective knowledge to ensure that there is a vibrant, effective and accelerated technological ecosystem that…

1. Encourages and supports effective innovation, research & development
2. Supplies sufficient and effective investment that accelerates the movement of new technology from the innovation lab to reality
3. Nurtures market demand from end consumers who will adapt to and accept new, clean technology
4. Ensures responsible use of technological solutions as part of a coordinated, strategic and effective response to the climate emergency

After days of extended negotiations, COP28 ended with a multilateral agreement which contained an unprecedented reference to the phasing out of fossil fuels and committed to triple renewable energy capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. We have the opportunity to catalyse a surge in investments and job opportunities, facilitate affordable access to secure, locally sourced energy and to build a just, clean future for everyone.

The importance of investment, strong policy frameworks and buy-in from business is widely recognised with an established discourse, however despite the consumer’s significant impact on releasing capital and supporting policy – their role is often under-explored and overlooked.

In a time of political division, the cost-of-living crisis and in a year where approximately 49% of the global population will be voting in general elections – we need to recognise the importance of public consent and winning hearts and minds in order to make effective progress.

The event focused on:

1. How do we engage the public around support for policy and policy frameworks that enable a transition to renewable energy?
2. How do we make the case for strong and accelerated investment in the products, services and infrastructure that we need?
3. How do we garner public support for changing infrastructure within our towns, cities and countryside?
4. How do we facilitate, encourage and support people to make the multitude of changes that they will be required to make to their everyday lives as we move towards our net zero future?

In 2009, developed countries jointly pledged to mobilise $100bn per annum to support climate action in developing countries. This target was never met and the pledge is set to expire in 2025. It is estimated that approximately $5 trillion is required annually just to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), intended to replace this pledge, is currently under negotiation and is due to be finalised by the end of 2024. A successful agreement would unlock the finance needed for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage funds.

This Climate Co-Lab event brought together senior leaders and decision-makers from across sectors to explore this fluid and rapidly developing landscape. Attendees sought solutions to key questions, such as:

1. What could we learn from past negotiations that would help ensure the NCQG is successful
2. What systems-level changes in global financial architecture are required to scale and deliver on climate finance?
3. What should affordable and attractive financial packages look like?
4. What instruments are needed to finance a just transition to the net-zero target set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement commitments?
5. What interactions between policy, public finance, private finance, and regulation will enable us to identify, seize, and propel these opportunities forward?
6. Workers and communities may not have a seat at the negotiating table, but their role is essential in adopting climate-positive solutions and catalysing change – how can we include and mobilise this powerful collective?

Scotland’s second – and most critical – climate change action plan was due to be published in November 2023. The plan needed to detail the key areas of action that would transform Scotland’s economy into the world’s first Net Zero economy. It was required to articulate the practical actions and initiatives necessary to meet legal requirements while also doing so in ways that would excite and inspire investors to get involved.

To inspire discussion, Ms Patricia Espinosa, former chair of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Director of onepoint5, and Ambassador to Mexico and Germany, was invited to join the event in person. This event was an exceptional opportunity to hear from a globally acclaimed and inspirational diplomat who had been at the forefront of discussions and negotiations at COP26, helping to position Scotland as a global leader in tackling climate change.

The event focused on three key pillars of Scotland’s approach to accelerating its journey to net zero:

1. Mobilising Finance
2. Showcasing Ambition
3. Ensuring a Just Transition

This event helped participants see how they, in their roles and by working with others, could make a difference to the overall sustainability of tourism and cultural events in their city.

Every participant left the discussion energised, motivated, and with new connections who could help them accelerate positive change.

This event covered the following topics:

1. How can we ensure that city infrastructure, transport, policies and hospitality facilitate sustainable events?
2. What initiatives can cultural organisations employ to reduce their carbon emissions or broader environmental impacts?
3. Ultimately, how can the cultural sector and cities work together to ensure that tourism happens in the most environmentally sustainable way possible?

If managed well, collaborations between public and private sector entities at all scales are important tools for achieving net zero. This event helped delegates to discover some practical ways to ensure that the public sector, private businesses, and academia work cohesively, effectively and with our society and environment foremost in mind.

This event aimed to highlight, accelerate and ultimately help improve:

1. Existing mechanisms of collaboration between the public & private sector
2. Impacts of existing collaborations
3. Potential new collaborations

This discussion explored:

1. The business case for operating within a responsible and sustainable business model
2. The instruments which can be used to guide responsible and sustainable business practices, including (but not limited to):
   • The critical role that financiers play in encouraging responsible business through the funding they can offer.
   • Ways in which policy can be utilised as a lever to support businesses to make decisions which are environmentally sustainable and just.

Whether delivering supply chain innovation, de-risking new technologies, growing green skills capacity, directing subsidies, or providing a suitable policy landscape to help all of this come together, we all had the power to influence the system and define the outcome as we strove for the ultimate goal: an equitable and sustainable energy transition for all.

Leaders joined in an invigorating discussion to gain clarity and insight on how to deliver the energy transition as a package, celebrated how far we had come, and discovered unique opportunities for collaboration to help their organisations drive forward the energy transition.

This event explored:

1. How do we reach the goal of environmentally sustainable energy security and price stability in this transitioning global system?
2. How can we keep emissions in line with 1.5 whilst ensuring an equitable transition for all within the system?
3. What can we do in Scotland and beyond to ensure that the supply of materials and skills keeps up to speed with ambition?

This event explored:

1. What can we do to support changes to financial policy to favour green investment?
2. How can we direct capital toward projects that will help to ensure an environmentally secure future?
3. How can the public and private sector work together to direct funding toward projects which build a better future for all?
4. Could we create new financial products which bundle smaller environmental projects into more attractive larger-scale investment opportunities?
5. Given the climate emergency, do we need to redefine our definition of risk and overcome short-term thinking?

This plenary event explored how Scotland can deliver key commitments made at COP26.

The discussion focused on:

1. How can businesses, investors and the public sector play their part in delivering the commitments made at COP26?
2. A number of the COP26 commitments will perhaps be addressed, and ideas as to how to implement these practically in the business community will be encouraged
3. How Scotland’s senior leaders can make the most of the opportunity presented to Scotland by COP26
4. What support Scottish organisations might need from the Scottish Government to deliver COP26 commitments
5. What are the opportunities for Scotland as a global leader in the transition to Net Zero?