[digital.global] in dialogue

Artificial intelligence (AI) – how can it help with climate change adaptation without widening the digital divide? How do international cooperation and partnerships contribute to leveraging the potential of AI for climate solutions, especially in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island states?
These questions were discussed on December 09 by a high-level panel hosted by UNFCCC Senior Director Daniele Violetti and Director-General of the COP Presidency Majid Al-Suwadi, with the participation of the Head of the US President’s Climate Office Ali Zaidi and digital policy experts Omar Sultan Al Olama (UAE), Fatou Binetou Ndiaye (Senegal) and Shantal Munro-Knight (Barbados).

The potential for climate protection predominated in the discussion, but it also became clear that a digital policy framework is needed to realise the potential and limit the risks. And both the least developed countries and developed countries benefit from international cooperation and collaboration. State Secretary Fatou Binetou Ndiaye showed how Senegal, with the support of the Data Economy Initiative of GIZ and BMZ is developing a digital policy framework to reconcile its priorities for sustainable development, innovation and digital sovereignty. The basis for tapping the potential of data and AI for climate protection.

In her introduction to specific AI-based climate solutions, GIZ Managing Director Ingrid Hoven emphasised the relevance of a European, human-centric approach: the use of AI for climate protection also requires the sustainable use of AI. This includes an ecologically sustainable, ethical and fair design of AI through open and transparent AI models, data bases and green data infrastructure.

Examples from the work of the BMZ’s FAIR Forward initiative showed how such an approach can contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The deforestation of tropical forests, such as in Indonesia, which play a crucial role in carbon storage, contributes significantly to climate change. AI-based analysis of satellite data, with the involvement of local communities, helps to identify and protect forests with a lot of carbon. Another pilot project in Kenya combines satellite and weather data with locally collected data from smallholder farmers and feeds this into an AI-based early warning system for predicting and monitoring crop yields.

What both projects have in common is that they involve local communities in the development of AI models and create open-source solutions that enable scaling and adaptation to other contexts.

Based on these and other examples of AI climate innovations, the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism Initiative on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Climate Action #AI4ClimateAction launched its AI Innovation Grand Challenge as a climate innovation competition to promote new AI applications for climate mitigation and adaptation measures in developing countries.

Speakers:

• Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC
• Daniele Violetti, Senior Director, United Nations Climate Change Secretariat
• Majid Al-Suwadi, Director-General and Special representative of COP28 Presidency,United Arab Emirates
• E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, United Arab Emirates
• Fatou Binetou Ndiaye, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Senegal
• Shantal Munro-Knight, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Barbados
• Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, United States of Amercia
• Ingrid Hoven, Managing Director, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
• Gauri Singh, Deputy Director-General, International Renewable Energy Agency
• Yana Gevorgyan, Secretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations
• Sherif Tawfik, Chief Sustainability Commercial Officer, Microsoft
• Kate Kallot, Chief Executive Officer, Amini Corp.
• Stig Svenningsen, Chair, UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee
• Erwin Rose, Chair, Advisory Board of the Climate Technology Centre and Network
• Bill Wright, Chair and Founder, Enterprise Neurosystem

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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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At the 28th World Climate Change Conference (COP 28) from 30 November to 12 December in Dubai, eight years after the conclusion of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, a review was carried out for the first time: Where does the global community stand on climate protection?

The planet is currently heading towards a warming of well over 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. Increasingly at the centre of attention: digital technologies as part of the solution to help mitigateand adapt to climate change. At the same time, digitalisation has a negative impact on the carbon footprint. Shaping the digital transformation in a climate-friendly way and utilising the potential for a green transformation – driving forward the so-called digital and green twin transition – is therefore a top priority.

For the [digital.global] network, the COP 28 starts with a World Bank Pre-Event:

Green Digital Transformation: How to Sustainably Close the Digital Divide and Harness Digital Tools for Climate Action

In the forefront of the conference, the World Bank published its report Green Digital Transformation: How to Sustainably Close the Digital Divide and Harness Digital Tools for Climate Action on 29 November. The report emphasises that the digital transformation can accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The panel, with the participation of GIZ board member Ingrid Hoven and Alix Jagueneau (GSMA), Cosmos Zavazava (ITU), discussed pilot projects, joint activities and opportunities to further utilise the potential of digital innovations for climate action. One prerequisite: digitalisation must become greener and reduce its emissions. One of the BMZ’s contributions is a guideline for green data centres, which was developed together with international partners such as the World Bank and ITU and has already been implemented in eleven World Bank-financed data centres since its publication at Africa Climate Week in September.

