Behind the hubris: easy, tangible policies are within reach to unlock climate innovation (Guest blog from Startup Coalition)
Guest blog by Neil McLoughlin, Climate Policy Lead at Startup Coalition. Part of techUK's Climate Action at COP28 Campaign Week 2023.
Startups are founded to solve problems - and there is no bigger problem right now than climate change. And the UK is primed to take advantage of the new jobs and growth that will result from this innovation – if it acts now.
The UK has some of the most ambitious Net Zero goals in the world, but to achieve the pace of change it is aiming for, and the climate crisis demands, it needs to lean-in to its homegrown ClimateTech.
If we don’t the sector - with its innovation, jobs, and investment - will likely up sticks and move elsewhere.
Last year Startup Coalition worked with over 100 startups and partners across the sector, including techUK, publishing a roadmap for how the Government could turbocharge ClimateTech. We will be refreshing this report before COP28 this year. Critically, we focused on easy-to-achieve, low-cost measures, of which there are many.
First, regulations need updating. When the Climate Change Act was passed in 2008 it only understood removing greenhouse gases as a natural process, such as rewilding a wetland. That meant removals from later innovations, such as biochar or direct air capture plants, were not eligible to be counted in the UK’s carbon budget calculation. This issue was rectified in 2023 with the Energy Act - but similar updates are needed across the economy.
Next, regulatory capacity and bureaucracy is standing in the way of new industries. Around the world, there is a race towards cultivated meat to enhance food security and sustainability. Singapore, Israel, and the US have led the way in seizing this new market whilst in the UK, cultivated meat languishes. The Food Standards Agency is under-resourced and its “novel-foods” framework is convoluted and prolonged. The success of cultivated meat should be tested in restaurants and on supermarket shelves, but right now it’s bureaucrats stopping UK consumers from voting with their wallets.
Finally, the government must support the creation of new markets like the Carbon Market. The existence of a carbon market is inevitable, but its location, alongside the consequent tax revenue and jobs, is not. Carbon markets are growing all over the world as emissions trading schemes pop up, alongside the voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). Whether compelled by the state, or driven by market forces, there is a market for carbon, but this market needs direction. VCMs in particular are in need: today there is a complex web of industry bodies working on integrity, in parallel with a UN Article 6 process which will likely progress at COP28. Meanwhile, the UK Government looks to have delayed its expected consultation on regulating VCMs. This uncertainty is only a bad thing for the lively UK-based sector of startups ready to fuel this new economy.
The UK’s growth has been sluggish in recent years - ClimateTech holds the key to unlocking it if we can grasp the opportunity. From out-of-date legislative language to bureaucratic regulators and the markets of tomorrow, there are steps that policymakers can take today that will unlock innovation without entering the quagmire of Net Zero politics.
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By 2030, digital technology can cut global emissions by 15%. Cloud computing, 5G, AI and IoT have the potential to support dramatic reductions in carbon emissions in sectors such as transport, agriculture, and manufacturing. techUK is working to foster the right policy framework and leadership so we can all play our part. For more information on how techUK can support you, please visit our Climate Action Hub and click ‘contact us’.
