As the name suggests, fossil fuels are an ancient relic – but we know the solution

Sir Keir’s commitment to helping the UK reach its climate goals is admirable – though the answer to the problem might not be found at Cop, but, rather, much closer to home, writes Lord Deben

Every year, the world turns to Cop hoping for leadership, action and collaboration to stem climate change at its root. However, last week we saw Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev say that oil and gas are “a gift of god”, as well as leaders of high-polluting countries, such as Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden and Narendra Modi, not showing up to the negotiations at all.

As someone who has seen many a Cop come and go, though, I am still hopeful that these new climate targets will finally stick. Indeed, I am more optimistic now that Sir Keir Starmer has pledged further reductions to emissions, saying the UK will aim for an 81 per cent decrease by 2035.

But the elephant in the room remains: Cop often places the posturing of leaders over real action for the planet. I was particularly struck by the president of Albania, Edi Rama, saying that “this seems exactly like what happens in the real world. Everyday life goes on with its old habits and our speeches – full of good words about fighting climate change – change nothing.”

If real change isn’t yet coming from summits, it can still come from innovation. Right here in the UK, there are so many companies striving to help the world move towards a greener future. As the chair of Sancroft, a sustainability and ESG (environmental, social and governance) consultancy, I work with so many of them – and believe that business can sometimes do more in a day than governments achieve in a decade.

One such example is the rise of the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy is a system in which biological resources, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms, as well as their by-products, are used to produce a wide range of products, including chemicals, where waste from one process becomes a resource for another.

With more than 96 per cent of all globally manufactured products containing inputs from the chemicals industry, it is imperative to replace the carbon and energy involved. The industry makes up over 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and the problem it presents will not be solved by targets, but by innovation.

The industrial bioeconomy – bio-based and biodegradable materials – offers a timely opportunity to significantly reduce our reliance on fossil resources. In this, the UK chemicals industry has the ambition to double in size whilst sourcing 30 per cent of its carbon feedstock from biomass.

With the right support, bio-based chemicals and materials have the potential to generate upwards of £204bn annual revenue for UK plcs, and significantly contribute to the UK’s net zero commitment.

The implementation of more bio-based products could lead to the sustainable management of natural resources to avoid over-exploitation, whilst ensuring food security and the creation of competitive and productive “green” jobs.

This week I will be presenting at the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association’s (BBIA) Demeter Awards, which showcases some of the most innovative bio-based and biodegradable companies in the UK. I have seen first-hand companies such as Cambridge-based Xampla, which is producing world-first natural polymers from plant proteins, with a diverse range of applications from coatings to films.

Similarly, Bristol-based Kelpi has developed a unique biopolymer from seaweed which can be applied as a coating to substrates such as paper, card and fibre. Both companies are already working with some of the largest firms in the world to scale up production of their biodegradable coatings and deliver unique, next-generation packaging solutions.

Beyond packaging, we have also seen products that would once have been made from conventional plastics becoming fully compostable – and able to be disposed together with food waste. Leeds-based Cromwell Polythene has been working in compostable products since 1983, with their gloves being able to be composted with food waste, rather than being sent for incineration.

As leaders jet back from Cop29 looking for answers to the climate crisis, they should look closer to home. The drive towards a more environmentally-friendly economy is not an option: it is an obligation.

Whilst I praise Sir Keir’s commitment to speeding up our transition to a more sustainable economy, the government cannot achieve that if it turns its back on the potential of biomass for biochemicals and biomaterials, and these should be prioritised over the current strategy of using biomass for bioenergy.

President Aliyev was wrong. The Almighty expects His gifts to be used in a way which doesn’t imperil His creation. Fossil resources are only a gift if, literally, they don’t cost the Earth. The clue is in the name: they are fossils – relics of an ageing economic system that has come to prioritise short-term profit over the continuing health of our planet.

Only with the help of the emerging bioeconomy can we leave these fossils where they belong: in the ground and in the past.

Lord Deben will be presenting the Product Innovation, Start-Up of the Year and Collaboration of the Year awards at the BBIA’s Demeter Awards on the 25 November