So why has the Connected Places Catapult been at the UN's COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow? Well, because so much of what's being discussed, planned and negotiated here in Glasgow has everything to do with cities, how we think about place, and how we imagine, design, build and finance places that are liveable, sustainable, low carbon and fit for the 21st Century.

One of the big questions we've been tackling is How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors?

To answer this, the Connected Places Catapult has teamed up with the UK's Core Cities and London Councils to create the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission. The aim is to the leverage the combined scale and clout of the UK's cities to mobilise investment into low and net-zero carbon projects across all of the UK's largest cities, not just individual ones. In the lead up to COP26 we published our City Investment Analysis Report and Glasgow has been an invaluable opportunity engage with businesses and the investment community.

In this episode we present some highlights from the events and conversations we've been convening at COP26. We hear from;

• Prof. Greg Clark, Chair of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission
• Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council
• John Flint, CEO of the UK Investment Bank
• Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK
• Carl Ennis, CEO of Siemens
• Elsa Palanza, Global Head of Sustainability & ESG, Barclays
• Susan Campbell, Investment Director for Sustainable Investment, Scottish National Investment Bank
• Stephen Pegge, Managing Director for Commercial Finance, UK Finance

Music on this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions and Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

Show notes:

You can read the Joint Declaration of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission on our website, as well as our City Investment Analysis Report. You can also listen to the first podcast we did to introduce the Commission, as well as a follow episode on decarbonising transport in cities.

To read and download the Catapult's Net Zero Places Innovation Brief, which explores a number of new market opportunities in the active travel sector, click here.

If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: [email protected]. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

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