COP28 Climate Innovation Forum Convenes Tech Leaders To Discuss Climate Solutions
Expo City Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is hosting the fortnight-long COP28 Summit till December 12. The conference marked an early success on its first day as participants reached an agreement to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund.
On Tuesday, COP28’s Climate Innovation Forum brought together technology leaders in a series of talks exploring solutions to tackle the climate crisis, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), satellite technology, industrial decarbonisation and clean energy.
Translating Actions Into Practical Real-World Action
Adnan Amin, the CEO of COP28, said: “Developing and scaling the solutions necessary to support the global energy transition, at the speed required to meet our goals, will require unprecedented cross-sector collaboration.”
He highlighted the need to ensure that the decisions made at the conference are translated into practical real-world action. The Climate Innovation Forum opened in Dubai, a city which itself is one of the leading technology hubs in the world.
HE Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, said: “We are confronted with two distinct paths – one of hope … and the other in potential catastrophe.”
That session was followed by a fireside between His Excellency and Aravind Krisha, the CEO of IBM, where they discussed a broad range of topics including the applications of AI and Quantum Computing and how they can help solve climate change issues.
AI Sure Helps. But Is Such Technology Also A Guzzler?
Beyond just reducing vehicle emissions through self-driving cars, AI can also help meteorologists better forecast heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones and other extreme events as well as allow farmers to grow crops more sustainably.
Read More: COP28 Ushers In New Era In Climate Action As Over $57 Billion Already Mobilised
AI-supported “smart cities” can optimise energy and water use, thereby reducing resource waste. At the same time, such technology can support disaster response by swiftly directing resources to locations in need of most help. But some experts have called AI a guzzler.
