What role can innovation play in accelerating climate action? And is that even the right question to be asking? Following Re_set’s panel discussion at COP26, Director of Innovation and Sustainability, Hannah Mansour, shares her insights.
On a cold but bright afternoon in Glasgow at the start of the COP 26 conference, my colleague, Sophia, and I boarded the Extreme Hangout ferry on the River Clyde in search of answers to an important question: how can innovation accelerate action to deliver climate goals?
Earlier in the day we’d visited the Green Zone exhibitions featuring brands and NGOs tackling different aspects of climate change, passed protestors hanging from a bridge demanding change, and been inspired by young leaders at the Hangout. The message was clear. COP26 delegates needed to focus not just on the ‘what’ of climate change, but the ‘how’:
- How we shift from target-setting into action
- How we accelerate the pace of change
- How we direct funding to the right places
- How we ensure change for the future is equitable
- And more
The message from COP26 was clear: we need to focus not just on the ‘what’ of climate change, but the ‘how’.
Back on the boat, it was time for our panel discussion with young founders from tech and climate startups, including Agnes Czako from Airex, Juan Pablo Cerda from Zeigo, Henry Bishop from Furthr alongside Christopher Ramsay from Pelican Founders, and Luke Nicholls, Content Director at edie.
Here’s what we learned:
1. Innovation is already at the forefront of climate action.
Many innovations to tackle climate change issues are already here. Our collective focus needs to be on how we unleash the potential of these innovations to have impact at a scale.
2. Success metrics for innovation need to look beyond financial returns.
Traditional models of growth can provide the fuel needed for innovations to thrive, but we need to ask ourselves how we measure ROI beyond financial returns to apply equal weighting to other measures of success for people and the planet.
3. Businesses and governments need to work together.
Businesses need to innovate to transform with sustainability at their core and governments need to create policy and investment that accelerates innovation. We need to demonstrate how partnerships with innovators can close innovation gaps to achieve ambitious climate goals.
4. Innovations need to be accessible, affordable, and inclusive.
The nascent technologies shaping the fourth industrial revolution have great potential to raise global income levels and improve quality of life for populations around the world. We asked ourselves how we can leverage innovations being developed in the global north so that developing nations can leapfrog to a more sustainable future, leaving no one behind.
5. There are reasons to be optimistic about the future.
Young people are natural innovators, growing up in a world of problems and inaction, they are seeking solutions. As young innovators become the leaders of businesses and nations in the future, they will already know how to create the change the world needs.
We set out to discover how innovation could accelerate climate action and the discussion shone a light on how innovation is already at the forefront. The question we really need to ask now is: how can we accelerate innovation to drive climate outcomes?
Hannah Mansour
Director of Innovation and Sustainability at Re_Set
Re_set provides next generation strategies for businesses looking to accelerate innovation. To find out more, get in touch with our consultancy team.
