By Dr. E. Serdar Gökpınar, advisor, Technology Development Foundation of Turkiye (TTGV)

The official name, UN Climate Change Framework Convention Conference of the Parties, or the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP (Conference of Parties), was first held in 1995 and is the United Nations’ (UN) annual conference on climate change. Besides representatives sent by UN member states to participate in negotiations, delegates from observer organizations, industry representatives, climate scientists, NGO representatives, activists, and lobbyists also attend COP.

The 29th COP is hosted by Azerbaijan in Baku in between November the 11th-22nd. Having attended (and had the opportunity to present) on November 15 and 16, I would like to share some preliminary assessments before the conclusion of COP29, which is halfway through as of the date this article was prepared, November 17:

• Azerbaijan, highly motivated and eager to host major organizations, is well organized for COP29 and has almost rearranged Baku for COP29
• The most important agenda item at COP29 is financing. Decisions aimed at facilitating access to finance for all countries and providing more support to developing countries are prioritized. Throughout the event, various funds of different scales aimed at achieving net-zero/low-carbon targets or climate adaptation are announced by various authorities.
• One of the main issues discussed this year is how to create financial resources to help developing countries adapt to climate change. While everyone agrees on the need for more efforts to support vulnerable communities, like Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, it is essential to back this with real actions and financing.
• In addition to finance, there is a focus on increasing renewable energy and addressing non-carbon dioxide emissions, such as methane, with a request for submitting NDCs by 2025.

Regarding some other observations about COP:

• Azerbaijan, Brazil (the host of COP30) and Turkiye have the largest delegations registered to attend COP29.
• There are presentaions taking place in different languages in every corner of Cop29 simultaneously.
• The folkloric and cultural elements exhibited by countries to draw attention give the event a cultural and tourism fair atmosphere.
• On November 15, it was announced by various NGOs that 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists had been granted access to the event. This number could be considered the 4th largest delegation after Turkiye. While discussing the phase-out of fossil fuels, such developments are quite confusing.

While speeches, discussions, negotiations, and announcements continue at COP, it may be necessary to also look at our actual progress on climate as humanity. In 2015, at COP21 held in Paris, the Paris Agreement was adopted, committing to keeping the increase in global surface temperature below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. In 2023, this increase reached 1.49°C, and it is predicted that the 1.5°C target will be exceeded in 2024. Consecutive global daily average temperature records were also broken in 2024. Putting everything else aside, the critical point is this: we are failing the test.

Technology Dimension

Climate transformation is not a “rhetorical” issue. Despite the vast number of presentations, discussions and negotiations, exceeding the targets copled with messy image  and confusing developments like strong fossil fuel lobbying lead many to label COP summits as a “waste of time.”

The change we are facing is both very challenging and complex. We are talking about, in simple terms, turning upside down the production and consumption system that humanity has built over a few hundred years since the first industrial revolution. While no one knows the exact figure, financial resources to be spent in the next 30 years are estimated to reach hundreds of trillions of US dollars. As a side note, the financial resources currently flow predominantly led by governments.

This transformation is fundamentally a comprehensive techno-economic transformation. This Brings us to Climate Tech discussion. Climate Tech (or Climate Technologies) refers to a category of innovative technologies designed to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and improving environmental sustainability. Climate Tech spans a broad range of solutions across various sectors, including renewable energy, carbon capture, sustainable agriculture, and green transportation. Climate Tech is essential for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Key Areas of Climate Tech include (but are not limited to) Renewable Energy, Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization, Green Transportation, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production, Energy Efficiency, Circular Economy and Waste Reduction, Water Management and Conservation, Climate Adaptation, Built Environment and Green Cement as well as Novel No/Low Carbon Fuels.

Only a small portion of the technologies that will shape this huge transformation are ready to “scale.” So, discussions and studies at every level need to include not only scientific research and technology development but also the dissemination and scaling of technological innovations.

Some notes on the progress of ClimateTech

• Climate technologies are part of Deep Technology, which covers scientific and engineering-based technological innovations. Such technologies require advanced research and development to solve complex problems, which is possible with the regular and patient flow of “smart money.”
• Significant progress has been made in renewable energy technologies, especially in electricity generation from solar and wind. These technologies have reached cost parity with fossil-based alternatives. While acknowledging this achievement, it should also be noted that reaching this stage took time. This will also be true for other developing technologies.
• Since the impact of climate and the effect of climate on each sector, region, and country will vary, specific solutions will be needed for each sector, region, and country. This means that copy-paste strategies and plans cannot be applied and that many technology demonstrations, trials, and pilot applications will be necessary to determine what really Works of each stakeholder.
• Considering the set targets, our performance so far, and the timeline, the transition from lab to scale needs to be exponential rather than the linear pattern we are accustomed to.
• Unfortunately trendy sectors attract more funding. For example, power systems, electric vehicles, and hydrogen are receiving more support than many other technology areas. This is also fueled by investor psychology, or rather, FOMO (fear of missing out).
• The scale-up phase of innovative technologies may face a bottleneck in materials and metals, especially rare earth elements. It may also require the strengthening of practices such as mining, materials and metallurgy, recycling, and reuse.
• A shortage of human resources and talent is acutely felt in terms of both quality and quantity, even in richer ecosystems.
• Finally, while almost everyone talks about cooperation and collaboration, it is not possible to say that this is happening in practice. It might not be wrong to say that studies are conducted more in isolation and in competition rather than cooperation and collaboration.

When we bring all these together, it is important that technology studies are carried out more inclusively and that everyone who can contribute to these studies should be enabled to do so. It may be very problematic to wait for others to develop technologies without attempting contribute scienticially and technologically, only to purchase them later as many are used to.

Since 1991, the Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV) has developed various programs to support industrial research and technology devleopment. TTGV is also doing the same today with a focus on Climate Tech. Alongside addressing Turkiye’s needs, TTGV continues its efforts to develop ecosystems and invest in technologies for the valuation, implementation, and scaling of Climate Technologies.