COP29 - Rapid call for investment to stop a climate emergency.

To the leaders, dignitaries, investors, and change-makers of COP29,

We’ve failed.

The world is on track to breach the 1.5°C target set this year after being set in Paris less than a decade ago. The time to act is now. COP29 is nicknamed the “Finance COP” with more than 600 investors representing $33 trillion in assets under management calling for the implementation of critical climate infrastructure. It is up to us now to ensure that we do not exceed the 1.5°C target for a second year in a row and prevent hitting 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Although we have made great progress in the transition to Net Zero, we need to rapidly increase the work being laid out and ensure we do not leave developing and at-risk communities and nations behind. We’ve had forty years to mitigate and prevent our climate emergency and we need to rapidly deploy critical investment funds across several key areas to prevent a climate disaster.

Increased investment into new and diversified renewable technologies.

Renewable installations continue to increase year-on-year but remain behind the much-needed requirements. Last year, renewable installations increased by 60% last year, however, still fell short of the yearly tripling of renewables required to meet Net Zero targets by 2030. To reach our target we need to diversify our renewable technology options to maximise energy capture, increase accessibility, and drive down costs. The IEA reports that by 2050, nearly 50 per cent of carbon reductions will come from technologies which are currently in prototype and demonstration phases.

Not one source of energy alone will solve the climate emergency, but several working together will.

Ensuring greater access to affordable, clean energy.

During the global energy crisis in 2022, the world spent nearly $10 trillion on energy, with the majority ending up in the pockets of oil and gas producers. Renewables are increasingly becoming cheaper and more resilient to global economic shocks. Increased investment in renewables will not only help to drive down grid energy prices but also enable people to access a greater range of clean energy sources.

To date, 675 million people are still living in the dark, with 4 in 5 of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Delivering increased access to affordable, clean energy has lasting implications across education, as well as increased lifespans from the replacement of the burning of indoor fuels, gender inequalities, and connectivity.

Upgrading and transformation of clean energy transmission.

Ageing and limited energy infrastructure will continue our reliance on fossil fuels. As of July 2024, 1,650 gigawatts of wind, solar, and hydroelectric installations are waiting to be connected to ageing grid infrastructure which is struggling to keep up. The varied nature of renewable sources requires the correct infrastructure to ensure the consistent delivery of electricity. However, investment into grid and storage infrastructure is lacking, only receiving 60 cents for every dollar invested into renewable power.

As we increase the installations of renewable energy our transmission of them will need to shift. Long-distance transmissions increase wait times, reduce efficiencies, and are expensive. With so many new renewable technologies coming to market generating and consuming electricity on-site or off-grid is increasingly accessible and could signal a shift in the new transmission of electricity. Remote or isolated communities can create their local energy systems to help increase access and mitigate transmission issues that lead to fossil fuel dependence.

Increased investment in clean energy for developing and vulnerable communities.

On the path towards Net Zero, developing and vulnerable communities are left behind, despite facing some of the most extreme and devastating effects of climate change. They play an important role in our collective transition with the Marshall Islands leading the 1.5°C target in Paris.

At COP15 in 2009, developed nations pledged to provide an annual contribution of $100 billion to developing countries to support their transition by 2020. However, COP29 is the time of reckoning as the target has not been met and now the amount of money required far exceeds this. Increasing investment or redirection of funds via fossil fuel levies into these communities and nations will bring them along on the journey with a proper seat at the table. Increasing resilience to climate change and positive impacts on socioeconomic activities.

The deployment of funds across investment remains a critical building block in the transition to clean energy. Access to funds for the development and installation of new renewable technologies across developed and developing countries is critical, without it, we risk the future of the planet. Only funding and the rapid dissemination of it can avoid this. We do not have the luxury of waiting another 40 years this time.

~Katrick Technologies.