The 2023 United Nations COP summit starts today, but what does that mean for businesses and their supply chains. Our Innovation and Sustainability Manager Tom Isler tells us more.
What are the COP Summits?
The COP summits stands for the Conference of the Parties, which are annual meetings organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These summits bring together nearly 200 representatives from countries around the world to discuss and negotiate global efforts to address climate change.
The UNFCCC, established in 1992, is an international treaty aimed at addressing climate change and its impacts. The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, is one of the more well-known agreements and was adopted in 2015 during COP21 in Paris and marks the beginning of a shift towards a net-zero emissions world.
The purpose of the Agreement is to create a global agreement with actions to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. COP summits aim to assess the progress towards the goals creating new non-negotiable goals to ensure we maintain a sustainable planet.
What to expect from COP28
This year COP28 runs from November 30 through to December 12th 2023 at Expo City Dubai. The eyes of the world are on this year’s summit, as the impact of global warming is now more evident than ever before, rendering the previous 25 years summits fruitless. NASA reported 2023 was the hottest summer on record and the UN have provided insights that suggest that current green house gase (GHG) output and human activity will leave Earth 2.5 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
With UAE being the epicentre of crude oil production, there are hopeful submissions that the hosts will lead the way in innovating how best to use crude oil and adopt new sources of energy.
Another large topic of focus for COP28 is addressing the implication and success of the Loss and Damage Act. The reality of industrialisation and globalisation of developed countries is the devasting effects on the environment of developing countries. The Loss and Damage Act seeks to reduce this imbalance by imposing up to a $100 billion mandatory donation to developing countries, funded by the prosperous economic activity of developed nations with stable economies.
How does COP28 affect UK SME’s?
Britain’s leaders and policymakers will be under pressure by all other COP members to follow and agree to all conclusions drawn from the summit. With summers at record highs and developing countries requiring more financial relief, the suggested policies coming from COP28 could be the most severe yet.
I would speculate that mandatory reporting on carbon footprint will be made more inclusive that 250+ employee firms. SME’s make up 90% of the UK’s corporate landscape, the leadership of this country must see that tighter environmental regulations in this sector are necessary. In the most extreme case, I believe that carbon taxes will be introduced to discourage economic activity which relies on heavily on carbon.
To keep up to date on sustainable news in freight follow the Sustainable Freight Network or get in touch if you would like support in finding more sustainable solutions to moving your goods around the world.
