London Climate Action Week 2026 – a techUK perspective on the climate ecosystem
This year’s London Climate Action Week (20–28 June) once again brought tens of thousands of climate industry professionals, international delegates and political stakeholders together to discuss how the UK, and world more widely, mitigates emissions and adapts to increasing climate extremes.
In an ironic yet sobering twist, the week unfolded amidst a record-breaking heatwave across Europe, bringing climate to the fore of public discourse as high temperatures disrupted transportation, schools, and workplaces – and resulted in the cancellation of multiple LCAW events, notably including one on extreme heat.
The government used the opportunity to publish a series of announcements, including its fourth International Climate Finance Strategy (ICF4). Across four priorities (mobilising finance; transitioning to clean energy; supporting climate resilience; and safeguarding nature) the ICF4 outlines how the UK will deliver on its commitment to help mobilise at least $300 billion per year by 2035 for developing countries, despite cutting aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income (GNI) by 2027. techUK welcomes the plan, and particularly the focus on supporting nature and biodiversity across the world.
Across the week, techUK attended, hosted and took part in different forums, conferences, roundtables and webinars to showcase the role of technology for climate action. In the below insight, we have distilled some of the key themes we noticed from 50 events the team attended across the week.
This sits alongside two pieces of techUK activity worth flagging: the launch of techUK’s National Nature Fund which allows us to aggregate finance for nature from across our membership, towards credible, verified projects, and our upcoming screening of the National Emergency Briefing on climate and nature on Wednesday 2 September.
Of course, we could not go without mentioning the other piece of headline news which dominated last week, that of the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the expected election of former Manchester mayor and newly minted MP Andy Burnham. In his speech on Monday 29 June, Burnham set out his vision for a more devolved yet expanded state, with strong focus on “reindustrialisation”. As of yet, his views on net zero and environmental protections are unclear – as is his stance on digital technologies and AI.
His new(ish) administration will be under even greater pressure to secure economic growth but given the importance of climate action to Labour voters and members, and Labour-turned-Green voters, not to mention the economic benefits of net zero, there is room to be cautiously optimistic. techUK supports the vision of reindustrialisation but notes that this will not be possible without energy market reform and must be done in conjunction with decarbonisation. Nevertheless, the techUK team is monitoring this closely and will provide members with an update soon.
The Climate team would like to extend our thanks to all the techUK members and wider ecosystem for their support and contributions across our events and the week more widely.
Energy and electrification
For techUK and our members, the energy transition (both in terms of decarbonisation and digitalisation) is where technology’s role as an enabler is clearest. Managing the growing complexity of an energy system that is rapidly decentralising and decarbonising relies on an increasing usage of digital solutions, and its potential will only be realised with the right policy and regulatory framework, and a transition that is just.
Electrification was a key theme throughout the week. The launch of the Electrify Now platform, backed by the EU, the COP30, COP31 and COP32 presidencies, the UK, the IEA and IRENA, set a clear marker on electrification ambitions. In a special address, UN Secretary-General António Guterres argued grids must now be treated as strategic infrastructure, warning that the "age of electrification" demands a massive expansion of grids, storage and system flexibility. The role of digitalisation in delivering that flexible, adaptive grid is where the tech sector's contribution is most direct.
Another key topic is how the UK’s high electricity bills acting as a significant barrier to electrification, as highlighted in the Climate Change Committee’s recent Progress Report on reducing emissions. At techUK’s parliamentary reception we raised that the “levies” that fund Government’s environmental and social schemes are an increasingly damaging contribution to these high bills, backed by advocates across the tech and sustainability sectors.
Further, many conversations explored how AI can scale solutions for a healthier, more resilient planet, including the in the energy sector in particular. For example, AI-powered tools are improving weather forecasting for greater renewable energy integration, reducing grid volatility and system costs. For example, solar "nowcasting", which predicts solar energy output in the near term by analysing real-time cloud cover and atmospheric conditions, is estimated to have saved 41 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent last year.
Finally, we would note that clean heating solutions are continuing to gain traction – at the Building Decarbonisation Forum, examples drew on the experience from other countries (notably Sweden) can and scaled within the UK. Discussions touched on policy levers needed to unlock heat reuse, the integration of waste heat from sources such as data centres, and the role of heat pumps in decarbonising buildings, one of the UK's largest sources of emissions. The need for cooling infrastructure alongside heating, flexible demand, and cheaper electricity to drive electrification were also key themes.
Circular economy
With the incoming COP31 presidency (Türkiye and Australia) placing circularity and zero waste at the heart of the Action Agenda, circular economy issues and solutions are gaining more momentum.
Notably, the UK has signed a joint statement with the Netherlands on a new Circular Economy Finance Group, which will generate greater knowledge sharing and create new reference framework for circular economy finance – as well as enabling more investment in circular business.
Additionally, techUK attended the launch of ReLondon’s new report which, for the first time, maps London’s electricals and electronics footprint – essentially, how much waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e-waste) is flowing through the city. The research assesses the embodied carbon impact of this waste and proposes a number of policy ‘levers’ which could a) increase reuse and b) improve the flow of electricals towards waste streams which enable their repair or recycling, thus retaining the value of the materials.
