£7.8 trillion: the cost of decarbonising global governments, says new research from StateUp
To address the climate crisis, governments must also focus on decarbonising their own organisations and operations, the research argues.
LONDON, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Governments must look beyond the economy alone if global decarbonisation targets are to be met, according to a new report, "States Regenerate: Greening Government for our Planet, Wealth, and Health" by StateUp, the international intelligence and advisory firm for public-purpose technology. To address the climate crisis, governments must also focus on decarbonising their own organisations and operations, the research argues.
States Regenerate recommends how governments around the world could collectively shift £7.8 trillion annually towards green purchasing. Governments have a unique capacity to drive decarbonisation because of their purchasing power and dominant role in financing and managing polluting assets like infrastructure. Commitments made at the G7 summit were relatively light. Yet public procurement forms at least 12% of global GDP, and in developing countries alone 83% of investments in infrastructure projects are sponsored by government entities and state owned enterprises.
Dr. Tanya Filer, StateUp founder and CEO, who also leads the Digital State program at the Bennett Institute at Public Policy, University of Cambridge: "Governments must do more than state ambitions and commitments. Governments around the world have a tremendous opportunity to be changemakers, including through their £7.8 trillion procurement purchasing power. Our research shows how digital innovation can make a substantive contribution to decarbonisation and outlines policy actions and partners needed to support it."
"Governments that invest in decarbonising their own operations will reap benefits in terms of a headstart in meeting climate goals, health benefits from cleaner air and more livable buildings, and economic benefits in terms of economic stimulus: new skills, new jobs, and new companies."
StateUp's States Regenerate features insights from leading academics, including climate policy and green technology experts from the UK Geospatial Commission, and Cambridge, Oxford, and Yale Universities.
Shifting government spending towards sustainable purchasing and accountability
£7.8 trillion is the amount all governments spent on procuring goods, services and works in 2018 according to the World Bank.
States Regenerate recommends that national governments' appoint Chief Decarbonisation Commissioner to both rally the sector behind the government's priorities, and represent its interests to government figures, with a full office to ensure that there is continuity in policy and profile between successive office-holders and governments.
The States Regenerate report highlights the opportunities governments have to reduce their own emissions using technologies which are either emerging or already available, focusing on four key areas in which governments can make use of these technologies to become carbon-neutral and low-waste:
- Making infrastructure and the built environment environmentally sustainable. For example, in the UK, a quarter of all construction output is by the public sector; these buildings could be run on renewable energy and upgraded using sustainable materials.
- Reforming procurement procedures to ensure positive environmental impact. Public procurement averages about 12% of global GDP. Technologies are already being developed to facilitate finding green suppliers and to measure and evaluate the sustainability of infrastructure tenders.
- Managing environmental public goods like water reserves and clean air. For instance, government-owned land could be repurposed as carbon sinks, and trees can be used to sequester carbon while improving air quality.
- Stimulating the use of data and development of green innovation for public sector organisations, such as smart grids to monitor energy consumption or AI to predict future patterns of energy use.
Fifty high-quality startups focused on decarbonising governments
States Regenerates shares fifty leading companies focused on greening government that can help develop a robust ecosystem of collaboration to realise government goals. The companies identified were sourced from Nebula, the public-purpose technology intelligence platform from international insights and advisory firm StateUp.
Leading companies identified include Carbfix (Iceland), Ecodrone (Italy), SeeTree (Israel), Commonplace (UK) and Spacept (Sweden). Companies come from 22 countries, representing innovation from around the world, developing digital and emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, IoT and big data analytics.
While more innovation focused on government sustainability is needed everywhere, there are clear regional discrepancies. Europe is in the lead position, generating 41% of the highest quality startups focused on greening government, followed by North America (26%). Despite government commitments to green procurement, with only 5% of high-quality sustainable innovation for government emerging from the region, Latin America is the laggard, behind the Middle East (11%), Asia (9%), and Africa (8%).
The top government decarbonisation startups were identified from Nebula, the new public-purpose technology intelligence platform that bridges the information gap between public-purpose innovators and policy and investment decision makers.
Launching Nebula as the go-to public purpose technology intelligence platform
The publication of States Regenerate also marks the launch of Nebula, which aims to be the go-to source for data and analysis on GovTech, CivTech and Tech for Place and Planet.
Dr. Filer explained: "At StateUp, our mission is to bridge the gap between the worlds of government and technology to improve citizens' lives, through the highest quality public-purpose technology intelligence, data and advisory services. We created Nebula knowing that decisionmakers' expectations for the kind of information they receive and how they receive it are changing, particularly as "millennials'' take on leadership roles in policy, consultancy, and the technology ecosystem. Nebula draws on StateUp's key qualities - a digital-first organisation that uses the depths of academic research, and a "translator" skill - committed to bridging the information gap between public-purpose technology innovators and policy and investment decisionmakers."
Access the new report at: http://stateup.co/product/statesregenerate
Learn more about Nebula, the first global public-purpose tech intelligence platform: http://stateup.co/nebula/
About StateUp
StateUp is the international, multi-disciplinary insights and advisory firm for digital innovation with public purpose. Our mission is to bridge the gap between the worlds of government and technology to improve citizens' lives, through the highest quality public-purpose technology intelligence, data and advisory services. We work with governments, international organisations, investors, and research bodies. StateUp works internationally with an ear to the ground on the latest technological uptake and policy updates across organisations and countries. We believe context is key. http://stateup.co
About States Regenerate report:
States Regenerate is the companion for policymakers, investors, innovators and consultants interested in how the government can lead in engaging new technology to benefit people and planet. It features expert interviews, multidisciplinary analysis, and data from the new Nebula public-purpose tech intelligence platform created by StateUp. http://stateup.co/product/statesregenerate
About Nebula
The Nebula public-purpose technology intelligence platform is the go-to source for data and analysis on GovTech, CivTech and Tech for Place and Planet. Nebula bridges the information gap between public-purpose innovators and policy and investment decision makers. Nebula is designed as the companion for intelligent policy and practice, with data deep dives, benchmarking and a personalised experience. Membership of Nebula will include access to two research collections per year, each addressing a core public-purpose technology theme that demonstrates StateUp's commitment to bridging the information gap between public-purpose technology innovators and policy and investment decisionmakers. http://stateup.co/nebula/
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