Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Innovation Focus

Background

Press Conference

The webcast from the Innovation Focus can be viewed HERE.

Government and private sector leaders announce commitments and partnerships to increase R&D for low-carbon technologies

Government and private sector leaders expressed their commitment on Tuesday to achieve a major increase in investments for research and development in low-carbon technologies and ways to speed up their diffusion in developing countries through multilateral partnerships.

"Innovation is at the heart of fighting climate change" said Fatih Birol to introduce the event.

This Lima to Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Focus on Innovation built on the pledges made at COP 21 on November 30 under “Mission innovation”. The initiative of 20 countries, all major economies, aims to dramatically accelerate public and private global clean energy innovation, including doubling their current research and development (R&D) investments in the sector.

The initiative is coupled with a private sector effort called the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition”. Lead by Bill Gates, 28 investors from 10 countries are committed to invest extraordinary levels of private capital in clean energy.

High-level participants highlighted the importance of accelerating the development and deployment of affordable low-carbon solutions. M. Moniz, US Secretary of Energy, particularly insisted on the virtues circle of increasing innovation, reducing costs, and low-carbon technologies up-take and deployment.

Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, India re-iterated the need to ensure local conditions drove technology development priorities, and that local innovation capacity was key to ensure solutions met local needs.

Cooperation between actors, countries was largely called for by countries and private actors. “We need to join all our forces for innovation, between public and private research, between fundamental and applied research” said Mme Royal, French minister for ecology, sustainable development and energy. Liu Zhenya, Chairman State Grid Corporation of China, expressed the hope “that international organizations and institutes, governments and energy companies can all actively engage, reach consensus, strengthen cooperation and jointly promote innovative developments”. Acknowledging the broad range of existing collaborative efforts, Maroš Šefčovič, EU Vice President noted that “it will be important for the future to look into how we can streamline and synergise existing efforts to create truly global collaboration in energy technology innovation’’. 

The private sector was also very much present to indicate its eagerness to by a driving force behind the clean energy technology revolution. Lanzatech CEO Jennifer Holmgren noted how technology could turn carbon from a liability to a resource, while Simone Mori, Executive Vice President of Enel, and Mr. Clamadieu, CEO of Solvay,  pointed out that carbon pricing is essential to increase the available finance for public R&D investments, which has to date, been characterized by their “timidity.”

Under the CTCN moderation, participants also discussed how to accelerate innovation in developing countries. While recognizing that more and more innovation was coming from emerging and developing states, Leaders from the public and private sectors plead for enhancing local innovation capacity in developing countries with more cooperation and continuity in the support received so as to create real innovation capacities.

The event particularly emphasized the importance of having a broad conception of innovation, looking at innovative way to implement actions, regulation, or at innovative business model. In a context of competing financing institutions, “financial innovation is key to stay ahead” said Dr Preety Bhandari from the Asian development bank. To introduce renewable energy in villages, new public-private partnerships adapted to local communities and SMEs should be developed claimed Secou SARR, the Director of Enda-Energie from Senegal.

Preparing the next steps of this global mobilization in favor of climate innovation, Fatih Birol led a discussion about the role played by international collaboration in increasing capacity and accelerating innovation.  This included commentaries by country leaders associated with the Clean Energy Ministerial and The Innovation for Cool Earth Forum. The Private sector was also well represented as Peter Bakker, CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, showcased the main results of the collaborative platform Low Carbon Technology Partnerships Initiative (LCTPi) - a series of concrete and cooperative action plans for the large-scale development and deployment of low-carbon technologies. The LCTPi cement initiative from the CSI was presented by Jorge Mario Velazquez, CEO of ARGOS Cementos. 26 companies, representing one third of the industry operating in 100 countries, took the commitment to reduce their carbon footprint through the implementation a joint action plan. 

15:00 Setting the Scene:  WELCOME FROM THE FRENCH PRESIDENCY: PUTTING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION INTO CONTEXT AND OPENING REMARKS

• Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
• Jukka Uosukainen, CTCN Director, UNEP

15:20     Delivering technological solutions - public and private collaboration to drive innovation

This session will highlight the benefits of collaboration between public and private stakeholders to accelerate technological innovation and speakers from a range of backgrounds will showcase successes and plans to scale up energy technology innovation.                 

Facilitator: Kamel Ben Naceur, Director of Sustainable Energy Technology Policy, IEA

• Ernest Moniz, US Secretary of Energy
• Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Energy, Sweden
• Liu Yanhua, Counsellor for the State Council of China, and former Vice-Minister of Science and Technology, China
• Tsuyoshi Hoshino, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
• Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, India
• Liu Zhenya, Chairman State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC)
• Jorge Mario Velazquez, CEO of ARGOS Cementos, Colombia
• Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech

 
16:10     Financing innovation to take action to the next level

This session will focus on financing needs to scale up RD&D in low carbon energy technology, with a specific objective to showcase public and private financing solutions to deliver energy sector transformation. 

Facilitator: Laszlo Varro, Chief Economist, IEA

• Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy
• Albert Geber de Melo, Director General, Eletrobras CEPEL
• Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO, Solvay
• Simone Mori, Executive Vice President, Enel Group
• Dr Ahmad Belhoul, CEO of Masdar
• Abhishek Bhatewara, Director, Clique Solar

17:00 Enhancing innovation capacity and financing in developing countries

This session will serve as a forum to discuss how to accelerate innovation in developing countries by enhancing local innovation capacity to ensure technology is suited to local needs. 

Facilitator: Matthew Kennedy, Chair Advisory Board, CTCN

• H. E. Dr. Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim,(Mrs); Commissioner Infrastructure and Energy, African Union
• Ambassador Thani Al Zeyoudi, Director of Energy and Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE
• Dr Preety Bhandari, Director, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Division, Asian Development Bank,
• Ricardo Melendez, Chief Executive , ICTSD
• Surachai Sathitkunarat, Director, National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office (STI), Thailand
• Mr. Rodrigo Suarez Castaño (Director of Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and NDE), Colombia
• Secou SARR, Director, Enda-Energie
• Dolf Gielen, Director of Innovation and Technology Center, IRENA

 
17:40  Delivering innovation through cooperation: Governance in technology cooperation

This session will present the role that international collaboration plays in increasing capacity and accelerating innovation outcomes. It will also provide an introduction to the IEA technical level energy technology collaboration event on 10th December.

Facilitator: Fatih Birol, IEA

• Ernest Moniz, US Secretary of Energy
• Tsuyoshi Hoshino, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan
• Maroš Šefcovic, Vice-President for the Energy Union, European Commission
• Peter Bakker, CEO, WBCSD - LCTPi

18:10 Concluding remarks