Daily Digest for

The COP29 conference in Baku features major climate policy updates and negotiations, including Switzerland’s NDC update and discussions on climate finance, adaptation, and carbon markets. The U.S. Department of Energy releases the National Blueprint for a Clean and Competitive Industrial Sector, while Congressional delegations discuss bipartisan approaches to climate action and energy policy.

The European Commission, Spain, Lithuania and Austria announce new financial support totaling around €2 billion for renewable hydrogen development through the Innovation Fund’s ‘Auctions-as-a-Service’ scheme. The three Member States will deploy over €700 million in national funds (Spain: €280-400M, Lithuania: €36M, Austria: €400M) alongside €1.2 billion in EU funding to support renewable hydrogen production projects in their respective countries.

At COP29, multiple agreements and initiatives around nuclear power have been announced, including IAEA partnerships with LinkedIn, IRENA, and EBRD, as well as Google’s deal with Kairos Power for 500 MW SMR capacity by 2035. The US Government has announced plans to triple nuclear power capacity by adding 200 gigawatts, while countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey are incorporating nuclear into their energy transition plans.

The UK and US have signed a new agreement at COP29 for civil nuclear collaboration that will pool billions in nuclear research and development, excluding Russia from future collaborations. The agreement, to be effective from March 2025, involves multiple countries and aims to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies while supporting the COP28 commitment to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050.

ETH Zurich’s team BiodivX has won a $250,000 prize in the XPRIZE Rainforest competition for developing autonomous technologies that enable near real-time monitoring of tropical biodiversity. The team has created an integrated system combining drones, environmental DNA analysis, AI, and indigenous knowledge to rapidly assess rainforest biodiversity, reducing analysis time from 100 hours to 17 hours.