The United Nations has recently announced that for the first time at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), delegates from the oil, gas and coal sectors will have to declare their industry ties.
COP 28, which is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November, will insist on a level of transparency that should go some way to stopping delegates from these sectors effectively piggy backing into the summit solely under the guise of a representative of a nation or charity, for example, as has happened in the past.
However, the nature of these ties and who funded their trips do not have to be declared, albeit these answers will still be published as blank by the UN, and then others can draw their own conclusions from that.
The fact that Sultan Al Jaber, an oil chief from the UAE, is the president-elect of COP 28 only adds intrigue to the whole event, irking environmentalists on one hand, and potential providing crucial insider knowledge as to how the world reduces the need for fossil fuels, on the other.
As SMEs on our own journey towards net zero, and a more resilient, sustainable and ultimately a more profitable future, the takeaways from the goings on around COP28 are many. From transparency around reporting and reducing your scope 1,2, and 3 emissions to providing your stakeholders with a working strategic framework towards net zero, to give them and their customers the confidence to invest in you, your roles are critical to the future of our planet. No matter your size or sector.
