The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth … or not!

Who can we trust – politicians, economists, or scientists? As the UK autumn party conference season closes – and widely differing views face off in fierce global competition – the battle for responsible climate policies is raging, fuelled and/or distorted by experimental tariffs, plus legal and market hurdles. With green innovation we can both have our net-zero cake and eat it!

But first your urgent call to COP30 action!

Because of distance, convenience and cost, RedCAT CEO Prof. Miranda Barker OBE DL and Chamber Director of Sustainability Stephen Sykes will be on location in Brazil at COP30 in November making a strong case for Lancashire green-innovation companies that are back in the UK to global politicians, business leaders and potential international buyers.

However, to join our remote team you must send key information to us as soon as possible.

Please see the “Visit COP30 in Brazil directly from your office” box below and send details, facts and figures you would like a global audience to see to Jamie at jp.jervis@redcatgroup.co.uk.

News (see below) –

♦ A new report from the consultant Ember shows that despite current negative renewable energy attitudes from the White House and kindred political platforms, renewable energy output has for the first time overtaken global fossil fuels demand growth – led by China which is also a major energy consumer. ♦ Meanwhile, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has argued forcefully in his keynote 2025 party conference speech that net zero is essential for a sustainable future.

♦ October also sees Paul Addison – Great British Energy’s Director of Policy and External Affairs – joining us at a major RedCAT Network meeting to discuss much-needed innovative support for green energy generating technologies. He will also join a roundtable meeting with network members working in GBE areas of interest. We will report on this in November.

♦ Meanwhile, the compilation of a high-level report for Ed Miliband is underway. Miranda recently explained to the DESNZ Net Zero Council Delivery Group and full Net Zero Council why a rapidly expanding green-tech sector will be a primary UK growth driver – and will be urging them to support our sector’s work when we are in a position to enact some of the report’s recommendations.

♦ UN climate chief Simon Stiell also explains why November’s COP30 global climate summit in Brazil must be seen as part of a long-term process rather than a one-off event.

♦ And we profile Stuart Thompson as RedCAT’s specialist helping early-stage technology companies to raise capital, commercialise, and scale into investable, high-growth ventures.

Visit COP30 in Brazil directly from your office (see above)

First benefit

Miranda and Stephen will be on location at COP30 in the Brazilian rainforest to create a live presence for Lancashire’s green-tech innovative companies through social media and online connections. They will also be talking directly to members of the UK Government, existing customers, new global contacts, potential clients, international financiers, and UN negotiators.

If you would like RedCAT to actively represent your business at COP30, please send Jamie material that will explain clearly to influential global movers and shakers your low-carbon strengths and offerings!

Second benefit

However, there is another important way in which we can help Northwest climate-tech businesses.

RedCAT is also a Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) advisory board attendee. CTCN recognises the RedCAT system as a great example of its natural default ‘101’ model.

The mission of CTCN – the implementation arm of the Technology Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change hosted by UNEP – is to accelerate the transfer of ‘environmentally sound technologies for low carbon and climate resilient development’ as requested by individual developing countries.

How does this help our green-tech companies?

RedCAT is well positioned to provide early insights into the UN’s international green-tech opportunities, needs, and goals to our RedCAT firms to help drive the development of new innovations to answer the UN’s challenges.

By good fortune, CTCN members will also be key UN negotiators at COP30. Knowing them personally gives us an inside track to make meaningful business connections

– To win, politics and ideology must be taken out of the equation in favour of facts and figures

Is net zero a failed concept or non-negotiable essential for the future?

There is no shortage of heated arguments on both side of this growing party-political and ideological, but also commercial, environmental and technical, debate.

How do we choose sides? Do we need to support one view over another? What are the risks of picking the wrong side? And will future generations blame us if we mistakenly compromise their future?

Our views are explained in a moment. But first …

A range of perspectives

Lord Stern – who researched and authored the pioneering “The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review” in 2006 – argues that climate investment is the ‘only’ growth 21st century opportunity.

In parallel, authoritative S&P research warns that global warming could reach 2.3°C by 2040.

Views across the globe – and particularly in the western world – differ widely on this pivotal issue that could define how future generations live for decades to come.

Government and Opposition views

As summarised below, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband – currently under heavy fire to drop his net-zero narrative – laid out a passionate case at the 2025 Labour Party conference for sticking to a long-term ambitious low carbon agenda.

As an alternative, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch says her party would end UK 2050 net-zero target and interim carbon budgets, replacing them with a plan to “prioritise” cheap energy and economic growth a framework to free the UK from ‘time-bound climate targets’, but would maintain a future commitment to protect the natural environment.

China syndrome

Meanwhile, the facts and figures show that of 2025 renewable energy for the first time surpassed coal as the world’s leading source of electricity, with the caveat that qualified progress was made more in China which managed to expand its renewable sector with a slight edge over coal growth.