This conversation around value of materials was additionally reflected during the Climate Innovation Forum, in particular how to improve the recovery of critical minerals which underpin our economy and the transition to net zero. As e-waste flows continue to increase, countries around the world (particularly across Europe) are asking how we can better retain and utilise the wealth that flows through waste streams. techUK looks forward to further details around the implementation of the government’s Vision 2035 critical minerals strategy, as well as the release of the Circular Economy Growth Plan.
Note: critical materials are a very live issue for techUK – if you have any views or would like to get involved, please reach out the Elisabeth.
Nature and biodiversity
Nature and biodiversity have climbed firmly up the climate agenda in recent years, as governments and industry start to recognise that healthy ecosystems are one of the primary defences against climate change. However, while carbon accounting is now well-established, understanding and addressing reliance on nature is still maturing.
The government took the opportunity of LCAW to announce that they will soon be moving forward with long-expected plans to introduce mandatory due diligence on tackling illegal deforestation in supply chains. techUK welcomes this development and will be responding to the consultation expected later this year.
They also have launched a new Government Estate Nature Plan, setting out plans to coordinate nature recovery across government land, supporting resilience, public services and delivery of national environment targets. This follows on from the Land Use Framework published earlier this year, and the 2025 Environmental Improvement Plan.
techUK's own contribution here was the launch of the National Nature Fund, aiming to mobilise the equivalent of 0.1% of the UK's annual nature finance requirement (£5.6 million a year) in support of the 30x30 target. You can find out more about the NNF here or read about how nature matters to the tech sector. The relationship between nature and business, including the impact (internally and externally) of the TNFD, is emerging as a key theme as this year develops, alongside nature tech and the development of tools and standards.
Digitalisation and AI
It was a given over the week that AI ran through nearly every conversation, being framed both as an accelerant of, and a pressure on, the transition. Guterres named AI data centres among the fastest-growing sources of energy demand, while industry voices reframed that demand as a potential catalyst for grid investment and clean power deployment.
By 2030, digital technology has the potential to cut global emissions by up to 15%, with cloud, 5G, AI and IoT driving reductions across key emitting sectors including transport, industry, agriculture and the built environment.
For techUK, the green and digital transitions are two sides of the same coin and must be delivered together. But digitalisation does not just happen and, as demand for digital infrastructure grows, its own footprint must be understood and managed responsibly. As an immediate priority, this means ensuring data centres can connect to a rapidly decarbonising electricity grid and supporting the organic growth of the Corporate Power Purchase Agreement market.
This is where the public sector has a decisive role to play. As one of the largest single buyers of both energy and digital services in the economy, government can act as an anchor investor. It can use its scale and long-term demand to de-risk projects and crowd in private capital. By committing to long-term clean power procurement, the public sector can give developers and investors the confidence to build the grid connections, clean generation and data infrastructure the country needs. Public sector adoption of AI and cloud is itself a fast-growing source of demand and matched with clean energy commitments and used through procurement to set standards on efficiency and sustainability, that demand becomes a lever to accelerate the transition.
Adaptation and resilience
As climate impacts intensify, resilience can no longer be an afterthought and much of the critical national infrastructure we now rely on to withstand and recover from shocks is itself digital. Taking place only a few weeks after the launch of the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) latest Climate Change Risk Assessment, it is vital that understand not just how to prevent further emission increases, but how we can create a joined-up approach to climate adaptation and innovation.
The week's record heat was a live demonstration of why adaptation can no longer be an afterthought. New research highlighted during the week found that every £1 spent on property flood resilience can save £2.27, while finance-focused sessions pressed the case that climate risk is economic risk and that resilience must be properly valued by financial systems. Over the week, we saw plenty of events highlighting the importance of the financial system and a now-familiar argument; that governments, regulators, investors and insurers increasingly recognise climate risk as financial risk, and that this recognition is the lever for embedding resilience into financial decision-making and unlocking new investment.
Insurance featured prominently, with particular attention to widening protection gaps and growing insurability challenges as physical risks intensify and to the role of insurers and reinsurers as a source of the risk data and modelling that underpins better decisions.
We have also begun to see a shift in how resilience itself is framed. Rather than treating adaptation spending purely as loss avoidance, the conversation increasingly positioned resilience as an economic asset and a driver of growth.
techUK - Committed to Climate Action
Visit our Climate Action Hub to learn more or to register for regular updates.
By 2030, digital technology can cut global emissions by 15%. Cloud computing, 5G, AI and IoT have the potential to support dramatic reductions in carbon emissions in sectors such as transport, agriculture, and manufacturing. techUK is working to foster the right policy framework and leadership so we can all play our part. For more information on how techUK can support you, please visit our Climate Action Hub and click ‘contact us’.
Latest Report
Upcoming climate events
Latest news and insights
Get our climate insights straight to your inbox
Climate, Environment and Sustainability updates
Sign-up to get the latest updates and opportunities from our Climate, Environment and Sustainability programme.
Learn more about our Climate campaign
Become a member
