CCG covers all aspects of work to create sustainable economic growth in the Global South. For COP30 we will be focussing on Data-to-Deal and you can read Vivien Foster’s Blog about this here.
COP30 runs from Monday, 10 Nov 2025 – Friday, 21 Nov 2025
Events we have organised or are contributing to
We are attending the Opening of the Transport Pavilion in the Blue Zone on Tuesday 11 November (9.00-9.30) with our partners the Ministry of Transport Brazil, SLOCAT, and CNT. Director Mark Howells will speak at the event. CCG is sponsoring the Transport Pavilion for the duration of COP30. In the evening, we are attending Transport on the Move: From Paris to Brazil and Beyond co-organised by Brazil Ministry of Transport, CCG, Sistema Transporte, and SLOCAT. CCG’s Holger Dalkmann will be part of a Fireside chat: Road to Belem via Paris with Maruxa Cardama from SLOCAT. Also that evening the Transport Reception in the Green Zone takes place (18.30-20.00) with SLOCAT, FIA Foundation, Kuehne Foundation, Ministry of Transport Brazil and CNT (Confederação Nacional do Transporte). We are honoured to be joined by the Minister of Transport for Brazil.
On Wednesday 12 November, CCG has a half day of events at the GAUC Pavilion (Global Alliance of Universities on Climate) in partnership with the Grantham Institute. We start with Empowering Countries to Develop Their Own Climate Transitions (12.00-13.30), highlighting our approach to capacity-building for country leadership of NDCs. From 13.00-14.00 we have Data-to-Deal: A Guide for Practitioners at which Vivien Foster will lead the presentation of seven briefs on D2D, newly developed for COP30. How to Finance Climate Transition Plans (14.00-15.00) will highlight the finance modelling tools developed by the Imperial College London research team for CCG.
Also on 12 November, we will be speaking at Building Capacities for Energy Planning: International Support for Sustainable Development in the SDG Pavilion (14.00-15.00). This is organised by IAEA and supported by AU, IRENA, OLADE, UNESCAP, Ministry of Energy Brazil and CCG. It will be an opportunity to share Examples of collaboration between international organizations and member states on capacity building of local experts (with a focus on CLEWs).
Thursday 13 November Accelerating Climate Finance for an inclusive Transport Transition in LMICs will see CCG and others explore the urgent need to scale up climate finance for transport systems in LMICs, where investment gaps remain a major barrier to sustainable development. Sustainable transport has secured $334 billion annually but needs $2.4 trillion each year until 2050. The session will feature the Data-to-Deal (D2D) approach which is now being piloted in Asia through a partnership between the UK’s FCDO, CCG, and the Asian Development Bank. Participants will be invited to reflect on how tools like D2D can support national and regional efforts to close the climate finance gap, and what enabling conditions—such as data access, institutional capacity, and strategic partnerships—are needed to move from planning to investment.
On Friday 14 November, CCG’s Transport Lead, Holger Dalkmann, will present the TDCI (Transport Data Commons Initiative) at the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport event in the Transport Pavilion (Blue Zone) (16.00-17.00), organised in partnership with the Kuehne Foundation and UNESCAP. The session has three core objectives: 1) to share initial voluntary commitments from governments, foundations and transport associations and encourage further sign‑ups; 2) to highlight regional engagement by UN agencies and development partners in support of the Decade; 3) to reflect on a common vision how to make use of the Decade and how monitoring, tracking and reporting will be used to measure progress and strengthen accountability. Together these aims will help translate high‑level ambitions into concrete actions and clarify how partners will demonstrate results over the coming years.
On Saturday 15 November, in the African Pavilion, as part of Energy Day organised by UNECA, we will take part in Delivering Africa’s NDCs: Mobilising Finance Through Energy Planning and Capacity Building. This session will highlight how UNECA, CCG, 2050 Pathways, and partners are supporting African governments and institutions to strengthen planning systems, build capacity, and mobilise finance for NDC implementation. (15.30-16.45)
Click for More Events at COP 30
Tuesday 11 November, Holger Dalkmann will contribute to the Plan to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) Implementation Workshop – Turning Plans into Progress: Decarbonising Road Transport. (09.30-10.30 Axis 1 Thematic Room, Blue Zone), organised by the Ministry of Transport Brazil and Breakthrough Agenda.
The workshop will convene the road transport community to reflect on advancing the Plan to accelerate solutions on road transport to the next Global Stocktake, supported by partner initiatives’ progress to date, potential outcomes and enabling collaborative actions to solve implementation challenges. Focus will be on strengthening existing partnerships to advance the COP30 Action Agenda and mobilise collective efforts,
Mark Howells will contribute to the session Establishing the Country-Specific GHG Modelling Framework to be held in the Türkiye Pavilion in the Blue Zone from 10,00-11.00 with the Government of Türkiye. This panel will
• Present Türkiye’s modelling capacity and the preparation process for the 2025 Second Nationally Determined Contribution,
• Highlight the roles of different actors involved in the modelling process (public institutions, modelling team, international experts, international organizations),
• Share Türkiye’s experience with other Parties and explore potential areas for collaboration,
• Demonstrate the direct link between capacity building and enhanced climate ambition.
