Sector Reports

  Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) published a special COP28 edition of the “Future Opportunities Report: The Global 50.” Coinciding with the lead-up to COP28, this special edition identifies 12 opportunities that directly or indirectly relate to nature, with the potential to advance climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 said “COP28 marks the midpoint between the Paris Agreement and 2030, and we need the world to commit to transformative actions to keep 1.5C within reach. More importantly, we need nature to be front and center of our collective climate efforts. From forests and soil to mangroves and oceans, we have an immense opportunity to mobilize progress for people and the planet by conserving, protecting and restoring our natural ecosystems.” His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of DFF, stressed that governments, organizations, and individuals around the world need to unify efforts to combat climate challenges: “Outlining the opportunities around sustainability, environmental preservation, and climate sets the priorities and helps design plans that contribute to providing the best possible quality of life for future generations.”He said: “With this report, we aim to anticipate a series of trends and transformations to prompt a shift in how people think and behave. These opportunities will add value to the dialogues that will take place at COP28. We call on innovators, futurists, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders to study these recommendations and unleash their imagination on more transformative ideas in the name of a better future for humanity and the planet.” The 12 opportunities featured in the report include: A Walk on the Rewind Side, An Endless Water Cycle, Energy Without End, Ice Uncapped, International Space Stations for the Sea, Make it 100, Mission Accomplished, Mobile Super ‘Scrubbers’, Rapid Response Regulators, The Ultimate Climate Calculator, Unstrained Assets, and Waterless Farms. The first opportunity, A Walk on the Rewind Side, makes a case for phasing out land use for food production to accelerate biodiversity and ecosystem restoration – hence rewilding – while mitigating climate change risks. The second opportunity, An Endless Water Cycle, notes recent advances in small-scale, decentralized water infrastructure, which merge compact water recycling systems with autonomous treatment, offering an alternative approach to solving global water issues. The third opportunity, Energy Without End, presents the potential of having daily life transformed by a limitless supply of energy through nuclear fusion. The fourth opportunity, Ice Uncapped, presents a multi-pronged effort to restore Arctic Sea ice, the Antarctic’s ice sheet and mountain glaciers around the world, to help cool the planet and oceans and prevent the further release of trapped methane into the atmosphere. The fifth opportunity, International Space Stations – for the Sea, puts forward an independent supranational body enforcing the protection and restoration of ocean ecosystems in international waters, preserving aquatic ecosystems with associated economic benefits and aiding in innovation. The sixth opportunity, Make it 100, calls for a responsive centennial plan for the planet by creating a long-term global cooperation framework for restoring and preserving ecosystems and biodiversity. The seventh opportunity, Mission Accomplished, highlights how technological breakthroughs and unprecedented global collaboration are key to bringing greenhouse gas emissions close to zero, restoring ecosystems and creating new ones. The eighth opportunity, Mobile Super Scrubbers, asks what if we could absorb greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter on demand anywhere in the world regardless of the technological capabilities available at hand, while being enabled by materials science, automation and advanced machine intelligence? The ninth opportunity, Rapid Response Regulators, puts forward the idea of decentralized, forward-looking regulatory bodies responding with agility to the groups and issues that they govern. The tenth opportunity, The Ultimate Climate Calculator, suggests going beyond the carbon footprint, and developing a digital climate catalogue that allows governments, businesses, and even individuals, to calculate their environmental impact in real time. The eleventh opportunity, Unstrained Assets, proposes that abandoned oil and gas facilities, both offshore and onshore, can be repurposed for carbon sequestration to reduce both carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Lastly, the twelfth opportunity, Waterless Farms, highlights that advances in nanotechnology enable the delivery of micronutrients and pesticides through spray coatings that boost yields, safely protecting agriculture from pests and reducing the need for excessive watering.