Energy Monitor reporter Dave Keating (left) speaks with Bertrand Piccard from the Solar Impulse Foundation.

On the sidelines of the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, some non-profits are working to find scale-up solutions for promising decarbonisation technologies. That is the case for the Solar Impulse Foundation, an environmental non-profit founded in 2003. Betrand Piccard, the foundation’s founder, told Energy Monitor he feels disheartened by the speeches given by politicians at the summit.

“The plenary speeches here are very frustrating, because the key decision-makers are speaking of the fact that we have to do something, but they don’t explain how to do it, and they present decarbonisation as something expensive and difficult,” he says. “I want to show that it is exactly the opposite.

“If today the protection of the environment is expensive, it is only because we are wasting resources like hell. If we become more efficient, we can prove that fighting climate change is the biggest market opportunity of the century.”

Solar Impulse Foundation is working with cities to implement renewable solutions to energy problems.

Climate action beyond Bertrand Piccard at COP 27:

Reporter Nour Ghantous and senior writer Dave Keating are reporting from COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on behalf of Energy Monitor and our parent company, GlobalData. They are providing the data-led analysis you have come to expect from Energy Monitor but also something new: video interviews with business leaders, policymakers and campaigners. We encourage you to return often to our Energy Monitor home page for updates from the conference. You can also sign up for our free biweekly newsletter here.

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Other recent COP27 coverage includes:

Carbon markets at COP27: What’s holding up negotiations on Article 6?, by Nour Ghantous (17 November)

COP27: The underdogs did most of the work in week one. Now what?, by Nour Ghantous (16 November)

What do companies need from COP27?, by Dave Keating (16 November)

COP 27: Warsaw’s mayor has come with a very different message than the Polish government, by Dave Keating (16 November)

The interwoven fortunes of carbon markets and indigenous communities, by Oliver Gordon (16 November)

COP27: Deep geothermal “superhot rock energy” could be key to climate action, by Dave Keating (16 November)

COP27: “Energy efficiency should not be neglected” – Danfoss, by Nour Ghantous (15 November)

One year on, is coal being consigned to history?, by Dave Keating (15 November)

COP27: Cities are essential in the climate fight, says former Lord Mayor of Dublin, by Dave Keating (14 November)

Opinion: Why climate action will fail without more women at the table, by Philippa Nuttall (14 November)

COP27: “Green hydrogen is one of the bright spots of this COP” – Jonas Moberg, CEO of GH2, by Nour Ghantous (14 November)