Scaling Climate Innovation Through Partnerships in the UK and the UAE
(Image credit: UAE-UK Business Council)
By: Megan Woodworth, Director of Strategy & Operations
Across every region, the technologies that could transform our energy systems already exist. What remains is the ability to scale them quickly and effectively - moving beyond pilots to deliver measurable climate and economic impact. For many innovators, the challenge isn’t invention - it’s deployment. The question is no longer can we develop low-carbon solutions, but how we bring them to market faster, across borders, and at scale.
Why Global Ecosystems Matter
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. Countries and regions each bring unique strengths including technical expertise, manufacturing capacity, flexible regulation, or cost-effective deployment environments. When connected, these assets can dramatically reduce time-to-market and de-risk early-stage technologies.
For example, emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa often provide ideal conditions for testing and piloting clean technologies - from flexible permitting and abundant renewable resources to competitive operating costs. As highlighted by Nexus Climate, the MENA region represents a massive and largely untapped opportunity for climate tech deployment and investment. Meanwhile, established innovation hubs like the UK and Europe offer deep investor networks, policy backing, and technical credibility that drive confidence at later stages.
At Kantar Advisory Partners (KAP), we see real potential in bridging these ecosystems and pairing innovation readiness from mature markets with the agility and scale potential of emerging ones. It’s this international connectivity that can turn promising concepts into global solutions.
Solar power plant in KEZAD Area A - Al Ma’mourah (Abu Dhabi)
(Image credit: Gulf Business)
Partnerships as the Path to Scale
Collaboration is central to this process. Through our partnership with the Energy Innovation Agency (EIA) in Greater Manchester, we’re helping to connect innovators with the ecosystem they need to succeed, from investor networks and international market pathways to regional end-users ready to trial and adopt new technologies.
Complementing this, our collaboration with KEZAD Group - Abu Dhabi’s fully integrated trade, logistics, and industrial hub - provides innovators and manufacturers with
a clear pathway to expand into the Middle East, leveraging world-class infrastructure, multimodal connectivity, and competitive operating costs.
By combining the Agency’s regional expertise and innovation network with KAP’s investment and internationalisation support and KEZAD’s industrial-scale readiness, we’re helping accelerate the commercialisation of solutions in renewable energy, energy efficiency, mobility, and the built environment. This ecosystem allows innovators to move through a complete journey - from validation and pilot deployment to investor readiness and full-scale market expansion, without losing momentum between stages.
Kantar Advisory Partners at the Energy Innovation Agency’s “Accelerating Sustainability” event in Manchester. Read more about the event on our LinkedIn page
Investor Networks as Catalysts for Growth
Investment is often the final barrier between innovation and impact. Yet early-stage companies frequently struggle to find investors who understand their technology’s value and timeline. KAP works to close that gap through tailored Investor Intelligence, helping companies articulate their proposition, identify the right funding partners, and structure opportunities in ways that attract long-term capital.
Together with partners like the Energy Innovation Agency and KEZAD Group, we link capital to opportunity that enables investors to back technologies with real commercial pathways, supported by on-the-ground deployment in markets like the UK and industrial-scale rollout potential in the UAE. This combination of capital access, commercial traction, and international expansion creates a powerful flywheel: investors gain confidence through proof of deployment, while innovators gain momentum to scale further and faster.
Abu Dhabi’s skyline at dusk - a hub for innovation, investment, and industrial growth across the Middle East
(image credit: KEZAD Group)
A Shared Mission for Scalable Impact
The world doesn’t need more isolated pilot projects - it needs connected, scalable pathways for innovation. Partnerships like those between KAP, the Energy Innovation Agency, and KEZAD Group demonstrate how aligning local insight with international reach can accelerate the adoption of technologies that make a measurable difference.
Because when innovators, investors, and ecosystems work together, progress happens faster and the path from idea to impact becomes a lot shorter.
If you’re an innovator, investor, or corporate partner looking to explore how international collaboration can accelerate your journey, reach out to us via our contact page.
