ITES has joined leaders from the UK and India to find faster routes to Net Zero as part of international sessions at the India Global Forum 2024. Hosted in London, the event brought together global leaders, led by now UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to explore new ways to expedite climate action, including practical finance solutions for Net Zero innovation.
The annual forum showcases the role of India, the UK and their global partners in tackling key decarbonisation challenges. This year’s 6th annual five-day event foregrounded the role of innovation and collaboration in finding new pathways to clean growth, and the enabling role that UK and Indian corporations, financial institutions, and governments can play in supporting global Net Zero.
Climate leaders
ITES used closed sessions with decision makers from the world of finance, business, investment, and policy to advocate for better enabling conditions for innovation, and the importance of bilateral collaboration, connections, customers, and capital.
Andrew Stokes, UK lead for ITES, and Business Leader – International at Energy Systems Catapult, warned that more financial muscle is needed to unlock Net Zero innovation and meet global climate targets:
“The need to support and create enabling innovation is loud and clear. Our collaborative, whole system perspective means we have a clearer picture of critical decarbonisation challenges… Finance is a huge potential blocker to the energy transition and the technical, system-wide innovation that we’re relying on to realise change at scale and pace.”
“We’ve seized these much-needed discussions with investment and financial organisations and corporations to explore how capital can flow more smoothly. Free-flowing capital is critical to help innovative businesses that need to test and bring innovations to market, and central to the ITES mission to bring innovators together with UK and Indian markets to de-risk and scale impactful, bilateral Net Zero solutions.”
“Given the challenge the world is facing, there is a clear, global need for innovation in the financial instruments themselves.”
Dialogue on driving global innovation
The delegation was joined by LiNa Energy – an ITES-supported UK innovator that has recently completed an initial pilot of its sodium-ion battery technology with Tata Power in India. LiNa’s long-duration energy storage technology offers a cheaper and safer alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries, particularly in India where higher temperatures can risk operational issues.
LiNa CEO Will Tope joined delegates from business and technology fields to argue for more ‘patient capital’ that, counter to traditional financial instruments, does not seek immediate or short-term returns. The entrepreneur also highlighted why cleantech SMEs and impact investors are increasingly focusing on India, voicing concern over ‘lift-and-shift’ models in international contexts.
Will said: “The right partners are essential. While deep tech requires patient capital, it also needs industrial sponsorship to transition from lab to field. Unlike in the US/UK, where government-sponsored demonstration projects support companies, in India, we have found corporate sponsorship to be essential.”
Andrew added: “We know first-hand that collaboration gets us further, faster. ITES is in a unique position to bring together stakeholders and expertise from both the UK and India, and we’re keen for more partners from both countries to get involved to support future-shaping solutions.”
About Innovating for Transport and Energy Systems (ITES)
ITES is the UK-India clean energy and transport accelerator. Backed by UK and India governments, ITES brings together innovators and UK and Indian markets to drive bilateral innovation, significantly reduce emissions, and support clean growth for the UK and India. It is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Innovate UK, and led by UK innovation experts, Energy Systems Catapult, with the Indian Institute of Science.
