The impact of innovative UK and Northwest green tech at COP29

One of our four strategic missions is Advocacy – extending RedCAT’s successful commercialisation of green innovation regionally, nationally and globally. At COP29 Azerbaijan, Advocacy brought together many experts with skills to improve both the environment and world economy … and help Britain make an important global green-tech contribution that is far more than just financial.

It was always going to be difficult. Raising finance to help developing nations mitigate the worst impacts of climate change was, as expected, a major obstacle when 197 countries and the EU, the State of Palestine, and even the Vatican City, met in November.

RedCAT’s team was on the ground to help in key areas.

COP29 Azerbaijan managed to agree an initial forward pledge – a $300 billion package to help developing countries decarbonise their economies while working toward $1.3 trillion annually by 2035.

However, Global South nations – especially low-lying island states vulnerable to sea level rises – understandably wanted much more from the so-called ‘Finance COP’ to help solve real in situ environmental threats.

Regrettably, there was no fossil fuel phaseout progress. But there was agreement on a framework to make carbon markets operational.

By being present, RedCAT made sure Lancashire innovators were able to talk directly to Government ministers and civil servants about the importance of COP29 Azerbaijan while also putting first-class Lancashire green-tech on display to the world. As a result, important contacts were made, and a multi-million-pound agreement of intent was signed.

On 15 November, we saw two important RedCAT developments at COP29 Azerbaijan – plus smaller but equally significant ones we will refer back next month.

The first in the morning was a joint announcement with our colleague, former energy minister, and now chair of the Climate Action Coalition, Rt Hon Chris Skidmore, on the expansion of Desmos Capital Partners. The aim is to help SMEs scale and raise capital so that “… today’s new technologies will become tomorrow’s assets.”

As a direct benefit, Chris will now be working closely with RedCAT to support our innovators.

The second in the afternoon was that one our own Northwest companies – Carbonbit Technologies – was able to sign a £10 million memorandum of understanding (MOU – a more formal alternative to a gentlemen’s agreement) with the Azerbaijan Investment Company.

CEO Philip Hargreaves described this as “game-changing” for advancing Carbonbit Technologies’ ‘carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS)’ tech and boosting Lancashire’s green innovation.

Our other low carbon tech innovators also had opportunities not only to meet potential customers and partners but, most very importantly, to have private one-to-one conversations with potential funders themselves, including the Azerbaijan Investment Company and Azpromo.

There was no ‘bad’ news as such from our immediate perspective. But there were many challenges that, as described below, we can increasingly help to resolve with the now-proven RedCAT commercialisation methodology.

RedCAT’s raison d’être is devising and implementing practical solutions to take very promising post-prototype innovations that have successfully reached the proof-of-concept stage across the notorious ‘valley-of-death’ commercialisation gap to competitive markets.

Good intentions are not enough! Many UK innovations flounder when their funded university support ends at the prototype stage – often leaving brilliant entrepreneurs with no support during the later development phase. This includes setting up crucial demonstrator units potential customers can see to secure future investment.

Our alternative is an integrated and highly-detailed four-stage methodology. In it, we carefully tailor and make available through our ecosystem of support, the missing expertise individual projects need to succeed. The four are: –

RedCAT Innovation – technology feasibility and viability – market and competitor analyses – grant funding – demonstrator units and partners – early adopters – potential global roll-out opportunities

RedCAT Ventures – complexities of capital – finance – follow-on VC/equity opportunities. Next month, MD Stuart Thompson will consider why low carbon startups often struggle to secure vital funding

RedCAT Scale – identifying suitable sites with local authorities that have the right attributes – power sources – utilities – connectivity – local supply chain – future skills-bases

RedCAT Advocacy – supporting our businesses in intangible ways that are neither applications for money nor securing of customers –  may it be by raising their case directly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, re the importance of their sector and supply chain to the UK, or helping them to build a case with their international paymasters for global investment to land HERE – our aim is to drive the success of our RedCAT firms on a global stage.

We will look at Advocacy in more detail in the New Year.

Extending the RedCAT methodology across the UK, providing help in ‘Rebuilding the British Economy’, and making Britain a clean energy superpower is what we are about. We also work internationally where climate innovation can lead to a better world – which ties into COP29.

COP29, as a successful extension of Advocacy, brings an expanding circle of people who share our vision into the RedCAT Network. The network is already a growing community of internal and external specialists, technical consultants, third-party agencies – such as the British Business Bank and Innovate Edge – local government, plus talented individuals and companies.

With our sister project Chamber Low Carbon at the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, we had dual goals at COP29 which both drew on our experience of commercialising sustainable innovation: –

Green global influencers – a major priority was influencing global climate negotiations by emphasising the business role of innovators as solution providers in the world’s rapidly-emerging clean energy markets.

We also lobbied hard for much more late-stage commercialisation public finance from the Government promising innovators desperately need to complete their long, tough and expensive journey across the valley-of-death.

