Looking ahead to COP27

This year in Egypt, the packed conference program provides a platform for discussion across 11 themes including finance, science, decarbonization, adaptation and agriculture, energy, biodiversity and solutions.

Within such a far-reaching agenda it is gratifying to note the emphasis on adaptation and collaboration, with Adaptation and Agriculture Day taking place on November 12. At Cervest, we’re always pushing adaptation to the top of the agenda, as we recognize every organization in every sector, in every part of the world, faces varying degrees of climate risk – and that risk is escalating as climate change accelerates. We must adapt, now.

Adaptation is defined in a contribution report to the IPCC as, “the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or take advantage of beneficial opportunities.” Earlier this year the IPCC working group II report highlighted that the devastating impacts of climate change were already being endured across the world. It also stresses we are not yet equipped to deal with current climate impacts nor are we prepared for the extreme weather events that are increasing in number and intensity. It’s, therefore, no surprise to see climate adaptation move to the top of the COP27 agenda.

The Global Goal on Adaptation was one of the significant outcomes of COP26, and COP27 should consolidate aims to place adaptation at the forefront of global action. On November 12, the session on adaptation technologies will explore how technology can assist as companies and nations adapt to climate change.

Adaptation is vital to protect business assets and operations from our increasingly volatile climate. It can bring business operations to a halt, cause costly damage, and disrupt supply chains. Climate intelligence (CI) equips organizations with the decision-useful insights needed to address this risk head-on. It provides science-based insights, the comparable and independent ratings organizations need to understand their risk, and allows them to make informed decisions on how to effectively build resilience and adapt with climate change.

Progress, it is clear, will take collaboration which is a pillar of COP27. The conference recognizes that governments, businesses and society at large must all work together to bring about change; also that, “new solutions and innovations” must help allay negative climate change impacts.

Scientists, academics and technologists can help advance adaptation and climate risk resilience across economies and communities. Science-backed solutions can help organizations understand their climate vulnerabilities and equip them with the insights they need to take informed decisions to de-risk action.

Entire supply chains need climate intelligence because, while an organization may own just a handful of assets, they often rely on thousands. Only by seeing our shared climate risk can we begin to build climate resilience at the transformative pace and scale our changing climate demands. Climate intelligence provides the single source of decision-ready, quantified and comparable, science-backed truth about climate risk that can be accessed and shared by all stakeholders, such as suppliers, investors and board members.

On 11 November, the conference will focus on the theme of decarbonization.

Net zero, the point at which greenhouse gases released and removed from the atmosphere balance out, is essential in action against climate change. However, it is insufficient alone to shore up defenses against the impacts of climate change already locked into our system. Economic losses from weather and climate-related extremes in Europe reached around half a trillion euros over the past 40 years.

Locked-in changes will already mean more frequent and severe climate-related extreme events such as heatwaves, droughts and floods. To enable companies, economies and infrastructure to transition smoothly to a low carbon economy, adaptation must be pursued alongside Net Zero to withstand our increasingly volatile climate.

Without climate resilience, business operations can falter, supply chains can be disrupted and costly damage can be sustained. The World Meteorological Organization reported that climate-related disasters have increased fivefold over the last five decades, costing USD200 million daily.

Climate-related disasters include droughts, which can affect operations in water-intensive industries such as manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, and flooding, which can damage buildings and infrastructure, impacting lives, businesses and supply chains. So much so, that thousands of buildings in Dublin, including businesses and power stations, are at risk of coastal flooding by 2100.

Flooding damages economies and devastates lives – at least 1,000 lives were lost in the Pakistan floods which were estimated to cost USD10 billion. Altogether in 2021, weather- and climate-related events cost the global economy USD329 billion.

To start building climate resilience, a company must first accurately understand the climate risks facing its assets, which can only be done through access to climate intelligence (CI). True climate intelligence, such as that provided by EarthScan™, Cervest’s CI product, provides decision-ready intelligence on asset-level climate risk.

It creates full visibility of multiple climate hazards, such as flooding, drought and extreme temperatures, across multiple climate scenarios, backwards to 1970 and ahead to 2100. Allowing businesses to zoom in and out across multiple scales, timeframes, hazards and geographies makes CI decision-useful at both asset level, or across a portfolio of assets. This climate intelligence paves the way for adaptive action.

On November 17, ‘Solutions Day’ at COP27 will discuss how creativity and innovation can be brought to bear against climate change. Solutions to tackle climate change head-on are essential in our fight to protect the future of our planet. These will help businesses and nations be more resilient in the face of the impacts of climate-related events are also critical to protect business, economies and our way of life.

The key message from COP27 this year is ‘Together for Implementation’, it's about tangible action building on previous years negotiations and planning. At Cervest, our CI is dynamic intelligence designed to sync with real-world decision-making, powering climate action. We look forward to more and more organizations taking action as a result of COP27 and building on their climate ambitions.

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