Report of The Global Climate Innovation Summit
Report
The Global Climate Innovation Summit is a premier platform for thought leaders in climate innovation from around the world. This annual event attracts hundreds of experts dedicated to fostering strategic dialogue on the state and future prospects of climate innovation solutions. Participants include representatives from local governments, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society, all committed to addressing climate change.
Roundtable Discussion 1: Innovative Technologies for a Sustainable Future
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This roundtable sparked a vibrant discussion on cutting-edge solutions and various companies’ commitments towards environmental challenges. Panelists included Elizabeth Varghese (Deloitte Consulting), Clarissa Paz (Esri), Eugenio Zuccarelli (Data Science Leader), and Matthew Sekol (Microsoft), each bringing unique expertise to the discussion. Moderator Amreen Poonawala (Benetech) steered the conversation through digital twins, AI-driven sustainability, remote work dynamics, ethical considerations, data integration, and exciting future tech horizons.
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Paz showcased how Queensland's Cross River Rail Delivery Authority is revolutionizing railway planning in Brisbane using digital twin technology. This tool connects "objects, processes, and time" for spatially-aware infrastructure visualization.?
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Sekol shared an AI application in material discovery. His team used AI to narrow down potential materials from over 32 million possibilities to just 23 candidates for ethical, abundant alternatives to lithium in energy storage.?He also discussed the pros of remote work in terms of emissions from commuting, office energy consumption, and access to global talent. However, he also pointed out the localized struggle of real estate and small businesses like restaurants that depend on office populations.
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On technology ethics, Varghese cited the burden of water-carrying on women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, and stressed that benefits from technological advancements must cascade down to all communities.
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Zuccarelli advocated for integrating existing climate databases and open-source AI tools to achieve data interpretation, anonymity, and energy-efficient development. He considered AI's energy consumption throughout the development pipeline, such as using smaller models and green energy for computation.
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The roundtable culminated in glimpses of future tech: terrestrial and space quantum computing, digital twins for chemical reactions, and AI-powered translations breaking down language barriers in global scientific collaboration. These insights underscore technology's transformative potential in addressing climate challenges.
Round Table Discussion 3: Space Technologies Supporting Sustainable Development on Earth
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Moderated by Somayajulu Dhulipala, PhD candidate at MIT, this roundtable gathered influential leaders in the space sector to examine how space technologies contribute to sustainable development on Earth. Panelists included Jonathan Knowles from NASA, Ariel Ekblaw, CEO of the Aurelia Institute, and former astronaut Jeffrey A. Hoffman, and Sharon Hagel the founder of Space Kids Global.
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The conversation began with an overview of space sustainability, particularly regarding the growing issue of space debris. Dhulipala likened the accumulation of debris in orbit to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The panelists all agreed on responsible resource management, particularly as humanity aims to establish habitats on the Moon and Mars. The focus shifted to the necessity for renewable energy sources in space missions. Jeffrey Hoffman shared the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), which demonstrates the potential for sustainably producing oxygen on Mars using local resources.?Sharon Hagle's solution is to inspire young people to engage with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for future advancements in space sustainability. Ariel Ekblaw concluded by discussing the need for public-private partnerships in space exploration to foster innovative solutions. The discussion reminds the audience that sustainable practices in space are not merely technical challenges but require a comprehensive reevaluation of humanity's relationship with both Earth and space.
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Round Table Discussion 5: Investment and Business Opportunities in the Green Economy
The fifth round table discussion, led by Elie B. Akili, explored investment and business opportunities within the green economy. Panelists included Mohasin Mithu ( Former VP of RGM, PepsiCo), Stephanie von Friedeburg (Managing Director, Citibank Banking & Capital Markets Advisory), Nikita Singal (Managing Director, Lazard Asset Management; Co-MD, Sustainable Inv. & ESG, Lazard Asset Management), and Alexander Mirescu (Specialist in Urban Resilience, Sustainability, Adaptation and ESG, Deloitte; Urban Resilience Consultant, the world bank), who provided a wealth of knowledge on how businesses can transition to sustainable practices.
