Green-tech – Denmark, Brazil, the Atlantic … and globally

April saw RedCAT officially observing a key UN climate technology body in Copenhagen. We are also watching green tech’s growing security, defence and global trade implications – preparing a strong green case for November’s critical UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil – and helping local innovators commercialise new low carbon products and services the world needs urgently.

News (see below) – RedCAT has returned to Copenhagen’s UN Climate City to officially join the Climate Technology Centre and Network. CTCN will implement global technology deployment as part of the Paris Agreement enroute to COP30 in Brazil where we will once again promote the benefits of innovative UK climate-tech in a widening global green virtuous-circle. We also profile below our Sustainability Director, Stephen Sykes,

The term ‘climate’ is unfairly becoming toxic …

– But masks a positive long-term future

Currently unpopular in Washington, any mention of climate or environment is also being cited by many hard-pressed business organisations as a bona fide reason for distancing themselves from a bundle of short-term pressures.

However, not far below the surface the long-term picture is quite different … because it has to be … despite warnings from COP30’s recently appointed CEO that climate change is a long-term war.

The convenient truth is that green-tech is actually profitable and solves resource problems.

Under alternative names, low carbon thinking is now deeply entrenched at board-level in many corporations and companies that quietly recognise large- and small-scale green breakthroughs will provide commercially-viable solutions to problems posing major risks in the coming decades.

– Innovation was the past, is the present, and will be the future

Low carbon innovation is proving to be the right answer for many human nature and societal problems that tempting short-cut compromises cannot touch.

But we cannot wait passively for things to happen. RedCAT is geared to be pro-active with its low carbon partners and kindred partner organisations.

– Which is why RedCAT representatives have joined senior UN technology policy-makers in Europe.

– It is also why we will be ‘on the ground’ informing and influencing decision-makers in Brazil with COP30’s new ‘action-not-talk’ agenda.

– In parallel, we are helping down-to-earth Lancashire innovators to commercialise – i.e. take all the way from being manufactured to the point of sale – new ideas that consumers and businesses will be searching for in the not-too-distant future.

Why? Because we believe innovative products and services are better designed, commercialised, manufactured, sold, and exported to the world from the UK with British IP!

– Some sectors are protected, others vulnerable

It is not yet clear how UK green-tech might be affected by a trade war – and to what extent there will be opportunities as well as losses.

Across the Atlantic, tariff barriers are already slowing the growth of US battery storage projects large enough to feed the grid in Texas and California. The reason is their reliance on imported lithium-ion batteries, 69% of which come from China, according to BloombergNEF.

Solar power – a trade war veteran – and onshore wind are probably reasonably safe because US developers have already stockpiled imported solar panels for more than a year. Onshore wind has its own strong supply chains. However, offshore wind – and specifically Danish offshore wind developer Orsted A/S with major plans for the US east coast – expects to be hit hard.

– RedCAT’s four-step methodology offers a UK answer

However, the more positive news is that US investors in early-stage companies have not been put off by the White House’s anti-clean-energy policies.

Venture capitalists and private equity firms are said to have invested more than $5 billion in climate-tech startups during the first quarter of 2025 – a surge of nearly 65% compared to spring 2024, to according to data from market intelligence firm PitchBook, BloombergNEF adds.

Investors tempted to move from clean-tech to AI are also predicted to find themselves back in the climate sector because innovative companies use AI technology to reduce impacts and emissions.

If RedCAT’s successful tried and tested four-stage innovation – ventures – sale – advocacy methodology for crossing the notorious commercialisation ‘valley-of-death’ was applied, we would expect to see the same up-beat writing on the UK’s business wall.

Joining the low carbon dots …

– The global demand for technology

A key COP30 focus will be identifying what green-technology is needed to help keep the world relatively cool. The UN’s CTCN (Climate Technology Centre and Network) concentrates on the practical delivery. RedCAT is now an active CTCN network member in Copenhagen.

During April, RedCAT CEO, Prof. Miranda Barker OBE DL, and Director of Sustainability East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Stephen Sykes, joined other CTCN members for three days to discuss technology delivery and deployment issues. These are RedCAT priorities in Lancashire.

– The hard-headed end of making tech work

This meeting brings together the global representatives on the CTCN advisory board to consider the projects their budgets – collected from nations around the world – have funded for technology solutions to be deployed worldwide to alleviate climate problems, and what technology deployment projects they should fund in the future.

“By joining the network and becoming part of the UN process, we are learning at first-hand what the world’s environmental problems are and how the UN sees these challenges,” explains Miranda.

“RedCAT has already taken 46 leading-edge technologies to market and we looking to see what else can by manufactured by our innovators and entrepreneurs in Lancashire,” she adds.

In 2023, RedCAT attended a UN procurement summit at the Danish UN Climate City where we met with five of the UN’s organisations to explain and explore how our work supporting technology solutions could tackle their climate challenges.

– Speed and capacity

CTCN is the operational arm of the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism and works to accelerate the transfer of environmentally-sound climate technologies to developing countries.

As such, it provides technical assistance, capacity building, and advice on technology needs, policies, and implementation plans, all at the request of developing countries.

– BINGO!

The UN groups its cohorts of consultees by the kind of organisations they are. We as businesses are part of BINGO – Business and Industry Non-Governmental Organisations. RedCAT attended as official International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) observers under the BINGO constituency.

In May, we will look more closely at CTCN’s work and how this is a natural extension of RedCAT’s mission to commercialise green-tech locally, nationally, and globally.

Trade war could be a green-tech threat …

– But climate change is the long-term war!

There will be much more to say about November’s COP30 climate summit in the next six months. However, while with the right stepping-stones the future of green innovation is positive, risks remain.

