Sustainability in Fragile States #COP28

I am sharing below my keynote from the “Driving Sustainable Change: Charting New Paths in #RenewableEnergy, #CircularEconomy, and #ESG Compliance” conference, that took place in #Berlin on Nov. 17. It was organized by Beyond Group , OMNIA - The Plural of Energy and Kompetus Management Consulting GmbH at the Global Village.

Last year, we organized?our first conference in Berlin with AKEV,?focusing on public sector reform in fragile states. What brings the three consulting firms together this year goes beyond this conference. It's our aspiration for meaningful consulting.?

In the last decade, consulting has been almost bastardized. We are not just about reports, decks, and PDFs; we are about finding systemic solutions, using inclusive methodologies, for complex problems that will have a meaningful impact on a whole community or a society. At Beyond Group, we measure meaningfulness through the '5 Ps', and #sustainability practices are imbedded in our vision, strategy and operating model.

Almost two years ago, Kompetus joined the Beyond Group family. Since then, with the drive of my friends and partners Felix Richter and Omar Abdul Samad , we launched our Sustainability Practice to support not only Germany but all Beyond Group international hubs, starting in Europe, the Caucasus & Central Asia, the MENA region, and the GCC, with work in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Which brings me to our topic on Sustainability, and my experience is mostly in fragile states.?

I would like to share some observations on Sustainability Challenges in Fragile states:

Urgency Challenges: Europe considers climate change an immediate risk, while often the global south considers it a long-term risk, despite being aware of those risks. People in any fragile states currently suffer from poverty, inequality, and conflicts, with very little bandwidth to think of future generations.

Structural Challenges: The current economic model is based on growth. To grow, we need to compete in markets, produce more, and thus, require more energy – be it black, green, or golden. Then, we need natural resources, most of which are in the global south. To survive this economic model, any environmental means is justified for an economic end. Earlier this year in Nouakchott, Mauritania, working with the Ministry of Energy, I observed how some development agencies are offering technical assistance on sustainability while others are providing technical assistance for oil extraction at the same time.

Geopolitical Challenges: The global economic competition is imposing a lookout for political alliances to achieve economic interests. The current global cold economic war over natural resources to produce renewable energy translates into local real social wars: Niger with over 7.5% of the world's uranium reserves, Congo with 70% of the world's coltan and 30% of diamonds, or Sudan with gold and uranium. This is one core reason why these countries are at war.

Technological Challenges: We probably know most of the solutions to sustainability challenges, and much of the technology is known but scalability is difficult as it requires skills and money. Often, fragile states suffer from both, leading to reliance on Western countries for resources in exchange for natural resources.

Ideological Challenges: Any debate around any change is trapped by ideological polarization. If we identify the economic model as a challenge, we are polarized between right and left. If we identify political challenges, we are polarized between conservatives and liberals. If we identify geopolitical challenges, we are polarized between East and West. This divorce between ideologies transforms any issue into an identity issue, leaving no room for dialogue. It has a paralyzing factor, aborting creativity, collaboration, and even consciousness.

This last challenge is exactly the rationale for this conference as an invitation for a dialogue beyond ideologies, and even beyond defining the challenges but focusing on solutions.?

We intended to have an ecosystem approach to this conference, similar to our to our approach to sustainability. We invited friends from different countries, diverse backgrounds, a variety of industries, across all sectors, and different ideologies to discuss but also to aspire for collective actions.

To shift myself into solutions, while the Global North is leading the conversation on sustainability, the global south is leading the implementation.?

How? Because sustainable practices are not just a new concept but an old practice in most communities in the global south. Most villages have green and circular practices embedded in their culture. Families reuse most of the solid waste cans and jars, save water, and use organic fertilizers. Countries that haven't been totally enveloped by modernity tend to be the most sustainable. Therefore, instead of looking for solutions elsewhere, we should scale up many of the solutions over there.?

My first wish for today is that we engage in a dialogue beyond ideologies.?

My second wish is that this conference triggers opportunities for collaboration and partnership.

To achieve these wishes, I have one piece of advice: please be intellectually provocative. Let's challenge each other's intellectual curiosity rather than falling into intellectual conformity.

One of the provocative questions I was recently debating with colleagues from UNEP was about Anthropocentrism, as part of the GIZ working group on ET4D in preparation for the G20 in India, and one question remained with me that I would like to leave with you today: "Shall the world be human-centered, or are there other creatures equally important? Are we, human beings, at the center of this universe, or are we not?"

I feel privileged to work with the Beyond Group team and to be part of this partnership with Omnia and Kompetus. I look forward with anticipation to the conversations we will have today.