Piers Clark, Chairman of the Isle Group, looks at how COP26 panned out and outlines the launch of a new source of funding by Isle to help water utilities adopt technologies which will accelerate the path to achieving carbon neutrality.

Piers Clark: How was COP26 for you? If you were a teacher marking their homework what grade would you give the politicians and delegates?

My mark would be a C minus. There was undoubtedly some positive progress over the 2 weeks, but it fell horrifically short of what is needed. A 1.5 degree C rise in global temperatures is now all but inevitable. Fragile habitats (such as coral reefs) will be destroyed, and the domino effect will have consequences for all of us.

The warnings have been around for decades, and were highlighted in the most recent IPCC report on the climate crisis earlier this year. Those findings were brutally stark and set the tone for COP26.

Yet the latest data from the respected Global Carbon Project – published as COP26 was in progress – underscore our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels. The abrupt decline in global carbon dioxide emissions seen during the pandemic will be all but erased by the end of this year.

Carbon emissions from fossil fuels will rise by 4.9% in 2021, essentially wiping out the brief 5.4% drop we saw in in 2020. This ‘recovery’ is faster than most scientists predicted and indicates that emissions will rise anew next year without substantial, immediate action.

In the water sector we have a particular responsibility. We are a sector which not only utilises significant energy, but we also have great potential to create a positive impact (for example from generating green energy from bioresources, to building floating solar arrays on our reservoirs).

We can produce a double whammy beneficial effect (reducing energy demand and creating new green energy). Within the sector we all know this. And I believe that the great majority of people in the water sector want to do more. But the pace of change is too slow. We simply cannot continue as we have done. Our pace to date can at best be described genteel and at worst is irresponsibly sleepy.

Trial Reservoir to provide new source of funding to help water utilities on path to carbon neutrality

It is with this background that Isle is launching the Trial Reservoir, a new source of funding to help water utilities adopt technologies which will accelerate our path to achieving carbon neutrality.

The trial reservoir is a pot of money which Isle is giving to the water sector. It will be used to fund trials - anywhere in the world - of technologies which can have a beneficial carbon outcome.

We are all familiar with the usual process through which technologies are trialled in the water sector. A technology company comes to a utility promising that they can save millions, all that is needed is a trial to prove their worth. Invariably this is where the process stalls. The utility is interested but doesn’t have an bottomless pit of money to trial each new technology that comes to its door.

This is where the Trial Reservoir can help. Money can be drawn down from the Reservoir to fund the trial, on the understanding that if the trial is a success – i.e. it meets clear, ambitious, pre-agreed success criteria – the utility will adopt the technology and the tech company who received the funding can then pay back the money into the Reservoir. This means the Reservoir is ever-green, able to continually recycle the funds into trial after trial after trial.

The Trial Reservoir will take 100% of the financial risk of the trial failing. This enables the municipality to focus on what they do best (namely the installation and operation of water and waste water assets). And it lets the technology companies preserve their ever-limited capital. The process sounds simple. Hell, it IS simple, but it does require utilities to engage in a way that they have seldom done before, in particular thinking through the procurement options before a trial commences.

We have a real opportunity here to change how the water sector operates

Over the past 3 months we have developed the Trial Reservoir concept and spoken to over 30 utilities. All of them have been positive, and we have two initial trials currently being undertaken to test the TR concept. With each day that passes the Trial Reservoir gains more momentum! I genuinely believe that this could change how innovation is adopted in the water sector.

I am incredibly proud to share that the Trial Reservoir is supported by a number of sponsors from around the world: the investment first PureTerra, the family fund Inheritance based out of Singapore, the global engineering consultancy WSP, Hydro International from the UK, and Metito from the UAE, Xylem from…well, across the world; the UK water company United Utilities, Bertzman Capital from the USA - who have a particular interest in supporting trials in low and medium income countries, and finally Stratford Capital from Australia. I am particularly grateful to all these organisations for their support, which will help ensure the Trial Reservoir is a success.

We have a real opportunity here to change how the water sector operates. Time is not on our side. If you are in any doubt think about your children and future grandchildren. They will hold this generation responsible for not acting when we could.

If you want to get involved – whether you are a tech company, a utility, or just a supporter - please let me know. Drop me an email or visit our website.

The world may be on fire but we are not going down without a fight.

Contact Piers Clark: Tel +44 7976 344233 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Interested organisations can also register at Isle’s Water Action Platform where information gathered on the Trial Reservoir will be disseminated. Registration with the Platform is free - membership currently stands at 1650-plus people from 760+ organisations across 96 countries.

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This article first appeared on Dr. Piers Clark’s semi-regular blog ‘Notes from Piers’. Click here for more information and to register to receive the blog on a regular basis