Vivien Foster will chair the session The Missing Link: Macroeconomic and Finance Dimensions in Climate Planning in the NDC Partnership Pavilion from 15.30. This event will soft-launch GGGI’s new Guide on Incorporating Macroeconomic and Finance Issues in Climate Planning, positioning climate planning and finance as a continuum and demonstrating practical approaches to embed macroeconomic analysis and financial system perspectives in national climate strategies. It will provide policymakers, relevant Ministries, such as Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Environment, and development practitioners with actionable guidance and emerging best practices to:
• Align NDCs and long-term low-emission strategies with macro-fiscal realities,
• Address debt and fiscal constraints while scaling green and climate investment,
• Strengthen cross-government coordination — especially with ministries of finance, planning, and central banks
• Enhance climate policy credibility, investment signals, and economic growth,
• Move from climate planning to climate and carbon finance mobilization.
The session will highlight country experiences in addressing macroeconomic and finance considerations and emerging frameworks.
On 14 November CCG, SLOCAT and GIZ present Improving Climate Finance for Transport Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF Pavilion, Blue Zone, 14.00-15.00) which will explore Synergies between sustainable transport and climate finance. CCG’s Vivien Foster will take part.
CCG will participate in the event Energy Investment & Financing Tools organised by GCPA, the UK Government and BEIS on Saturday 15 November (16.30-17.30) in the UK Pavilion. On the same day, Mark Howells will chair the panel at the Launch of the Power Transmission Acceleration Platform (PTAP) in the IDB Pavilion (17.00-18.00). This is a joint event between The Green Grids Initiative, UCL and CCG. Mark will also be speaking at the launch of the Global Coalition for Energy Planning (GCEP) co-organised by IRENA and GCEP, in the presence of the Brazilian Ministry.
DATA-TO-DEAL BEST PRACTICE POLICY BRIEFS for COP30 – seven reference publications to guide you through the D2D process.
During COP30 we are launching seven comprehensive guides to each step of the Data-to-Deal approach and we will be delighted to discuss them with you at any time. D2D is a framework that’s proven its worth in Latin America where it has secured $11 Billion for Costa Rica, Dominican Republica, Chile and Uruguay. Together with contributing organisations we have written these detailed reference tools so that other countries can follow the D2D approach to securing climate finance and investment.
CCG at COP 29
To reflect COP29’s themes we focussed on the following themes, and published policy briefs for each of them:
D. Green Grids
Themes and Attendance and Publications
We published work on climate start-ups and renewable energy entrepreneurship from the Global South through a Blue Zone event at the SE4All Pavilion. In transport, we promoted Data-to-Deal (D2D) thinking with the launch of the “D2D Transport in Asia” report in collaboration with ADB, followed by a side event with WRI and SLOCAT.
CCG also showcased new MinFin case studies at a climate finance event, contribute to a GGI-led discussion on principles for financing power transmission lines.
CCG held side events during COP. One of these focussed on Transport and one launched the Energy Modelling Community which is a network for anyone who has completed energy modelling training at a CCG Summer School.
If you would like to see the policy briefs from COP28 in Dubai, please use the links below:
Global Community Support for LMIC Fossil Fuel Producers
Analytical Tools to Support Transport Sector Decarbonisation in LMICs
Affording the Climate Transition (MinFin)
Towards Equitable Climate Compatible Transport Pathways in Kenya
CCG at COP28
CCG at COP28
At COP 28, we implemented a comprehensive programme of side events with the aim of engaging in the global policy discussion, increasing awareness of CCG’s activities, and promoting dialogue with partner organisations. Some of the highlights of the events programme were:
Three CCG-organized side events in the UNFCCC Blue Zone, with proposals selected from among hundreds of competitors. These included events on accelerating development of national knowledge ecosystems, supporting transition pathways for fossil fuel producing LMICs, and mobilizing investment in Zambia.
A major milestone for CCG was the launch of Uganda’s Energy Transition Plan, which commits the country to reach net zero by 2065. This was the result of a partnership between CCG and IEA, in which CCG provided the open-source software and capacity-building efforts that allowed Ugandan government planners to play a driving role in the technical analysis and development of the plan.
Members of our team were invited to participate as chairs or panellists at more than 20 Blue Zone side events organized by other partner institutions, including ADB, ETC, IAEA, IRENA, LDC Negotiators, UNEP and UNFCCC among others.
Climate Parliament co-organized – with the European Climate Foundation – a two-day Investment Dialogue Forum on Green Grids, which attracted significant participation from MPs from around the world and led to a statement signed by 22 MPs committing to greater climate ambition and action.
CCG organized 20 off-site side events, including CCG days on the Transport Sector and Data-to-Deal. The CCG Transport Day – co-organized with ADB, HVT, SLOCAT and WRI – was particularly well-attended and attracted sponsorship from the UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of UNECE, and senior participation from GIZ as part of the run-up to the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in June 2024.
Over 50 bilateral meetings were held with heads of IRENA, SEforAll, World Energy Council, and senior leaders in AfDB, ASDB, IEA, WB, WRI.
We also launched the Electricity Transition Playbook, and two significant new research papers, one on the role of cross-border interconnectors in the global energy transition, and one on the economic predicament of fossil fuel producing LMICs
CCG is a UK Aid-funded project which aims to support investment in sustainable energy and transport systems to meet development priorities in the Global South. The programme brings together some of the UK’s leading universities including UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, the Open University, Strathclyde University and Loughborough University, with the Centre for Global Equality, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sustain 2030, and Climate Parliament. It is directed from the Centre for Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment, and Resilience (STEER), at Loughborough University. Our team includes experts in practical, applicable research in sustainable development and related topics.
