COP Side Event: Digitalising Sustainability: DGIx Pan-African Innovators’ Journey

A COP28 side event of the European Commission

Digital innovation is of great importance for climate protection. How digital innovations can be used and scaled for the green transformation was the focus of the two side events with European partners of a #TeamEurope initiative for the twin transition. Through the “Digital and Green” working group of the EU’s Digital for Development (D4D) Hub, European member states and the European Commission are joining forces to promote the green digital transformation to combat the climate crisis in the Global South.

At “What’s cooking, Team Europe?” on 4 December, Dr Heike Henn, Head of Division for Climate, Energy and Environment and Commissioner for Climate Policy and Climate Financing at the BMZ, joined members from Estonia, France, Belgium and the European Commission to discuss how green technology innovations in the Global South can be driven forward by Team Europe. The discussion showed that supporting local innovation ecosystems provides crucial impetus for companies to tackle the challenges of climate change. The members of the Twin Transition Joint Initiative have therefore set themselves the goal of scaling local green innovation globally and are currently developing a joint #TeamEurope action focussing on digital green innovation.

Innovators showed how digital and green innovations are already being used to solve local challenges in Africa at the virtual side event “Digitalising Sustainability: DGIx Pan-African Innovators’ Journey” on 5 December. The event, with the participation of Head of Unit for Digitalisation, Noémie Bürkl (BMZ) and the Acting Head of Unit Digitalisation of DG INTPA, Miguel Angel Exposito Verdejo (European Commission), provided insights into the climate challenges in Africa and showed that young people and women are both vulnerable groups and driving forces in climate action.

Holistic waste management, risk prevention for natural disasters, green space development, traceable supply chains or digital ecosystems for small farmers: With the help of digital and green innovations, they are changing their environment and helping to develop local ideas for global challenges. Digital solutions can help close the gap in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Innovators from the start-ups M-taka, Hesotech, Nyasa Aerial Data & Solutions and AgroSfer are participants in the Digital & Green Innovation Challenge (DGIx), which is supported by the BMZ and the European Commission and organised by the Smart Development Fund (SDF).

Speakers:

• Noémie Bürkl, Head of Unit for Digitalisation at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Carla Montesi Director, DG INTPA, European Commission
• Moderation: Maída Hernández, Smart Development Fund (#SDF), GIZ

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