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The panel emphasized that the green economy is a significant driver of growth, innovation, and job creation. Mithu shared the importance of reducing water usage and plastic consumption. He suggested that financial incentives from governments could promote companies to align sustainability with profitability. Stephanie von Friedeburg spoke about the necessity for better collaboration between the private sector and government, particularly in implementing sustainable practices in emerging markets. She emphasized that governments must support businesses transitioning to sustainable models. Nikita Singal focused on the role of financial institutions in facilitating sustainable investments, and he pointed out that there is a growing recognition among investors of financial benefits associated with sustainable practices. The overarching theme of the discussion was the need for integrated approaches to sustainability that encompass social equity, environmental stewardship, and economic growth. The panelists collectively advocated for innovative policies and collaborative efforts to harness the full potential of the green economy.
Notes from Hanji
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Amreen Poonawala (moderator)
Sr. AI PM at Benetech
ex-UN, Accenture
Matthew Sekol
ESG and Sustainability Advocate working at Microsoft
Author of ESG Mindset and Benevolent Troublemaker
Eugenio Zuccarelli
Data Science Leader, leading the innovation efforts for several Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries
Clarissa Paz
Esri Representative; Esri High-level Solutions Worker
Leader in Technology for all NYC Governments
Elizabeth Varghese
Principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and co-leads the Cloud Enabled Workforce practice, as well as the People in Space team
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This panel highlights the crucial link between environmental sustainability and tech progress, stressing the need to incorporate these innovations into global climate action and sustainability initiatives
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Summary by Amreen
- Combining digital twin with AI will enable us to react quickly
- Balancing AI’s power with ethical practices and the need for thoughtful policies to ensure sustainable growth
- Wisely using existing data and technologies can allow us to reach insights as well. Resort to technology only when needed.
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6 topics that panelists spoked about, they are 1) digital twin, 2) the use of AI for specific businesses and sustainability, 3) ethics around AI and technologies, 4) pros and cons of remote work, 5) existing technologies with AI, 6) new promising technology directions
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1)
Definition of digital twin: “A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system?designed to accurately reflect a physical object.” (IBM What Is a Digital Twin? | IBM?)
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Clarissa: digital twin isn’t just a 3D replication of a place in order to get carbon footprint and assets. It’s about connecting “objects, processes, and time” together. Being able to parametrically visualize footprint, plan scenarios for new infrastructure. This technology was used by the Australian government in Brisbane for planning new railway stations in preparation for the Olympics.
“In Brisbane, the most rapidly growing city in Australia, a digital twin and a virtual reality program guide the design and construction of an underground railway.
Key Takeaways
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In Brisbane, Australia, an evolving digital twin is helping teams design and build the underground Cross River Rail project, the city’s first subway.
Engineers and designers use a central repository to integrate all data related to the new tunnels and stations, married to a realistic model of the city above.
A game engine transforms the twin into a virtual reality tool to walk through designs, plan complicated construction, and communicate progress.”
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Elizabeth: Space tech also benefits from live simulations, enabled by cloud powered digital twins. This visualization can capture the data to a greater degree. Allows for agile development, fast iteration for all scenarios like flood, traffic, degradation, etc.
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Matt: operational efficiency of architectural/spatial information is using digital twins. Indian building, simulates a building that isn’t run by Microsoft, but they were able to get data from individual parts of the building and make a digital twin for other uses/estimations.
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600 servers for water leakage detection, in London, Mexico City, and Phoenix. Using acoustic sensors to detect leakage, which sometimes waste 40% of the water that has already used the energy of treatment plants.
“Microsoft has invested in a global portfolio of more than 75 diverse replenishment projects as of the end of June 2024. It is working with Audubon Dakota to restore prairie habitats in Fargo, North Dakota, with a collective in Cape Town, South Africa, to clear invasive species and restore water catchment, and to acquire conservation easements to help recharge the Edwards Aquifer in Comal County, Texas. A contract with the Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico aims to protect threatened fish species and improve water security in that state, while the restoration of ponds in Karnataka, India, helps recharge that community’s groundwater.
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“There are also projects we fund that increase efficiency and decrease overall water use, thus increasing availability for the basin and local communities,” explains Eliza Roberts, director of water at Microsoft.
