My COP 27 Reflections

As the sun sets on the horizon of Sharm EL Sheikh – we leave this beautiful touristic city and return to our normal lives with the fuel to do one or all the following:

·???????Reflect on our roles and see how we can contribute more to the climate journey

·???????Identify and prioritize decarbonized actions within our own organizations

·???????Take a fresh look at our strategy or business case to get more done and help drive down those emissions

·???????Reflect on what we already have in place and find innovative ways to ensure a just transition.

As I write this piece, which is based on my opinion and reflections

I summarize some of the questions I asked myself? ?The answers for which are based on my own opinion and reflections:

1.?????Is COP meaningful for individual stakeholders as its based-on Nations/countries decisions?

Being present firsthand, I can say COPs have come a long way to engage and involve both the public and private sectors.?We are in a situation currently where Governments need the private sector to support economic growth, investments, innovation, solutions, and knowledge if we are to address the climate challenges.?Equally important for the private sector is to expand business growth, through their product and service offerings.

So yes, COPs are an important once a year engagement platform were global public and private entities can gather and work towards one common goal of addressing climate impacts.

The Blue Zone areas of COPs can sometimes seem daunting as this is restricted access for country representation and for observer organizations – however it’s also the strategic arena where you are able to see, listen and contribute on the following agenda (and not limited to the below)

·???????Reflect on the science and where we stand today (emissions gap narrowing as the years tick on)

·???????Climate mitigation and adaptation strategies by the different countries

·???????Better understand the climate impacts being experienced by some of the most vulnerable or affected countries

·???????Decarbonized solutions that are already leading the path (through realized project testimonies)

·???????Sign and embark on new projects to help countries energy transition plans

·???????Highlight and address challenges to climate strategies (as a one size solution may not fit all countries).

·???????Access financing and investment opportunities to scale up actions and the energy transition ( as we have seen the landmark support on the Loss and Damage fund at COP 27 with the support of the US and EU).

·???????Address social challenges and the impacts of the future?(so it’s not only about climate trajectories anymore).

Agreed this list can be never ending but for the purpose of the question – these are the most strategic reasons why you should be more engaged at COP.

The Green Zones within COP equally focus on the same topics and conversations and draw in more private sector engagements. I anticipate at COP 28 we will see:

·???????Hard to abate sectors decarbonized solutions

·???????Private sector investments through climate solutions (Hydrogen, CCUS, E-fuels, biogas/biomethane etc.)

·???????Private sector pledges and commitments to net zero (#togetherforimplementation) – we all in it together

·???????Materialized actions and robust decarbonization roadmaps

·???????Technology, systems, and solutions to support energy transitions

·???????Localized low carbon solutions

·???????Capacity building and knowledge sharing practices

Again, the list can go on….

So, if you are still doubting the relevance or importance of COP’s – STOP (#togetherforimplementation)

2.?????So, what were some of the key takeaways from COP 27?

?·??Emissions Gap – The recent report by the IPPC and UNEP highlights the fact that we are nowhere near achieving the 1.5-degree trajectory if we continue the way we are doing so.?Which means having commitments and or decarbonized plans but no science linking our trajectories to meet a 1.5-degree trajectory. (Plans are weak and not enough to reduce emissions dramatically).?A 43% reduction by 2030 is what is needed to stay within the 1.5-degree pathway- compared to 2019 levels.?The UN – high level expert group on Net Zero commitments published a report serving as a how to guide to ensure credible, robust pledges.?Further the science-based target initiative has launched the Net Zero Corporate Standard and sector specific standards supporting credible science-based support when setting net zero ambitions.

·??The call to accelerate efforts towards the phase down of unabated coal power and?phase- out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies however remained untouched.??

·??The importance and the urgent need to diversify a countries energy mix/ strategy -??This has become more relevant,?as we reflect on the Russia and Ukraine war, Europe’s energy security crisis and the ripple effect on global economies (food, fuel, inflation etc.).

·??Renewables remain a strong pillar on energy diversifications, but still pose the challenge on intermittency and logistics in some countries.?Whilst this being a lucrative solution for less developed nations, the challenge of investments limits the acceleration.

·??This brings me to the next point on financing and financial instruments to support the energy transition.?We see the solutions such as renewables, hydrogen, CCUS/S; biofuels etc. but the cost of scalability of such solutions are stalling the much need decarbonized actions to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

·??Low carbon solutions – and I focus my attention on Green Hydrogen…?This was the topic of conversation at COP 27.?Egypt is uniquely placed to produce Green Hydrogen, convert to ammonia and to ship it to Europe as alternative low carbon fuel – Which is why we have seen the many MOU’s been signed by countries and investors supporting the development and transportation either used to support the fertilizer ( agriculture) industry or alternative fuel option.?

