After a safe arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh, I made my way to the COP venue this morning along with thousands of people from all over the world.
The first day of attendance is always a long but exciting one. After sorting out my badge, I made my way through the main gates into the heart of the venue - an open-air space with palm trees which feels very different from a rainy UK November last year.
I then made my way straight to the pavilion area which provides endless opportunities to learn and explore.
The first event I attended was at the Swedish Pavilion about 'Reaching net zero', including the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Prof Dr Johan Rockström, the Chief Sustainability Officer of Google, Kate Brandt, and others pictured below.
The message from Rockström was quite dire: We are on route to 2.8 degrees of warming. So, what can be done about this?
In the panel, the representatives from Google and Normative (a company that helps companies account for their full carbon footprint and has the goal of solving the accuracy gap in value chains of companies) argued that businesses need to step in to help achieve the 1.5 degree goal. Brandt emphasised that cooperation across businesses but also between businesses and policymakers is key here.
Rockström added that we urgently need to get away from fossil fuels and stop subsidies thereof. Because the window for action is so small: all new investments in oil and coal need to be stopped and "some hard sustainability decisions need to be made."
After the panel, I further explored the pavilion area and stopped at the Water Pavilion where the opening ceremony is live broadcasted. The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, opened the conference, urging delegates to do everything in their power to work together for implementation. He said this COP presents "the last chance to meet our responsibility" for the planet.
Then UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, had the word. His speech was one of spine-chilling urgency as well. He said, "We are fighting for our lives and we are losing….We are on a way to climate hell."
He then called for a climate solidarity pact between developed and developing countries and emphasised the 'special responsibility' of US and China in this context.
He also talked about Loss & Damage, saying that the issue "can no longer be swept under the rug." He went on to say that "the results on L&D are a litmus test for success of COP27."
I really appreciated this strong message on L&D from the UN Secretary-General, coming just a day after the historic breakthrough of adding an agenda item on L&D finance. This gives hope for meaningful discussion and action in this area - but of course, we will only know in two weeks how seriously countries will take this call for action.
