Highlights from COP27

COP27: An Inside Perspective

Expectations were tempered by a challenging global environment, but there was still progress made in Sharm El-Sheikh—most notably on the issue of supporting those who will suffer the most from climate change.

• Our Best Bet for Progress

  By Wendy Woods

  Sanda Ojiambo, assistant secretary-general and CEO of the UN Global Compact, speaks with BCG’s Wendy Woods about the need for public-private partnerships and coalitions to advance the climate agenda.
• A New Era for Energy

  By Patrick Herhold

  BCG’s Patrick Herhold and ACWA Power’s Paddy Padmanathan discuss what increasingly expensive fossil fuels and rapidly accelerating green technologies mean for the public and private sectors.
• What Gets Measured Gets Financed

  By Veronica Chau

  BCG's Veronica Chau joins Maria Kozloski of the Rockefeller Foundation to discuss climate finance and the work that remains to ensure that governments, investors, and companies are making the greatest possible impact.
• Producing Enough for the World

  By Chris Mitchell

  BCG’s Chris Mitchell joins Federico Bellone of High-Level Climate Champions to discuss what it will take, amid rising temperatures, to transform food systems in Africa and the Global South.
• 

  Adaptation and Resilience Needs Business Support

  As COP27 comes to an end, BCG's Edmond Rhys Jones and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion's Nigel Topping discuss the business case for investing in climate adaptation and resilience.
• Embracing New Possibilities

  By Wendy Woods

  In this far-reaching conversation, BCG’s Wendy Woods joins Google’s Kate Brandt to discuss greener cities, emerging AI capabilities, accurate emissions measurement, and empowering individuals to make a sustainable impact.
• 

  Our Full COP27 Coverage

  Explore all of our expert insights and takeaways from COP27.

Dispatch #1

• Finance remains a core theme, from calls for innovative public-private finance mechanisms to the fundamental reform of post-war international financial structures: a “new Bretton Woods,” in the words of John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate.
• The acute deficit in adaptation financing is the result of investors’ limited understanding of the return profile. BCG’s Veronica Chau—in conversation with ADB, the Rockefeller Foundation, and WWF—laid out how robust data can inform investment decisions.
• Four developing countries—Bangladesh, Ghana, Maldives, and Sri Lanka—frustrated by the lack of support from richer countries, launched their own Climate Prosperity Plans to limit climate-related losses.
• There is a mismatch between African project owners with relevant opportunities and financiers looking for attractive investment targets. BCG’s Mills Schenck made the case for addressing this gap—and scaling financing—at the We Mean Business Pavilion.
• The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) launched the African Carbon Markets Initiative to grow the carbon credit retirements and expand into agriculture and land use.
• IFC launched a $6 billion financing facility to support sustainable food production in countries affected by food instability.
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.4 billion in climate-smart technology investment to support smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Dispatch #2

• Only 16% of the $3.8 trillion required annually by 2025 for climate mitigation and adaptation has been deployed, a shortfall that was at the center of discussions during Finance Day at COP27.
• Few countries have made major new pledges to close this gap. But there has been some progress in public-sector funding for loss and damage, including New Zealand’s announcement of $20 million to help developing countries offset land and resources lost to climate change, and $24 million for developing countries from the Canadian government, one-third of which will be devoted to loss and damage.
• The UK introduced climate-related debt relief for export finance, in addition to tripling its adaptation budget to £1.5 billion by 2025.
• Pressure to reform the international financial system continues to build. Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, called for a sharp increase in carbon prices and urged other multilateral banks to do more to de-risk private investment.
• Many are looking to the private sector for creative solutions. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, a group of private finance institutions, issued guidance for transition planning and unveiled a range of practical initiatives. And the US proposed an Energy Transition Accelerator to mobilize private capital from the Global North to pay for energy transitions in the Global South, including the retirement of coal plants.
• BCG’s Veronica Chau chaired an Implementation Lab on Financing Resilience in support of the UN Climate Champions.
• At the ICC (International Code Council) Pavilion, BCG’s Sukand Ramachandran announced standards for sustainable trade finance.
• BCG’s Patrick Dupoux and Qahir Dhanani hosted a panel discussion with the African Business Leaders Coalition in partnership with the UN Global Compact.