– Labour and Conservative parties lay out their plans

Another key factor in the fight to prevent irreversible heating from the 2050 mid-century point is political philosophies on show at the recent UK party conference season.

Ed Miliband said the Labour Government is governing with ‘totally different ideals and vision’ to its No 10 Downing Street contenders and is proud of what has already been achieved for clean energy.

Clean energy achievements in the last year

He listed ten thousand new jobs at the new Sizewell C nuclear station in Suffolk, investments in Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactors, funding for carbon capture and storage “in all corners of Britain” – all as part of the “… biggest investment in clean energy in British history”.

Other achievements include ending the onshore wind ban, providing enough solar energy capacity to power two million homes, plus solar panels at 200 hospitals and 200 schools to cut energy bills.

Great British Energy

Another milestone is the formation of the first publicly owned energy company in 70 years in the form of Great British Energy

This must be the start of major change, he said, adding that “… our country needs to be run very differently”. 

It is important to note GBE’s three key missions which are – to power Britain with clean, secure, home-grown energy; and invest in local communities; while creating jobs and strengthening supply chains.

We hope that our suppliers will be able to feed into the second mission while our businesses find routes to funding via the third mission.

Approval for clean energy to power 7.5 million homes

Going further, approval for the Tillbridge Solar Farm in Lincolnshire marks the 17th nationally significant clean energy project approved since July 2024 in the Government’s clean power drive to deliver energy security and bring down bills permanently.

The Government’s approach is to maximise solar on rooftops to save families around £500 annually.

– “A cleaner environment for our children”

Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch says her party, if elected, would end not only the UK’s 2050 net-zero target but also interim carbon budgets recommended by climate scientists.

Instead, it would be replaced by a plan to “prioritise” cheap energy and economic growth with a framework to free the UK from time-bound climate targets, but maintain a future commitment to protect the natural environment.

The policy shift is somewhat surprising given new evidence that the earth has reached its first catastrophic tipping point linked to warming such that warm water coral reefs now face a long-term decline which risks the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, according to the “Global Tipping Points Report 2025”

Researchers warn the world is also “on the brink” of other tipping points, including the dieback of the Amazon, the collapse of major ocean currents and the loss of ice sheets.

Clean legacy for children

Badenoch added, “We want to leave a cleaner environment for our children, but not by bankrupting the country. Climate change is real. But Labour’s laws tied us in red tape, loaded us with costs, and did nothing to cut global emissions. Previous Conservative governments tried to make Labour’s climate laws work – they don’t.

“Under my leadership, we will scrap those failed targets. Our priority now is growth, cheaper energy, and protecting the natural landscapes we all love”.

– RedCAT’s view is quite clear.

We are convinced there is irrefutable evidence verifying that rising temperatures are causing real and measurable global warming. For those who are still less convinced, the precautionary principle should perhaps be our guide wherever feasible, possible, and reasonable.

Good business sense

However, there is an even more important reason for supporting the development of renewable energy sources and the supporting technologies that accompany them. Cost and capabilities

Well-designed, installed and operated renewable energy systems are now more efficient and attractive than old school fossil fuels.

And that is where green innovation as the basic driver of the low carbon energy revolution is now so important.

– The optimistic case we are now well positioned to replicate and beat

In the first half of 2025 renewable energy for the first time passed coal as the world’s leading source of electricity, according to data from the global energy think-tank Ember.

Electricity demand is growing globally. But particularly strong solar and wind power growth was able to meet 100% of the extra power demand while helping to drive a small decrease in coal and gas use.

Headlines mask a mixed picture

Developing countries – and especially China – took the lead. The bad news is that richer nations, including the US and EU, increased their dependency on planet-warming fossil fuels. This divide is expected to increase, according to a separate International Energy Agency (IEA) report which predicts renewables will grow less strongly than forecast in the US because of Trump administration policies.

China uses more coal but produces more clean energy

Coal remained the world’s largest individual source of energy generation in 2024. The irony is that China continues to add more coal-fired power station fleet while being way ahead in clean energy growth.

Overall, China added more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined and as a result was able to reduce its fossil fuel generation by 2%.

Bad US and EU news

US electricity demand grew faster than clean energy output, increasing reliance on fossil fuels. Months of weak wind and hydropower performance resulted in a rise in EU coal and gas generation.

– Solar power is better investment than relying on 19th and 20^th century technologies

Economist Lord Nicholas Stern says fossil-fuelled growth creates economically self-destruction damage. However, the falling costs of clean technologies – and healthier and productive societies they support – means the climate crisis can be tackled, faltering economic growth boosted, and millions of people taken out of poverty, he argues.

Big changes in policies and investment levels are needed he adds in geopolitical environment that is currently difficult. Which is why it is vital to make the rational net-zero argument.

