Our guide to COP27
September 30, 2022
In November, political leaders and representatives from 195 countries gather in Egypt to make decisions about climate change
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In November, COP27 is being hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, where political leaders and representatives of the governments of 195 countries will negotiate, compromise, and make decisions in relation to climate change commitments.
This year’s host, Egypt, hopes for “inclusive, rules-based and ambitious substantive outcomes” that build on previous agreements. Accelerating action through emissions reduction, scaled up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance, and recognizing that “just transition” remains a priority for developing countries worldwide.
Tackling the climate emergency requires radical change. The global economy; the way the world does business; how we protect our environment; and how we design utilities and build infrastructure, towns, and cities all need to change.
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, is hosting COP27. Egypt has four subgoals of the conference, focusing on mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration.
The COP27 agenda has four subgoals:
Mitigation: Unite to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and work hard to keep the 1.5 target alive. This requires bold and immediate actions from all. COP27 will be a moment for countries to fulfil their pledges and commitments. This year should witness the implementation of the Glasgow pact call to review ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions and create a work program for ambition on mitigation.
Adaptation: World leaders, governments, and state parties to the convention have repeated their commitment for enhanced global action on adaptation. The Global Goal of Adaptation was one of the most important outcomes of COP26. It is key that COP27 makes the crucially needed progress and urges all parties to demonstrate the necessary political will.
COP27 will be a moment for countries to fulfil their pledges and commitments.
Finance: It is essential to make significant progress on the crucial issue of climate finance. The adequacy and predictability of climate finance is key to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. To this end, we need enhanced transparency of finance flows and facilitated access to meet the needs of developing countries—especially Africa, least developed countries, and small island developing states. We need to see follow-up on existing commitments and pledges to provide clarity as to where the world is and what more needs to be done. Progress on delivery of the annual US$100 billion will build more trust between developed and developing countries, showing that those developed countries are fulfilling their pledges.
Collaboration: The growth of partnerships and collaboration will help ensure the world is adopting a more resilient and sustainable economic model. The UN negotiations are consensus-based. Reaching agreement will require inclusive and active participation from all stakeholders.
Stantec’s involvement at COP27
Our COP journey follows our company strategy for climate change and social value. It is reflected in our project work—showcasing how we as scientists, architects, engineers, planners, and economists are working with our clients to fight climate change. Our Climate Solutions team provides clients with tools to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts around the world.
We will be producing a number of latest articles, podcasts, blogs, and information across the full scope of the climate challenge, up to, during, and beyond COP27. These will explore opportunities for the built environment to act for a cleaner, greener future.
Our goal is to be at the heart of climate action through our work. Our work aligns with the Egyptian Government’s key themes for COP27 including finance, science, youth and future generations, decarbonization, adaptation and agriculture, gender, water, civil society, energy, biodiversity, and solutions.
We have an internal action plan for climate change and social value. Stantec established an emissions reduction program in 2010 and has consistently reduced operational emissions each year since. In 2021 our 1.5C science-based emissions reduction target was approved by Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Our pledges to achieve carbon neutrality and operational net zero reflect our business commitment to a robust environmental, social, and environmental strategy into the future. We are writing regional carbon-reduction plans to tackle our carbon footprint even further and continue embedding sustainability across business, projects, and our communities.
An external program of client communications. Through our Inside SCOPE publications, we will again summarize and provide expert commentary on each week’s themes, announcements, and what they may mean for our clients.
We are engaging employees with a festival. Our global Developing Professionals Group will host their annual Climate Change Festival. Featuring subject matter experts from Stantec’s global regions, and aligned to COP27 themes, it will inform and encourage employees to tackle climate change issues in their regions and sectors.