COP27 — Expecting “Meaty” Solutions… or Slim Pickings?

COP27 kicked off on November 6th in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

It’s another opportunity for the representatives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to show how each country is keeping its feet on the ground to remain accountable for real climate solutions.

Naturally, I’m keeping an eye on the newsfeeds and the proposed agendas.

But I won’t lie. I’m pretty sceptical…

Yes, we have a delegation of truly remarkable heads of state and government attending from across the world. Their charismatic words and agendas annually fuel us with hope change is on the horizon. Consensus has been the cornerstone of making decisions. It’s what the event is focused on.?

But after spending what feels like an entire year blasting my concerns around the climate crisis and sustainable action, I find myself unable to don the helm of cheap optimism that any actionable decisions will be made.

2022 has given me another dose of realism.?

The Ukraine War, the rising cost of living in the UK, the threats of 3-hour rolling blackouts, and the uncertainties of a fast-approaching winter during an energy crisis have made a cynic out of me.

But I don’t want to be! I think it's great that these conversations are happening. But, these meetings feel as though they plod along around the concept of developing solutions instead of executing them.

The road to these conferences is littered with broken promises of lowering emissions. You could almost say that tensions are so sharp between some of the biggest polluters that it can cut through the smog and the pretension.

So with all the dirty laundry leaders are hanging out, how can we suspect anyone to adopt a cleaner act so soon?

We’ve seen all the promises. But where are the results? How are we making our world better? How are we getting tangible, sustained, and accountable action from the world’s biggest culprits?

I’m reminded of a commercial from my childhood by the American fast-food chain Wendy’s. It popularized what has today become an all-purpose catchphrase to question substance…

WHERE’S THE BEEF?

Can we Feed the Hunger for Real Solutions?

This year, things seem to be a little different.?

COP27’s host country appears to have made tangible responses a priority over more pledges.?

Looking at the backdrop, however, this may be shooting high.

With its brutal war on Ukraine, Russia stepped off the world stage and took even more stability with it. It caused major food insecurities that fed into massive price hikes. An energy crisis wasn’t far behind, launching some homes into the dark ages this winter as they consider burning fossil fuels just to stay warm.??

We’ve been spectators to major weather disasters, of which the heatwave and subsequent flooding in Pakistan gave us a horrible picture of what that loss and damages look like.

All eyes are sheepishly being turned to the richer nations to increase their support and meet past pledges. Meanwhile, everyone is pounding on the safe doors of the World Bank to bump up the climate budget.?

Dare I even get into national targets to tackle climate change??

Of the 193 countries involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), only 24 countries have updated their goals— none of them being the major emitters.?

All of this is crowned by our failure to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. This means we can expect to remain audience to the scientists' warnings on the increasingly devastating consequences of climate change.

Let’s face it. We’re trying to make sober negotiations while we’re drunk on a cocktail of crisis.

So I for one am curious to see how we can get anything done.

As Alden Meyer, a senior associate at E3G put it, “The geopolitical context may not be conducive to ambition.” He further states that “the world expects governments to cooperate on three big issues: climate impacts, accelerating mitigation ambition and delivering greatly scaled up climate finance.”

The way I see it: having a handful of the world’s elite community meeting to entertain pipedreams is a great way to get the topic trending. People don’t have serious conversations without that incentive.

But will it actually improve the actual situation in front of us??

How much change is being promised? How much change has actually happened? How much has just stayed the same?

I've been able to predict and forecast models for so long, but this time, I don't know if I’ll be left starving for an answer.

I reiterate. WHERE’S THE BEEF?

Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and incoming head of the climate summit, wrote a letter to delegates that echo that pressure.?

He mentions how the summit is a means by which to bridge political tensions, mend broken trust, and reassert a unified effort to address climate change. It’s an issue that doesn’t discriminate between cultures or geography. To do that, we need “solidarity and action, not empty rhetoric.”

Whether we’ll be satiated with actionable solutions remains to be seen…

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I’m still heartened by the desperation of leaders to meet up, communicate their needs, and collaborate to meet them. People’s commitment to forging relationships in times of crisis supports the call for a unified effort to see change happening.?

I’m thrilled by the relationships I’ve had a chance to establish face-to-face as well…

Many of whom now made their way to the Future Insights Network, our community of 130,000+ supply chain execs.

Each one of these remarkable leaders has not only contributed to the incredible think tank around sustainability, resilience, and transformation in our industry. They’ve shown the beef as well by delivering practical insights and innovative solutions.

Join me, as I explore their resumes of action on the? Transform Talks Podcast .

I’m proud to have created a space where experts have risen to meet the global challenges we face. Their pledges to a stronger future have been anything but empty.

You can join our community here: https://www.futureinsights.org/