Speakers:

•  Seth Ayers, Senior Program Officer, The World Bank
• Sara Ballan, Senior Digital Development Specialist, The World Bank
• Guangzhe Chen, Vice President, Infrastructure, The World Bank 
• Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven, Managing Director, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH
• Alix Jagueneau, Head ExternalAffairs, GSMA
• Maya Ormazabal Herrero, Director of Environment & Human Rights, Telefonica
• Christine Zhenwei Qiang, Director for Digital Development, The World Bank
• Faisal Iqbal Ratyal, Director General, Ministry of Information Technology and TelecommunicationCosmos Zavazava, Director of Telecom Development Bureau at
  International Telecommunication Union

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During the inauguration of the event, Félix Férnandez-Shaw, Director for Latin America, the Caribbean and Relations with all Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Com-mission’s DG-INTPA, highlighted a core guiding principle for the collaborative efforts of the Alliance: “We all think that technology should serve people and not the other way around.” His inaugural words followed those of Saul Kattan, Presidential Adviser on Digital Transformation in Colombia, and Miguel González Gullón, Head of the AECID Training Center in Cartagena.

A total of five high-level policy dialogues on Artificial Intelligence (AI), data governance, digital government, inclusive connectivity, and cybersecurity, were held, analyzing common challenges and opportunities in these areas, exchanging best practices and lessons learned. As a result, representatives identified the following joint areas for further collaboration: alignment of cybersecurity frameworks, implementation of innovative policies and strategies to achieve inclusive and secure connectivity, development of interoperable digital identity mechanisms, improved free and safe flows of data, and the adoption of strategies and policies to mitigate the risks of AI while seizing its potential opportunities. Another important step for further collaboration has been the determination of co-leading partnerships between the EU, EU Member States and LAC countries in the five thematic areas.

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance Days underlined the political determination of the partner countries to collaborate closely on key digital matters through shared dialogue and joint initiatives, fostering a human-centric digital transformation in both regions. In this context, the event marked an important milestone in the strengthening of the bi-regional digital partnership following the endorsement of a Joint Declaration at the third EU-CELAC Summit in July 2023 towards the next EU-CELAC Summit, to be held in Colombia in 2025. Moreover, a first follow-up dialogue on cybersecurity in February 2024 will be hosted by the Dominican Republic, with follow-up dialogues on connectivity and digital inclusion, data governance and e-governance taking place later in the year.

As a critical component to delivering the ambitions of the Global Gateway in Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU-LAC Digital Alliance forms part of the EU offer to build and boost trusted and sustainable connections with partner countries. The policy dialogue component of the TEI is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The Ghana Digital Innovation Week– realised with the support of the Digital Transformation Center Ghana – brought together 3,714 representatives from the private sector, academia, government, development partners and civil society organisations over three days from 6-8 November at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana.

The opening session brought together representatives from MASHAV, the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation via the Israeli Embassy in Ghana, the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and representatives from the Ghanaian Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation. Innovative digital milestones in Ghana’s digital innovation ecosystem were showcased and celebrated through breakout sessions, panel discussions, presentations, and creative interactive formats.

According to Ama Pomaa Boateng, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, “The digital revolution is not just about adopting new gadgets. It is about transforming industries, government, and society itself. Through technology, we are improving efficiency, empowering our citizens, and connecting with the world”. For the third consecutive year, the Ghana Digital Innovation Week has provided the much-needed platform for various stakeholders to promote the advancement of the digital landscape.

The Ghana and Nigeria DTCs  hosted two workshops on “Bridging the Digital Divide: Strategies for engaging peri-urban populations in digital services” (GH) and “Collaboration: A tool for digital transformation in Nigeria” (NGA). The importance of events such as the Ghana Digital Innovation Week as a tool to advance the German government’s development policy goals on feminist development cooperation and job creation was highlighted.

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