At the same time, we actively stressed during negotiations how important the deployment of a new generation of low carbon technologies is going to be in both economic and environmental terms.

Green trade mission – as at previous climate change COPs, our team included eight companies keen to export Northwest clean green-tech, including this time Blackburn-based Carbonbit Technologies. December’s Chamber Low Carbon thought-piece blog looks at these in detail.

Another very significant COP29 milestone (kilometre-stone) was the further development of close working relationships between RedCAT and the DESNZ team (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) during global climate negotiations and also the long-term role of green business.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is adamant COP29’s ambitions can be realised, despite temporary set-backs. He notes the world is not moving ‘nearly fast enough’, but that COP is still the best mechanism for averting climate breakdown.

The East Lancs presence in Baku began when RedCAT CEO Prof. Miranda Barker OBE DL was invited to join a private round table session with Mr Miliband to help paint a comprehensive picture of barriers the UK needs to overcome to achieve its climate-driven economic potential.

Subsequently, during the official UK Pavilion Blue Zone event, Miranda was again able to raise as a question with the energy secretary about how the deployment of UK green-tech into the Global South can be supported. Ana Toni, Brazil’s National Secretary for Climate Change who will hold the COP 30 Presidency in 2025, also took part.

Earlier, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the summit there is no national security without climate security … and that includes helping developing countries embrace the clean-energy revolution.

This is where we believe RedCAT’s own innovative commercialisation route for taking UK innovations to world markets – and solving local aspects of global climate problems – will gain traction.

We were also pleased to work with government and government agencies on several fronts – and note that in return they are keen to support RedCAT where our aims overlap and coincide.

To repeat successes similar to those at COP28 in Dubai, our team worked closely with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Azerbaijan, and BCC overseas, to develop a BCC COP29 business programme designed to support global BCC delegates with all things COP-related.

This was both in the Blue Zone where global decisions were made and the commercial Green Zone.

As an officially UNFCCC-recognised NGO, we were one of three business front organisations whose experts’ and delegates’ views the Government is keen to listen to. The other two are the CBI (through climate expert Tania Kumar) and the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

Lee McDonough – Director General, Net Zero, Nuclear and International DESNZ – was very keen to use the BCC COP29 launch event to flag up the 19 November relaunch by the Prime Minster of the Global Clean Power Alliance at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

RedCAT’s team was also welcomed to the British Embassy in Azerbaijan by Fergus Auld OBE, who since being appointed HM Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan in April 2022 has prioritised COP29 preparations.

At the embassy, we began a very enthusiastic conversation which we will continue with Anneliese Dodds – Minister of State for Development. She believes “International climate finance is at the heart of our climate and development objectives and our mission to be a clean energy superpower” and that unlocking ‘billions’ will help developing countries on the climate crisis frontline meet Paris Agreement aims.

We also valued our conversation with another of our event speakers, Julia Beck, Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at UK Export Finance, the UK Government’s Export Credit Agency.

In addition, we had private one-to-one pitching conversations with Azerbaijan funders Azpromo and the Azerbaijan Investment Company.

While in Baku, we also spoke to Nigel Topping – head of the new National Wealth Fund – who is keen to be involved with RedCAT and support our innovators.

Another of our fantastic COP29 event speakers who we look forward to working with is Emma Pinchbeck, the new CEO of the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

As mentioned above, Chris Skidmore was instrumental in setting up Desmos Capital Partners earlier this year as a boutique bank to help companies scale and raise capital from £5 million upwards.

Going further, he chose to announce at the BCC COP29 event in front of our RedCAT companies that four new regional centres are to be established in Paris, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Toronto, in addition to those named in July in UK, France, Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

With more than £250 million already secured in capital mandates, including EUR 30 million for Meatable – a lab-grown meat technology Time Magazine says is one of the Top 200 Innovations of 2024 – the goal is to catalyse net-zero growth from each location and scale sustainable tech worldwide.

As Chris explains, “We want to help support and grow companies which share our vision that there is no future economy without a net zero economy, and no future business without sustainable businesses that put our future first and commit to being part of the solution. Not only by reducing emissions, but also in supporting emerging economies and their rapidly developing needs.

“Desmos is here to help and scale up companies who have proven technologies that can provide those solutions – get in contact if we can be of help, we want to hear from you,” he says.

“Since announcing the creation of Desmos, I’ve been taken aback by the level of support but also by the tremendous demand from companies focused on the technologies and solutions of tomorrow to provide a sustainable future. They require guidance and support to deliver their scale up ambitions,” Chris added.

He concluded, “With this new expansion of our provision, I’m delighted to announce at COP29 – where a focus on private sector involvement is so crucial – that Desmos is here to play its role in facilitating the wider energy transition and the transformation towards a sustainable economy”.

Miranda adds, “Developing and delivering fully commercialised low carbon technologies is a global endeavour – and as such the funding must work without borders and constraints.

“We … are delighted to work in partnership with Desmos, and to bring our fast-commercialising low carbon innovators to an international base of funding expertise.”