29 November 2019
InternationalCan human ingenuity save us from the climate crisis?
The climate change emergency presents a powerful opportunity for innovation. As mentioned in an earlier blog post, the UK is a technology leader in the world, and a growing focus is on clean or renewable tech.
As a sign of the UK’s commitment to green tech, the UK Government has pledged more than £500 million of investment in areas such as rapid charge points, R&D to combat air and water pollution, and on cleaner food systems.
Cities, too, are playing their part. Oxford for example held a Citizen’s Assembly on climate change, the first UK city to do so, having declared a climate emergency this year.
Oxford is also competing to become the UK’s first zero emissions city and has been awarded more than £20 million from the UK Government for its new green energy superhub project. Under the project, electric vehicle charging stations and batteries the size of shipping containers will be built.
Like Britain, China is a clean tech leader and now the world’s largest producer, exporter and installer of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. There are clear opportunities for collaboration between both.
Take Oxford PV, for example, a pioneer and technology leader in the field of perovskite solar cells. Solar panels built with the company’s solar cell technology will generate more power and deliver more affordable clean energy. This year, Oxford PV raised EUR 36 million in a round led by Goldwind, the leading provider of integrated renewable energy solutions in China.
As recently as September, a commitment was made to form new UK-China partnerships in green tech. They include collaborations in business, research and policy to tackle marine plastic pollution. The commitment also includes developing innovative technologies in renewables and electric vehicles.
Notably, the green tech revolution touches on another great British strength: finance. September’s commitment included raising green finance to sustain levels of investment in green technologies and infrastructure.
Strong strides have already been made in green finance. The UK-China Green Finance Centre was established in 2018 to advance UK and China green finance cooperation, and earlier this year both governments welcomed green finance guidelines for the Belt and Road Initiative.
While we at James Cowper Kreston are doing our part to help the environment, from having recycling schemes in every office to monitoring energy conservation, we also have a specialist team to advise businesses on working in the green economy.
For more information on opportunities in green tech and green finance in the UK, please contact us by submitting an enquiry.
