Working cross-silo means breaking down walls

If COP27 really wants to push the needle when it comes to implementation, it should be bolder and more ambitious in breaking down silos. Thanks Roland Schatz for reminding us that Nov 9 was not only finance day, but also the day the Berlin wall came day down. Because people wanted change.

Key reflections.

·???????It’s not only 33 years after the fall of the Berlin will. It’s also 7 years after the Paris Agreement, 17 years after Kyoto, 30 years after Rio. The Club of Rome reports ‘Limits to Growth’ was published 50 years ago. We have 7 years left for the agenda 2030, 27 years until 2050. As stated in one of the panels yesterday: the task upon us is of the magnitude of abolishing slavery, requires a 100 year window as applied by eg. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, or a new kind of Jubilee in line with Henry George’s thinking on land value and redistribution. We cannot waste our time only presenting what is possible, but fundamentally redesign systems and chains from what is needed.

·???????We already have a lot of the building blocks we need, but they are enormously fragmented and their potential is underused. Data and technology allow us to embrace complexity and show where we are today, what is possible tomorrow, and what intervention points are. But also to move forward, acknowledging there are still answers missing. Human creativity, leadership, and responsibility is needed to pick up on those wicked problems to interpret them with an inside-out and outside-in approach, even beyond competition. ?

·???????No single actor can solve the climate and sustainability challenge alone. We need to drastically increase cooperation by respecting we currently have different agendas, narratives, and stakeholder expectations. Systems thinking sounds good, but it is a dirty and time consuming job. It is not only mapping what it exists, but also what is lacking. And who makes the magic happen. We need to provide entries that find actors where they are with the arguments they need. Whether in value chains or ecosystems, we need to secure a handover of insight and responsibility, to avoid that only ‘us’ and ‘them’ are doing something. Only collectively we will move forward. Deep personal contacts do create a space of trust, that allows for unimaginable initiatives and unprecedented partnerships.

·???????COP27 is about getting national parties aligned on ambitious targets and securing that key values and instruments, such as a just transition, finance pipelines, and unheard voices are taken into account. COP should also be the forum for the Conference of the Practitioners. Implementation is not only the outcome of an agreement, it should also be the basis and framework for it. Top down approaches should be linked to bottom up ones in a bidirectional way. Where there are barriers they should be addressed. We should not only matchmake actors but also solutions to come to bottom linked solutions to overcome siloed problems. And come with an Egypt agreement on what we commit to follow-up on post-COP.

·???????Cities are best fit for matchmaking. As major emitters and materials and energy consumers, but also as hotbeds for creativity and testbeds for innovations, they are at the forefront of transformation. Solving challenges in the built environment, mobility and transport, energy and industry infrastructure, waste and water sector provides a clear scope, policy arena, and investment portfolio. Cities help us feel the pulse of a changing metabolism. They form the connector between national ambitions and local breakthroughs. If we can reach out to 10.000 cities, we address 1 billion people, and change consumer demands and producer approaches. ???

·???????Regulation and risk frameworks are still often designed to provide security on the short term, in a clearly defined field or context, building on what we know. We should question those frameworks that prevent us from moving forward faster. This also means valuing the non-monetarized aspects, take into account the cost of non-action and lock-ins.

·???????Many people travelled from far to come here. We should not just present what we do in a myriad of back-to-back sessions. We should use our time together to take a conversation to the end. Imagine what is possible by connecting the present knowledge, ideas, creativity, and networks in a number of challenge driven dialogues that allow for friction, but also for bouncing forward. To go back home with hopefully an unexpected ambitious agreement, but also with bold solutions, a coalition of the willing, and a game changing process that can bring the speed and scale we need.

Huge thanks again to the UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub, to which KPMG is a core partner and contributer, for providing that sometimes uncomfortable yet safe operating space to push the boundaries and break down walls. As well as to the Resilience Hub, that brings together partners and continues to raise the bar. And also the Digital Innovation Pavilion, where digital is enabling transitions in a most tangible way, with the Urban Implementation Cookbook as just an appetizer. Make them your home for the days to come.