Climate tech has a critical role to play. Australia has a strong industry and has the opportunity to be a world leader. This festival brings together entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, customers and supporters to build the solutions the world needs.Find out why climate tech is the most important sector in the startup world. Why investment is flowing 5x faster than any other industry. Learn about the innovative ways these founders are solving the biggest challenge of our time.‍DETAILSDec 7, 2022, 12-8pmAustralian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, SydneyTO BOOKhttps://events.humanitix.com/climate-tech-festival

The Good: Loss and damage gets a dedicated fundThe Bad: No sunset for oil and gas with a pushback from Saudi Arabia and other major oil and gas exporters - can this be resolved in Dubai at COP28???However: China’s top climate diplomat Xie Zhenhua announced that his country, the world’s top methane emitter, is cooking up a national strategy for curbing methane emissions - this is a significant step.The Ugly: News from CSIRO saying we have already reached 1.47deg warmingAnd Maybe: COP31 in Australia - and we'll be over 1.5deg by then?https://qz.com/emails/cop27/1849803425/cop27-the-good-the-bad-and-the-vaguely 

Basalt is the most common volcanic rock on the planet. A new geoengineering study has considered the impacts of adding basalt to large expanses of soil so that the natural process of carbon sequestration (CCS) can be sped up significantly. Other benefits are increased crop yields, better drought resilient soils, reduction in acidity (especially in the oceans from run-off), additional revenue streams for farmers (carbon credits) and scalability at costs competitive with other CCS tactics (other than re-forestation - which isn't possible at scale in all soil types/locations).https://physicsworld.com/a/sprinkling-basalt-over-soil-could-remove-huge-amounts-of-carbon-dioxide-from-the-atmosphere/

At COP27, various stakeholders have deliberated on ways to accelerate the decarbonisation of the carbon-heavy steel industry - currently contributing 8% of world carbon emissions. In response, China’s steel efforts aim to turn around its 'dirty' industry via a range of measures, including new steel furnace technology, hydrogen direct reduced iron and scrapped steel regeneration. China produces over 1/2 the world's total of crude steel.A recently published plan states the country will “upgrade over 80% of steel production capacity” to slash carbon emissions and aim to push down overall energy consumption per tonne of steel:  https://climatetracker.org/can-china-decarbonise-its-dirty-steel-industry-by-2030/

COP27 in Sheikh, Egypt will be centered on the themes of decarbonization, the energy transition, innovative solutions, pro-climate finance, nature and biodiversity, and most importantly, International FUNDING. McKinsey senior partners  will be hosting a series of virtual events with CEOs, experts, and thought leaders focused on accelerating the net-zero transition. For the full agenda, and to register for McKinsey’s discussions see below:In the meantime, Here's a revealing McKinsey commentary on how last year's COP26 impacted world business:https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/cop26-made-net-zero-a-core-principle-for-business-

The G7 + Australia are in the spotlight at the Climate Conference starting Sunday 7th Nov. The principle that rich countries are responsible for historical greenhouse emissions, so should cover some of the bill for poorer countries for climate damages - will be a major focus of the COP27 conference over two weeks in Egypt.So far:$693 Billion: Financial support for fossil fuel companies provided by G20 countries 2021$58.4 Billion: Combined profits of five largest fossil-fuel companies, 3rd quarter of 2022$16.8 Million: Donations made by rich countries to cover loss and damage.Watch this space.... https://qz.com/2019457/g7-countries-are-shortchanging-the-climate-by-billions-of-dollars