·??Hard to abate sectors such as power, transport, steel, and agriculture were high on the agenda, with the Presidency of COP 26 , 27 and soon 28?to speed up decarbonization actions.?Actions target sectors accounting for more than 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions and are also designed to reduce energy costs and enhance food security, with buildings and cement sectors?

·??The landmark agreement to support and contribute to the loss and damage climate fund was accepted by EU and the US.?Again, a remarkable turn of decisions by these developed nations as climate impacts become more prevalent in developing nations ( mainly Africa and Asia). ?I guess the realization and urgency on working together to support each other was exacerbated by the pandemic – and that you can’t just turn away, close boarders and think of your own citizens...?If anything, the pandemic, taught us the ripple effects, impacts and disruptions it could have on economics.

·??Accelerated and equitable climate action in mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts is critical to sustainable development. Here the crucial role of the 17 sustainable development goals as countries work towards a just transition plan.

·??The Just Energy Transition Plan – Initially kicked off at COP 26, with South Africa as the pilot project - France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union offered support in the form of a Just Energy Transition Partnership-?$8.5 billion promised by rich countries to help it decarbonize its energy.??South Africa, the 13th?largest CO2?emitter in the world, appears to be the ideal testing ground because it is dependent on coal, which accounts for 80% of its electricity production and employs 100,000 people, but also because it needs help to get out?of a continually worsening energy crisis.????Egypt launched the Africa Just and Affordable Energy Transition Initiative (AJAETI) initiative aims to provide all Africans with access to clean energy, whilst meeting the energy requirements for Africa's economic development.

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·??Biodiversity (emphasized on Natural carbon sinks – role of oceans and afforestation).?the tagline at COP 27 was “Protecting Biodiversity is Protecting the Paris Agreement “ .?The EU announced a new cooperation framework on reversing deforestation in Guyana, Mongolia, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Zambia.?Amazon forests were also in focus with the new president – elect promising its protection.?

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·??The formation of ENACT (Enhancing Nature-based Solutions?(NBS) for Climate Transformation (ENACT)?in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ensuring action across climate, biodiversity, and desertification. ?ENACT will serve as a hub for government and non-state actors to foster collaboration, accelerate action, facilitate policy dialogue, and bring global coherence to activities. The partnership will ensure adherence to the NBS Global Standard.

• The recent launch of the Blue Carbon Principles and?Guidance?outlines what’s needed to create high-quality blue carbon projects and credits to ensure accountability, sustainability, and transparency in the marketplace. These are vital carbon sinks which can sequester up to 4 x carbon than normal terrestrial trees.?We know that the GCC region has rich mangrove forests that could support their climate commitments.

Why don’t we see more representation at negotiating tables??(Gender and youth were a big focus).

Research on SDG 5?show that the world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5—in fact and unfortunately ?it seems we are 300 years off.??Without gender equality, there is no climate justice.

Climate crisis has a greater negative impact on women than men.??We know that women play transformative roles in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

As much as COP 27 was instrumental in ensuring the right female and youth voices were at the negotiation tables – my opinion is that this is only a drop in the ocean to addressing the urgency of climate justice.

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What to look forward to at COP 28?

-??Global stock take (addressing the emission gap and how much damage we continue to inflict on the planet).?My personal wish is to see more and more countries take on active accountability and present the short terms actions to decrease their emissions within the next 8 years.

-??Mitigation approaches – How will countries support faster energy transition plans.?What will be their energy strategies and how far have they?achieved their goals.

-??Adaptation planning-?We all know the consequences on not achieving the 1.5-degree trajectory and we are really close of reaching this goal in the next 2- 3 years if we don’t drive decarbonization actions.?So, for me what is important to start discussion is around how are we building the resilience plans to manage these future impacts of sea level rise, heat waves, flooding, wind events etc. As countries we should have already started the journey of building those robust resilient plans to recover quickly.

-??Sustainable Finance:?What I have seen thus far, is that commitments are in plans, plans being developed but not much is seen in how much funding is required and directed to internal country investments as well as supporting cross nation support on energy transition.

-???Loss and damage – Yes it was a remarkable decision to support loss and damage but the questions that remain are – which countries will benefit, how much will be allocated, the process of accessing funding, the time to receive this funding and how much is distributed to the affected population.

-??Technology and Innovative solutions-?We will see more and more projects demonstrating the capabilities of decarbonization?(Hydrogen, CCUS(S); e- Fuels, Biogas/biomethane etc. – but how far are we from large scale deployment and who will finance these solutions.