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That’s the case with Microsoft’s collaboration with FIDO, which began in 2023 with a contract to detect leaks in part of London for the Thames Water utility. Microsoft also helped FIDO develop its leak detection technology during Microsoft hackathons in London. FIDO’s tool uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to take acoustic leak detection to a new level.” all to these are cited.
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2)
Clarissa: Esri software does advanced analytics and simulation as well. Identify and filter sites for renewable energy plant site decision.
UK Crown Estate using Esri’s technology to site offshore wind farms, with layers that consider existing solar power infrastructure and protected habitats
The Crown Estate Open Data?has Offshore wind electricity map along with other maps that even as just an internet browser, can see in real time. This can be a great source of information for wind power prediction.
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Eugenio: Forecasting energy demand is the largest use for AI. Also prediction of natural disasters altho more rigorous and complex. There’s also personalization of energy use, such that both efficiency of such as heating and cooling, and the personal preferences of residents/users are considered.
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Matt: recent innovation in using AI for material selection is huge. Solid state batteries can be a replacement for lithium based (questionable ethics in mining) batteries. The Microsoft team narrow the material from over 32 Million possibilities, through chemical components, energy conduction, and performance, to 500k, 800, and eventually 23. Out of the 23, 5 are already being tested, and 18 are to be researched. Sodium is actually one of the candidates, which is greatly abundant and cheap.
“Microsoft and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, are collaborating to demonstrate how this acceleration can benefit chemistry and materials science – two scientific fields pivotal to finding energy solutions that the world needs.
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Scientists at PNNL are testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of the collaboration with Microsoft to use to advanced AI and high-performance computing (HPC), a type of cloud-based computing that combines large numbers of computers to solve complex scientific and mathematical tasks.
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The traditional method requires looking at how to improve on what has been done in the past. Another approach would be to take all the possibilities and, through elimination, find something new. Designing new materials requires a lot of calculations, and chemistry is likely to be among the first applications of quantum computing. Azure Quantum Elements offers a cloud computing system designed for chemistry and materials science research with an eye toward eventual quantum computing, and is already working on these kinds of models, tools and workflows. These models will be improved for future quantum computers, but they are already proving useful for advancing scientific discovery using traditional computers.”
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3)
Ethical technological advancement
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Elizabeth: disparity, thinking about how the benefits of advanced technology cascade down to all communities. A good point that she implied is with water carrying amongst women and girls in Africa, very taxing on the body, when we do have the technology to build water infrastructure. So many problems don’t need new/invention, it’s an adoption problem.
Also should focus on areas like health care, water.
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Eugenio: consume energy with AI, so know how to scale things down and consider this energy throughout the development pipeline, not after deployment as an afterthought.
Also think about how to use smaller models that can do similar quality for similar tasks but used less energy.
Using green energy to power the computation.
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4)
Remote work
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Matt: pros: saving emissions from commute and office electricity/water. Not limited to geographical distances and can source talent from anywhere in the world with the internet.
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Cons: real estate and small businesses such as restaurants that rely on office population are in trouble of recovering, not enough usage/foot traffic. Localized impact on the cities. COmpanies need to refinance.
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SF downtown is dwindling
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5) existing data
Eugenio: many orgs have climate databases and many AI are open source, code editable and forkable. Reusing someone else’s work is smart, save energy, do it.
It’s about creating the interpretability of data, anonymity of data for security, and organizing data from all these scattered places. That's the important task.
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Clarissa: the problem for governments is sometimes that they have so much data they don’t know what to do with it. Many government agencies in silos, so for example, parametric/systematic BIM tools, that connect floorplans, assets, knowledge of functions in the buildings. Maximize operational efficiency. Geographic approach, provide the spatial context for decision making.
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6) new tech
Elizabeth: Terrestrial and outer space technologies with quantum computing.
Also, the consequence of the cutting edge technology is the big shift in how we see national borders, security, and privacy.
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Matt:
Digital twin for chemical reactions without the need for labs
Socially speaking, collaboration is enabled by AI translations so the information is not just in the English speaking world/western world. More venues to publish that and share the results.