What do we mean when we talk about innovation? For many, the term is synonymous with the tech world, but in reality, innovation can apply to any industry – its more about a way of thinking that any particular sector. It’s about
A Global Innovation Hub was launched by UN Climate Change in November 2021 to promote transformative innovations for a low-emission and climate-resilient future. The hub promotes a “moonshot approach” which will assist practitioners to base climate action pledges and commitments on what science says is needed, as opposed to what is perceived as possible with current solutions and technologies.
“The Hub promotes transformative Climate Innovations, that can facilitate the development of alternative value-chains to satisfy the core human needs of nutrition and health, shelter, access, leisure and clothing while being aligned with the climate and sustainability goals,” says UNFCCC Mitigation Manager, Massamba Thioye.
At a Bonn Climate Conference side-event on innovation, panelists focused on the ways that innovation can boost climate ambition and strengthen the ambition of country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – essentially a country’s plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
Dennis Pamlin, Executive Director of Mission Innovation's Net-Zero Compatibility Initiative, spoke about the paradigm shift that is needed when thinking about climate action. “Maybe the very idea of reducing emissions is a problem, and we should focus on avoiding emissions and helping people meet their human needs.”
“The Global Innovation Hub is really asking questions,” he said. “The first one is how do we commit to reducing emissions? That is what cities, countries and companies have been asked to do. But that is not based on what society needs, but on what is perceived as possible. At the core of this is [that] instead of looking at current sources of emissions and sectors, we shift the focus to human needs and who can provide solutions to them.”
Look at the example of electric vehicles – the Hub won’t just focus on developing EVs, but questions the need for a car in the first place, examining the options for compact “walkable” cities with low carbon public transport that reduces the need for cars.
Key, Pamlin said, is understanding where emissions are coming from and the reality of the global inequality we see today. “If we talk about reducing emissions, we are talking about the richest 10 per cent who are emitting almost 50 per cent of global emissions,” he says. “So, for most people today, the problem is not reducing emissions, it is how they can live flourishing lives, and move out of poverty. That shift from carbon reduction in the West to a global development for everyone is really important.”
A lot of the thinking we see today is centred on a static innovation approach, which is based around improving current systems. We make a fridge or a car or a house that’s a little better, but we are not asking what the underlying needs are, and how best to meet them.”
Pamlin also made the point that many of the frameworks that exist around climate action were set up in a world that no longer exists. In 1992, he says, 14 of the world’s 20 largest companies on the Fortune 500 focused almost exclusively on delivering fossil fuel-based products; by 2018, that number had fallen to two. “At the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, nine of the world’s 20 largest companies were part of the Global Climate Coalition, questioning if climate change was real. Today no major company publicly challenges climate science.”
Pamlin outlined the fact that innovation is needed in all areas of life for us to fight the climate crisis: “We need innovation not just in technology, but in legislation, in economic models, in business models.”
The Climate Innovation Hub
What is it?
The Hub is a collaborative space consisting of two parts: a physical hub (where participants can share ideas around climate action innovation) at each year’s COP (the first Hub took place at COP26 in Glasgow), and an online hub which will eventually feature a range of innovative climate action solutions. “Examples include leveraging digital technologies to reduce the need for car to access products and services and innovative solutions to produce protein that replaces meat,” says Thioye. “They should also, as much as possible, enable to repurpose the knowledge and expertise of the disrupted value-chains in the forward-looking ones, thereby avoiding stranded people and social failure, as well as the assets of the disrupted value-chains to avoid stranded assets and financial failure.”
Why is the Hub important?
There is still a big gap between the current climate actions underway and what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals. In order to bridge that gap, ‘moonshot thinking’ is needed – big ideas, innovative ideas, ideas that go beyond incremental change. In order for this to happen, there needs to be a space where transformative innovation can flourish.
Who is involved in the Hub?
Everyone from NGOs and academia to investors, tech start-ups, governments, civil society and the private sector. In short, everyone who wants to help move the needle when it comes to climate action.
What can I do about it?
Think about your daily needs and how you can take care of them in the most sustainable way possible. And remember, innovation does not just have to be for technology companies. For example, instead of buying new shampoo bottles every few months, find a shop that will refill your existing containers. Look through every aspect of your life and figure out if you can avoid – rather than just reduce – your emissions. And remember to share your discoveries with friends, family and on social media.