COP27 will be held in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh on 6-18 November.
Every year, a different country from a different world region takes up the Conference of the Parties (COP) Presidency, to convene world leaders and define priorities. As an ‘All of Africa’ COP, the Egyptian COP27 Presidency has defined the summit’s four key goals as:
- Mitigation: All parties, especially those in a position to “lead by example”, are urged to take “bold and immediate actions” and to reduce emissions to limit global warming well below 2°C.
- Adaptation: Ensure that COP27 makes the “crucially needed progress” towards enhancing climate change resilience and assisting the world’s most vulnerable communities.
- Finance: Make significant progress on climate finance, including the delivery of the promised $100 billion per year to assist developing countries.
- Collaboration: As the UN negotiations are consensus-based, reaching agreement will require “inclusive and active participation from all stakeholders”.
COP26, was held in Glasgow in November 2021. It brought together 120 world leaders and representatives from almost 200 countries. It culminated in the Glasgow Climate Pact, which reaffirmed the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of “limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C”.
At COP27, we can expect to see climate adaptation at the centre of talks. In the negotiating rooms, developing countries and small-island states will continue to stress how many countries lack the resources to respond to climate impacts, and issue which many small-island nations have been re-iterating for decades. Therefore, it is vital that there are strengthened efforts to build partnerships between governments, businesses, investors, and cities and regions to deliver urgent action on climate adaptation.
The main barriers for businesses becoming more sustainable relate to cost in the current ‘cost-of-doing-business’ crisis. It is vital that businesses and government come together. The news that the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will attend COP27 is welcome to businesses that are struggling with becoming more sustainable as they look to survive this winter with the business energy support only lasting six months. Certain businesses may find it more challenging to get to net zero and face potentially being left behind.
Smaller firms are more concerned about the cost of becoming more sustainable and implementing new technology, especially during a time where companies’ cash flow levels are being squeezed with rising energy costs and inflation. Therefore, Rishi Sunak’s engagement with COP27 is vital to provide a much-needed sustainability plan for businesses.
The HW Chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey, which looks to report on the biggest issues currently facing businesses, opens for data collection on the 7 November. This edition will have a special focus on sustainability and will ask the concerns and barriers businesses face when it comes to greater sustainability.
We are asking for as many businesses as possible to fill out the short survey and to get your key business concerns heard by significant decision makers locally and nationally. To fill in the survey and have the chance to win afternoon tea for two at Hogarths Stone Manor, Kidderminster, Worcestershire please visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QES42022GWAF