Trump card

He adds, “I’d say to [US President] Trump: “You’ve got children and grandchildren – think about the science, think about the risks.” He points to examples of wildfires in California and adds that … ”his place in Florida is going to be extremely vulnerable to more intense hurricanes, sea level rise and storm surges.”

He also adds that “solar beats fossil fuels on electricity across most of the world, including in big parts of the US.” Texas will invest in solar and wind because it is cheaper than alternatives and a better investment than 19th and 20^th century technologies.

Stern review

Lord Stern led a 2006 700-page review which noted that climate action costs less than damage caused by inaction and that climate change is the greatest market failure the world had ever seen.

– More climate cash innovations are needed

There is a 50% chance global temperature averages will be 2.3°C higher 16 years from now than before the industrial revolution with devastating socioeconomic consequences, according to a new S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis.

The research says global average temperatures have a 90% likelihood of being 1.5°C  warmer in 2040 than pre-industrial levels. Passing 2.3°C means the cumulative economic costs could reach 33%.

More innovations in climate cash needed

The analysis team says unlocking additional climate adaptation finance to make key infrastructure, communities and public health more resilient to physical climate risks is vital.

At least $187 billion more annually will be needed up to 2030 to meaningfully address climate-related risks, says the UN which wants governments to spend more, particularly on “transformative” large-scale projects, but also innovate to unlock more private and philanthropic finance.

S&P’s experts say part of the reason for under-investment is “uncertainty about the timing, extent, impacts and costs of climate change”. However, “probabilistic analysis is beginning to mature”.

– COP30 in Brazil should be part of a long-term process

UN climate chief Simon Stiell believes economic benefits will force countries to speed up climate action as China has shown ahead of November’s COP30 global climate summit in Brazil.

He explained recently that governments will not deliver the climate commitments needed to meet the Paris agreement but could reset their economies to reap the advantages of low-carbon growth. “We’re moving in the right direction,” he added. “Not fast enough, not deep enough, but [progress made by countries in moving to a low-carbon economy] shows something is working.”

“We’ll always have Paris” – Casablanca

Plans – known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – under the Paris agreement must show how countries will limit global temperature rises to 1.5C above preindustrial levels. This is no arbitrary target. Beyond it the impacts of the climate crisis become catastrophic and irreversible.

The US, Russia and Saudi Arabia have tried to disrupt recent climate talks. China is expected to submit an NDC that is weaker than it should be in the face of White House volatility and weak EU commitments.

COPs are a process – not an event

COPs should be seen as a process Stiell believes. “We have this perception that we need to solve all aspects of the climate crisis in a single COP. We set false expectations that everything needs to be resolved in that given moment.”

Instead, he hopes to show concrete examples of how governments like China with ‘billions’ in investment are reaping bumper profits by turning to clean energy and a green transformation.

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

Stuart Thompson

Stuart is MD of the RedCAT Ventures and a specialist in helping early-stage technology companies to raise capital, commercialise, and scale into investable, high-growth ventures.

As the Founder and MD of Reorient Consulting he has also advised many tech-led leaders, boards and ventures.

Commercial clarity

At the heart of Stuart’s approach is a relentless focus on commercial clarity – aligning strategy, sales, and customer value to drive performance and sustainable growth.

One of his key strengths is combining board-level experience in numerous companies with hands-on CXO support so leadership teams can sharpen their focus, build scalable systems, and navigate change confidently.

RedCAT Ventures

At RedCAT Ventures, Stuart works with founders to turn ambitious technical ideas into scalable commercial business plans that can secure investment and make a real impact.

From guiding teams through early-stage strategic planning and investment readiness to refining commercial strategy and building strong go-to-market plans, his focus is always on empowering founders with simplicity, commerciality, and confidence to achieve their vision.

Space for clear strategic thinking

Stuart advises CEOs on navigating the unique pressures of leadership while unlocking their full potential. Through one-to-one executive coaching, he provides the space to think clearly, challenge assumptions, and make better strategic decisions.

One-to-one and team-building

CEOs working with Stuart build greater confidence, resilience, and clarity of direction, while also developing stronger teams around them. The result is not just improved business performance, but also a more balanced, assured, and effective leader at the helm.

Additional experience

As Non-Executive Chair of MGISS and Assetcool, Stuart has guided deep tech and cleantech businesses from inception to market with multiple fundraises, aligning commercial growth and successful go-to-market strategy with investor expectations and national/international market entries.

Achievements

Previously, he led technology commercialisation and international sales leadership at EA Technology, building high-growth go-to-market strategies in China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the USA.

Additional roles

• Reorient Consulting
• Eyestyle Studio
• Early-Stage Investment Board Member – Lancashire County Council
• Business Support Board Member for The Lancashire LEP
• Chair – Lancashire – The Institute of Directors IOD
• Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise Dean’s Council
• CBI – NW Regional Council Member
• Liverpool University Management School – Advisory Board Member