Set against the backdrop of several other significant global events, ranging from the Ukraine conflict and the G20 summit to inflationary gas prices and the Men’s World Cup kicking off, the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt took place towards the end of 2022.
And just like the Qatar sporting spectacle, the conference went deep into added on time to achieve the bare minimum of keeping on track the attempt to hold global warming to 1.5C.
Now the dust has settled fully on COP27, which narrowly avoided stalemate and just kept alive previous Glasgow and Paris commitments, Laura Mansel-Thomas, Senior Partner and sustainability specialist at Ingleton Wood, assesses the fallout and impacts for 2023.
What did COP27 achieve?
The lack of any new commitments to phase out fossil fuels was ridiculous. It’s not difficult to say ‘leave it in the ground’ but that wasn’t even discussed.
The new fund to help the least developed countries pay for economic losses caused by climate change is welcome. However, this only shifts the focus onto the impacts, rather than the causes and preventative measures. This is a worrying trend and there’s a feeling of inevitability that we’re not going to hold global warming to a 1.5C rise.
Is the UK on track for 2050 net zero?
Probably not on target but it’s difficult to say.
From a built environment perspective, we don’t yet have in place the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, although it’s on track to be implemented by the end of 2023 hopefully. That means we’re not currently looking at the same targets and don’t have a shared understanding of what it means across the industry.
Decarbonising the grid and moving to electricity rather than gas should get us to net zero, but I’m not sure we’re moving fast enough to meet the 2050 target that is enshrined in law. We can’t suddenly rush it in the 2040s. Work needs to start at pace this decade.
We have already done the easy things, such as reducing the number of coal-fired plants generating electricity and the LED retrofit scheme. From here, everything gets a bit harder and more involved and will require more joined-up thinking and consideration.
Best way forward in 2023
The UK needs to set a clear example to the rest of the world on sustainability but we need to get our house in order first.
Our chairmanship of COP26 in Glasgow wasn’t bad in terms of moving things in the right direction, but we need to continue our academic research and investments in renewable technologies. This needs to move faster and go wider – we need to be setting the global standard, not lagging behind.
At a local level, many forward-thinking councils and private organisations are spearheading innovative retrofit schemes at pace, particularly within the residential sector. There’s also been a huge renewed interest at local councils in Passivhaus, an international standard which promotes very high levels of energy efficiency, and we’re training up assessors as quick as we can to support this movement.
Local authorities are being proactive and doing this work without waiting for the national picture to change, probably because public perceptions have changed with energy bills going through the roof and everyone now realising the importance of cheaper green energy.
The government is pushing some of the responsibility onto the individuals but the bigger picture is that they need to make the bigger (and tougher) decisions: investing in offshore wind on a bigger scale and at a faster pace, home insulation which stalled massively in around 2015, ventilation as highlighted by the recent tragic death of a two-year-old baby in Manchester, as well as good quality housing stock and enforcing Building Regulations.
As everyone knows, all of this requires co-ordination, investment, incentives and effective communication. COP28 is being held in Dubai this year, while Australia, Bulgaria and Brazil have announced intentions to also host in the near future. Let’s hope more specific action on climate goals are discussed and agreed – and enacted.