Call for Collaboration at COP26 Encourages Climate Action

As a long-time participant of the annual Conference of the Parties, I wondered how the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow might differ from climate change conferences over the past 3 decades. What change would be needed to move the needle and make global warming a global priority at this key moment in history?  

The most striking change this year was the unanimous call for collaboration. The question was no longer one what needs to be done but rather how, how fast, and in which collaborative framework. While decarbonizing processes was previously seen as a competitive disadvantage, suppliers, donors, and industries now see the need for greater collaboration in a precompetitive space. They also understand that collaboration through sharing existing infrastructures and programs is essential to quickly scale up climate action. Furthermore, advanced technologies that complement one another (e.g., power-to-X technologies) open up more opportunities and prevent the pitfall of placing all faith in a single technological solution. What was expressed openly at COP26 is already underway on many levels and can be observed in the work that Guidehouse does:

• Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT) is a program that originated from roundtable discussions between Guidehouse and brands such as Mars, McCormick & Company, and PepsiCo. The program is growing rapidly. Recognizing the impact that global supply chains have on the planet’s health, Supplier LoCT has taken on the challenge to advance Scope 3 climate reduction targets into meaningful action via an online learning collaborative for suppliers.

• Cool Up: Upscaling Sustainable Cooling is a collaborative initiative led by Guidehouse with the support of nine other international and national expert organizations. It seeks to mitigate climate change through combined efforts in energy efficiency improvements and the transition to sustainable cooling technologies in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The program aims to accelerate the implementation of the Kigali Amendment and increase the ambition and support for the implementation of the target countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions. 

• Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) is an initiative to develop a global greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting standard and ultimately make GHG accounting common practice within the financial industry. Serving as PCAF’s secretariat, Guidehouse has worked closely with financial institutions to develop the first-of-its-kind Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry.

Collaboration Is Key 

Driving change means feeling a sense of responsibility and taking ownership. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, discussions about environmental threats continue, but the focus has shifted from the what to the how. The urgency of creating a sustainable planet has prompted all stakeholders to move toward precompetitive collaboration—an effort that is critical to achieving science-based targets, which impact the future of the global community. Organizations can now take the next step by using existing resources and working with others already active in this space.