It’s just over a month until COP27 begins in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, under the headline mission of “delivering for people and the planet.” Taking place 6 – 17 November, implementation is the key theme along with mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration.
Investors play an important role at COP and IIGCC will join the finance community in showcasing the progress made so far, the willingness to invest given the right political signals, and what more can be done to limit the worst impacts of climate change.
The needs of the ‘global south’ will also rank highly in negotiations as a Presidency priority, with state leaders debating what role the global community should play in supporting emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), particularly from a finance perspective.
Other topics include progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation; establishing a financing facility for loss and damage; and agreeing a delivery plan for the remaining years of the $100bn per annum by 2025 finance goal.
Please note that side-events follow a slightly different schedule to that of the main Presidency Programme. The Presidency Finance Day is scheduled for 9 November, for example, but the topic continues into 10 November in side-event discussions. See a full list of both schedules below.
IIGCC will be updating members across the next five weeks as the schedule is finalised, but until then, here’s what to look out for at COP27.
Investor focus areas
Across both weeks discussions on net zero implementation, adaptation and resilience, and buildings and the built environment may be of particular interest to members.
IIGCC representatives will be outlining our climate resilience investment framework discussion paper and playing an active role in the adaptation and resilience conversation more broadly. This topic is also a key priority for the UN Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA).
The group, led by high-level global champions from the outgoing UK and incoming Egyptian Presidencies, exists to ‘structure and enhance coherence’ among non-state actors, such as NGOs and their stakeholders e.g., private finance and industry, to mobilise urgent action on mitigation and adaptation.
IIGCC helps co-lead the finance cross-cutting thematic of the MPGCA and will be coordinating finance and finance-related events and interactions with parties, the UNFCCC and other non-state actors throughout the two weeks.
Topics covered will include resilience; mitigation; near-term 2030 action; an honest stocktake of progress; assets to flows; and regionalisation and collaboration.
More broadly, buildings and the built environment are expected to feature heavily. This topic has been discussed throughout 2022 in IIGCC’s real estate roundtables, which so far have explored aspects such as understanding embodied carbon and how investors can measure and manage it.
There is near-unanimous agreement that public funds alone will not be enough to curb the challenges of climate change. In turn, investors will reiterate their commitments to net zero along with their requirements for an enabling policy environment that accelerates and scales up private finance flows.
State signals
With this in mind, more than 500 institutional investors added their weight to ‘The 2022 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis’ in early September. First shared with world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York, expect to see more investors add their signatures ahead of its formal delivery at COP27.
The statement is the most ambitious yet in terms of the policy asks, with the headline recommendations including mandated climate-transition plans from investors. Such actions from governments will be vital to the success of investor net zero pledges – a record number of which were set at COP26 in Glasgow.
Mandating 1.5° aligned national emissions-reduction plans, sector-specific pathways to net zero for corporates and robust cross-cutting policies such as carbon pricing are just some of the ways in which nations can speed up action and unlock investment. Investors are ready.
Biodiversity, nature, and emerging markets
Protecting communities and assets from physical climate risk is a fast-growing concern as climate disasters increase, and in this context biodiversity and nature are especially important. These issues will be prominent at COP27 as a priority for developing countries.
The topics featured heavily at New York Climate Week, highlighting increased awareness as global temperature increases cause widespread disruption and record-level heat waves.
At COP, we will be gathering feedback and data from experts and key stakeholders as we prepare to build out this topic. With developing markets most likely to be affected by these shifts, expect those states spokespeople to be most vocal about more immediate action.
Be sure to follow IIGCC for all the latest news and updates in the build-up to the event. For those unable to attend, we’ll be sharing the highlights for members in our News section.
Presidency event themes
- 9 November: Finance
- 10: Science and Youth
- 11: Decarbonisation
- 12: Adaptation and agriculture
- 13: Rest
- 14: Water and gender
- 15: Energy and ACE (action for climate empowerment)
- 16: Biodiversity
- 17: solutions
Side event themes (UNFCCC Marrakech Partnership)
- 9 November: Science; youth & future generations; resilience; article 6/carbon markets (Finance)
- 10: Finance; decarbonisation; industry; loss and damage (Resilience)
- 11: science; youth & future generations; resilience; adaptation; agriculture & food systems, land (Industry)
- 12: Decarbonisation; industry; water; gender; just transition (Land Use)
- 13: Rest
- 14: Adaptation; agriculture & food systems; land; ACE; energy; finance (Water)
- 15: Water; gender; biodiversity, oceans & coastal zones; transport; UN global stock take (Energy)
- 16: Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE Youth Programme), energy; solutions; human settlements; just transition (Oceans, Transport)
- 17: Biodiversity; health; loss and damage (Human Settlements)