Ana Toni, CEO of the 2025 climate summit in Brazil, told the Financial Times recently that a global trade war could curb world access to crucial technology needed to tackle rising temperatures.

“The trade war is a really big concern because some countries have technology for decarbonisation that other countries need…,” she explained, adding that “having fluid and free trade for specifically low carbon products is really important” and despite geopolitical turmoil, “… we have to have a successful COP because “Climate change is not going to wait for the geopolitical scenery to change”.

The Paris accord “rule book” is largely agreed now; therefore the focus must move on from negotiations to how to “accelerate action”.

– Climate and defence spending – mutual support

She is also critical of plans to cut overseas aid, warning that countries that boost security through rearmament must also bolster their climate efforts or, on lessons learned to date, face more wars.

“Climate change is an accelerator of inequalities and poverty, and we know that the consequences of inequality and poverty can turn into wars in the future,” she explains.

“Wars come and go. Unfortunately, climate change is there for a long time. We need to take climate change very seriously, otherwise we will have even more wars in the future. As an optimum solution, climate spending could be part of defence budgets, she suggests.

We would like you to meet our specialists in the coming months as they work to make the difficult, often expensive and unfamiliar commercialisation trek from post-prototype design to final end-user hands swifter, smoother, less costly and less painful.

Standards built on strategic and tactical experience

Stephen is RedCAT’s sustainability, compliance, certification and engagement expert. After an early career in the global chemical manufacturing sector, his focus on environmental regeneration and commercial consultancy includes international project work in Belgium, Ukraine, Romania and Japan, plus the detailed globalisation of supply chains.

His support for RedCAT innovators is based on 22 years of Sustainability Advisory experience, 11 more leading major programmes for the Groundwork Federation locally and nationally, and a detailed knowledge of central and local Government, business support agencies, trade bodies, funders and regulators.

With extensive strategic and tactical local and global experience, he is also a co-founder of the world’s first United Nations recognised local2030 hub. This engages with and encourages private, public and community sectors in the Liverpool City Region and beyond to put the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into practice. Stephen will also be an official observer at the 2025 UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil.

SME improvements

He has a pragmatic hands-on record for helping large and small business organisations to improve their productivity and efficiency through sustainable low carbon working – with a strong emphasis on new green technology and technical issues.

Specifically, Stephen has been the Chamber Low Carbon Programme Manager – an ERDF part-funded £6m business support programme – that helped Lancashire businesses to reduce energy consumption, improve environmental efficiencies, and introduce renewable energy technologies.

B Corp certification

His B-Leader qualification is also vital for RedCAT. B Leaders – sustainability professionals trained by B Lab UK – support businesses to B Corp certification which stresses social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability standards, plus value for stakeholders including workers and communities.

Career profile

Stephen’s early productivity and product planning work in the chemical industry is one cornerstone of his career and involved manufacturing fast-moving products – 80% were exported.

The focus was the saturated fatty acid stearic acid. Stearates – salts or esters of stearic acid – are used in soaps, detergents, cosmetics, lubricants, rubber, concrete, construction and plastics – everything!

He then had a long career with the Groundwork Federation – detailed below – concentrating on  business and employment.

Stephen also stressed the importance of developing business parks in Lancashire and Merseyside – and not just town centres – co-authoring a DETR guide – Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions – on setting up business parks.

Youth was also a central theme and he developed youth environmental awareness and business training, Youth Environmental Champions, and school-based youth programmes.

The health sector is another of Stephen’s core interests. He led a three-year-long sustainability programme involving 2,500 people at 105 locations from Southport to Speke including schools, walk-in centres, health centres, dentists, two prisons … and health workers themselves.

He successfully cut emissions; a key element was introducing a low carbon company car scheme.

International impact

Much of Stephen’s work is international and has involved project development with the World Bank, Department for International Development (DfID) and Romanian Environmental Partnership Foundation – while also delivering training and a walk-through environmental survey for British Embassy staff in Kyiv.

Groundwork

Posts held and developed, and projects delivered, from 1996 to 2018: –

– Groundwork St Helens, Knowsley Sefton and Liverpool – Environmental Regeneration Charity.

– Groundwork UK– Environmental Regeneration Charity.

– Groundwork EBS – Commercial Trading arm of Groundwork UK

– Groundwork Wirral/Merseyside – Environmental Regeneration Charity.

Stephen’s Groundwork input included developing, managing and delivering UK Government and European Funded Programmes (Objective One and ESF) as well as UK Government Single Regeneration Budget funds.

Health

– Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust – Good Corporate Citizen Manager.

University

– Liverpool John Moores University – Assistant Environmental Manager (Maternity Cover)

Environmental – low carbon

– 2030 Ventures Ltd T/A 2030hub – Co Founder and Director.

– East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce – Director of Sustainability/Chamber Low Carbon Programme Manager.

Strategic projects

– Led Groundwork UK contact with the Environment Agency, WRAP, CIWEM, IEMA, BSI, BRC and former member of the BSI Committee SES/1 Sustainable Development.

– Engaged by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority to develop Carbon Metrics, report and tool for MRWA activities related to management and disposal of Liverpool City Region’s domestic waste.

– Delivered environmental and social audits for B&Q and other high-profile commercial brands.

– Recently engaged to conduct a Circular City Scan feasibility study for Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority.

Posts held – business and community engagement

– Promoting UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

– Technical panel member of the Local 2030 Coalition which disperses a $30 million annual grant to local projects.

– Co-Chair – St Helens Climate Change Commission.

– Board-member – Liverpool City Region Climate Partnership .

– Board-member – Nature Connected (Liverpool City Region Local Nature Partnership).