Renowned business journalist Rod Oram delivered a strong and passionate message yesterday to an audience from the Sustainable Business Network (SBN), live from the COP 27 meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Rod spoke to SBN’s Georgia Brown
Rod gave us a comprehensive update on COP, including behind the scenes anecdotes and his own keen observations on the workings of key NZ politicians and groups at the global meeting. He also provided a heartfelt call to action.
“There is a sense at these meetings that there are hundreds of millions of people around the world working to fix climate change,” he said. “Each of us can only do a small thing, but if each of us does something, it aggregates. And that’s how we can make a difference and have a better future.”
So far, the progress made in Egypt has been mixed. There are a number of important topics that will likely make it into the agreement this year, the ambitiousness of the agreement is up for debate.
Notably, ‘loss and damage’, the concept that developed countries provide funds to support those already incurring costs from climate-fuelled weather extremes, has made it onto the COP agenda for the first time. This is a big triumph. There is broad consensus that in the negotiations, developing countries deserve money and need money. But there is still great diversion on how, how much and when.
Rod gave us an updated view on whether staying within our 1.5 degree boundary is still achievable.
He stressed the emphasis on finance, assessed Aotearoa New Zealand’s climate leadership and described his personal and quite unsettling experiences of surveillance in Egypt. He also laid out some of the innovations showcased at COP, and provided insight into the overshadowing impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
So what does this all mean for us? What should we be doing? We should be doing everything we can. We cannot wait for world leaders to agree on every point. We must do everything we can, with urgency, to transition to a low carbon circular economy.
If you are watching COP and want to know how to take action in your business, head to the Climate Action Toolbox. This free online tool will help you to measure and reduce your emissions.
Watch the full video of Rod’s interview below.