Dispatch #3

• In a speech on Decarbonization Day at COP27, US president Joe Biden stressed his country’s commitment to averting the climate crisis, asserted that the US would meet its emission reduction targets by 2030, and called on other countries to shift from financing coal in developing countries to financing clean energy.
• Biden announced a $150 million “down payment” to the Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), which funds adaptation initiatives in developing countries; the doubling of the US pledge, to $100 million, to the Adaptation Fund; the strengthening of domestic methane standards; the launch, with Norway, of the Green Shipping Challenge; and, with Germany and the EU, $500 million towards Egypt’s transition to clean energy.
• Egypt announced two initiatives to increase the resilience of food systems, Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) and the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN), as well as the launch of the Cairo Center for Learning and Excellence on Adaptation and Resilience.
• The African Union, the African Development Bank, and Africa50 launched a $10 billion initiative, the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa ($500 million has been raised) to finance green infrastructure projects in Africa.
• The UK and the Netherlands will provide, respectively, £200 million and €110 million to the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).
• AIM for Climate, a joint initiative of the US and the UAE, is doubling the investment for climate-smart agriculture and food systems to $8 billion from government partners.
• Guests at a dinner focused on adaptation and resilience cohosted by BCG and the New York Times included COP26 president Alok Sharma, African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina, and Rockefeller Foundation president Rajiv Shah.
• BCGers Chris Mitchell and Zoe Karl-Waithaka participated in the launch of the African Food Systems Transformation
• BCGer Charmian Caines participated in a panel called Shaping the Way Forward for Adaptation, alongside Yasmine Fouad, the Egyptian minister of environment. The panel was moderated by Ani Dasgupta, the president of the World Resources Institute

Dispatch #4

• As part of Gender Day at COP27, BCG’s Zineb Sqalli moderated an event entitled “African Women Climate Change Realities: Adaptation, Mitigation, and Response,” focused on women’s contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the need for education and training for girls and women.
• Egypt announced initiatives focused on women’s inclusion in climate action, energy transitions in Africa, and cooperative approaches to water resilience.
• The concept of a just energy transition was a major topic on Energy Day. The US, Japan, and several European countries will mobilize $20 billion to help Indonesia shut down coal power plants under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
• Hydrogen was high on the agenda, given its economic potential for many countries; nuclear was also a subject of discussion. Less attention was paid to the enablers of renewable energy and to energy efficiency.
• Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia formed an alliance to cooperate on forest preservation.
• The World Resources Institute, in collaboration with several partners, launched the $5 billion African Cities Water Adaptation Fund, which will finance innovative urban water resilience solutions.
• The G7 and V20 countries have launched the Global Shield against Climate Risks to provide funding to countries suffering climate disasters. Pakistan, Ghana, and Bangladesh will be among the first beneficiaries.
• Mexico is increasing its GHG emissions reduction target from 22% to 35%. The US will mobilize financial support for this effort.

Spotlight on Africa

How Lagos Is Adapting to Rising Sea Levels

As sea levels rise, Africa's most populous city could become uninhabitable by the end of this century. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, describes the ways his city is adapting.

Advancing Sustainable Growth Across Africa

Of the 50 countries most vulnerable to climate change, 35 are in Africa. Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact; Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, highlights how businesses can work together to make Africa more resilient.

Farming Innovations Tackle Hunger in Africa

Bernhard Kowatsch, head of the UN World Food Programme's innovation accelerator, explains how vulnerable communities in Africa are growing food in impossible places.

The Power of Nature-Based Solutions in Africa

Alice Ruhweza, WWF's Regional Director for Africa, explores the ways communities in Africa are harnessing the power of nature to address their most pressing climate change challenges.

Ethiopia's Coffee Farmers as Climate Heroes

Rikin Gandhi, cofounder and executive director of Digital Green, explores how coffee farmers in Ethiopia are empowered to pioneer sustainable agriculture.