Exhibitors at this year's Innovation Zero World Congress event are urging political and business leaders to embrace risk and invest in sustainable innovation.

One of the main themes for the sustainability industry is risk. To achieve climate goals, political and business leaders must be prepared to invest in innovation.

One of the main messages coming out of the Innovation Zero World Congress is that "the race for net zero is a race for investment". Without collaboration between public and private sectors, climate goals cannot be realised.

"People pitch climate solutions and growth against each other, but it’s not one of the other," one exhibitor from a global engineering consultancy told Communicate magazine. "We need a combined effort."

The Innovation Zero World Congress was told that both business and government must develop a greater appetite for risk. However, this is difficult against a backdrop where climate change is becoming increasingly politicised. In this context, good policy becomes even more important. The aim should be to create a resilient system through sustained investment in innovation. Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive at CBI, described the influence of President Trump's policies on business attitudes. "There is more fragmentation, but the business community is still broadly aligned on its climate goals."

While the UK government increases spending on defence, Newton-Smith notes that most new investment is still being directed towards green energy. "There is a danger of presenting this as an either/or choice."

This progress cannot happen without strong collaboration between business and government. Stephen Smith, chief strategy and regulation officer at National Grid, said that clean energy projects can face delays of up to 9-10 years while awaiting government approval.

AI

AI's energy consumption is also a growing concern. While the technology helps enable climate solutions, build resilience and support innovation, it is also energy intensive. "I’m concerned about the hubris in AI community, which often ignores energy consumption," said Professor Emily Shuckburgh OBE, director at Cambridge Zero, a Cambridge University research initiative. "Data centres consume a small percentage of global energy, but this issue is discussed in the climate context and not beyond, and it’s a big problem for the community."

Additionally, companies need to make a greater effort to record the data required to effectively use AI tools, a step many are still not taking. High-quality data is essential to inform effective strategies, but many organisations are only beginning this process. Sims Witherspoon, climate action lead at Google DeepMind, emphasised the need to gather "clean, unbiased" data over at least six months before using AI technologies.