UN COP26: Glasgow – What it signals to business

As events start up in Glasgow in anticipation of the start of the UN summit on climate change mitigation strategies, we ask ourselves what it may mean for businesses, what we’ll be expected to do differently, and what it’ll mean for the interaction and cooperation between businesses.

COP26 is a meeting of nations and all kinds of stakeholders, to enhance strategies or adopt new ones to combat the rising temperatures of the planet due to fossil fuel emissions, and reach ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Some 25,000 people are expected to attend, including expert speakers, journalists, negotiators and world leaders. The speakers are drawn from many countries, disciplines and areas of science, political life, international business, manufacture, education, and global activism. They will each convey their evidence, describe the challenges presently and in the future, and share strategies on how to pull back harmful practices.

The last decade has been the warmest on record, and world leaders as well as business and financial entities are hugely anxious about the instability that could lie ahead, if measures are not taken expediently. Emphasis will be predominantly on transport, plans to relinquish polluting coal power, to slow deforestation and rapidly employ remedial measures, and to examine ways to protect more people around the world who are already experiencing the effects of sea level rises and other adverse phenomena.

Of primary concern to us in the business world is any legislation or guidance which may flow out of COP26. There are concerns that any such guidance be comprehensive enough, that it be achievable, enforceable, prudent and fully costed, so that the impact on ordinary lives and businesses is sustainable. The importance of a summit such as COP26 is that a multi-faceted methodology must be embedded in the way we all do business. For that to happen successfully, many viewpoints must be considered. In organising such events, the UN hopes that participants and stakeholders can be more ambitious in their scope and in their vision, and that they proceed confidently with longer-term planning, and that any progress made is in step with others. 

What it could mean for day-to-day business is as yet unknown but there will be a big conversation around energy, its production, supply and consumption, and around transportation, be that scaling up electric vehicle use or rethinking logistics, haulage and shipping, all of which are central to businesses the world over.

These issues will take up much deliberation time, they will be challenging to innovate for, and resolutions may well be imperfect. What is abundantly clear is that we must move forward cohesively, we have to employ cooperation, muster creativity, build skills and commit to 

knowledge-sharing at unprecedented levels and speeds, in order that we mitigate, if not reverse, the detrimental effects of emissions-related temperature rise. This is vital for our ability to plan for the future of our businesses, for the security of our future generations, and the environment which we wholly depend on, which currently faces existential threats from many human activities. 

The expected outcome of COP26 will be a declaration to which participants will sign up to. Although such declarations in the past have not been legally binding, these events are still important in compelling world leaders to focus their minds on the most important, if not the most important issue of our time: our continuing survival and prosperity, and our ability to work together by peaceful means.

As COP26 progresses we will look at the part we at Technivo can play in fulfilling our duties as a service business, in accordance with the declaration and with respect to any specific aspects of it the UK and EU governments particularly require of enterprises that operate within their borders.

Technivo have always been mindful of the environment, by using energy resources efficiently and choosing products and machinery that have as low environmental impact as possible. We are a trusted supplier of services and intend to provide the best outcomes for our customers.

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