At COP26 in Glasgow last year, nations collectively agreed to update their Paris Agreement commitments within 12 months and signed a new text, the Glasgow Climate Pact – the first from any COP to explicitly mention fossil fuels.

Much has changed since then.

edie has, therefore, launched this COP27 Action Tracker – a regular round-up of the policy and business preparations being made here in the UK and across the world. Read on for our fifth and final edition, covering the latest from Egypt, the UK and elsewhere.

You can read our COP27 preview, recapping on last year’s treaty and looking ahead to this year, here.

The numbers

• 91% of global GDP now covered by net-zero commitments
• 30 nations have submitted Paris Agreement NDCs
• 3,984 companies signed up to implementing science-based emissions targets
• 1,902 companies with verified science-based emissions targets

The headlines

• Family of Briton on hunger strike in Egyptian prison call for his release during COP27
• Rishi Sunak has ‘seen sense’ on COP27, say environmentalists
• Brazil’s Lula to send reps to COP27 after election win

UK updates

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was widely criticised in environmental circles, including by COP26 President Alok Sharma, for initially declining an invitation to COP27. Following in the footsteps of predecessor Liz Truss, Sunak stated that it was important to him to prioritise domestic policymaking to steady the economy.

On Wednesday (2 November), Sunak announced that he had changed his mind. He wrote on Twitter: “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change. There is no energy security without investing in renewables. That is why I will attend COP27 next week: to deliver on Glasgow’s legacy of building a secure and sustainable future.”

The decision came after Boris Johnson, who was Prime Minister during COP26, publicly stated that he would like to be present in Egypt. Representatives of Labour and the Green Party have stated that Sunak’s failure to attend until he felt “forced” to do so was “embarrassing”.

Green groups are now urging Sunak to ensure that he does not attend merely for the sake of appearances, but to ensure that the UK shows genuine leadership and pushes for an ambitious treaty. For example, Friends of the Earth’s international climate campaigner Rachel Kennerley said: “Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to attend the summit is a welcome step, but he must back it up with bold government action. This must include rejecting a new coal mine in Cumbria, ending UK funding for a hugely damaging gas project in Mozambique, and committing more money to poorer nations on the frontlines of a crisis they have done the least to cause.”

Sunak was one of around 200 people to attend Buckingham Palace this afternoon (4 November) for a pre-COP27 meeting hosted by the King. The King will not be attending in person despite his reputation for past climate work and his attendance at COP26, due to a “mutual agreement” between the Palace and Government. In attendance at the palace were politicians, campaigners, business leaders and others, including key figures from his Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI).

Global updates

Around 30,000 people have now registered to attend COP27, according to the UN. Egypt has stated that it is preparing for up to 40,000 to attend. Many delegations have already arrived to get settled in ahead of the conference.

The COP27 President’s Special Representative Wael Abdulmagd has spoken today (4 November) urging attending national delegations to match their talk in public with their behavior in negotiating rooms. He told The Guardian that the time for empty commitments is over and that he will be frustrated if parties move to water-down agreements at the last minute. Additionally, there has not been the last-minute surge in Nationally Determined Contributions submissions that some had been hoping for.

Concerns also persist about the organisation of the summit. The Independent has run a feature including interviews with youth climate activists and representatives of NGOs from the Global South, who have spoken about practical challenges attending. They have discussed how extremely high flight and accommodation prices, long waiting times for complicated accreditation processes and last-minute cancellations have made attending challenging. This is not to mention the fear of arrest for protests and demonstrations. Greta Thunberg has confirmed that she will not be present in Egypt.

Outside of Egypt specifically, the UN has this week published its latest Adaptation Gap report. The report reveals that 84% of nations involved in climate diplomacy through the UN now have a national adaptation plan. However, the quality of these plans varies widely. The report also confirms that global financing flows for adaptation activities remain insufficient; it recommends at least a fivefold increase in finance to developing nations this decade and up to a tenfold increase.

And, in the private sector, the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders has released its official statement on COP27 with calls to action for other corporates and policymakers. The Alliance, comprising more than 120 executives, wants to see all companies setting science-based emissions goals and contributing to internationally harmonized sustainability reporting standards. It is also calling for greater collaboration and more engagement with trade associations and industry bodies to reduce anti-climate corporate lobbying.

The statement calls on world leaders to scale climate finance by using levers such as blended finance and public procurement; to simplify permitting and development processes for low-carbon projects; to assess their energy incentives; to clarify future carbon pricing plans and to produce robust plans for skills and education.

Words of wisdom

“It’s a natural reaction to approach these sorts of summits with cynicism and to brace yourself for disappointment, but I urge you to put away your pessimism: it won’t do us any good. Forget tempering your hope with realism, try tempering your realism with hope. This is a battle in which humanity still has everything to play for, and one we dare not lose.”

Paul Polman, business leader and campaigner; former CEO of Unilever

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, nations collectively agreed to update their Paris Agreement commitments within 12 months and signed a new text, the Glasgow Climate Pact – the first from any COP to explicitly mention fossil fuels.

Much has changed since then.

edie has, therefore, launched this COP27 Action Tracker – a regular round-up of the policy and business preparations being made here in the UK and across the world. Read on for our third edition, covering the latest from Egypt, the UK and elsewhere.

The numbers

• 91% of global GDP now covered by net-zero commitments
• 30 nations have submitted Paris Agreement NDCs
• 3,943 companies signed up to implementing science-based emissions targets
• 1,885 companies with verified science-based emissions targets

The headlines

• Global anger at Sunak’s COP27 snub
• King Charles to hold event to mark COP27 summit he will miss
• Greta Thunberg will not attend COP27, says summit is greenwashing

UK updates

Here in the UK, where edie is based, all eyes have been on new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the appointment of his new Cabinet and his decisions on COP and the next fiscal statement,

Cabinet-wise, Sunak retained Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor but it was almost a case of ‘all change, please’ elsewhere. Therese Coffey taking the top job at Defra and Grant Shapps’ selection as Business and Energy Secretary are the moves of most significance to the green economy, but public attention remains on the reinstatement of Suella Braverman as home secretary despite security breaches.

Regarding COP27 specifically, Sunak followed predecessor Liz Truss’s example and announced that he would not be attending. He stated that the need to focus on domestic, economic matters took precedence. A fiscal statement is now in the diary for 17 November. However, there are now reports that Sunak may have a chance of heart due to the fact that Boris Johnson, who was Prime Minister during COP26, is set to attend.

One thing that is for certain is that King Charles will not be heading to Egypt. Buckingham Palace announced over the weekend that his Majesty will be hosting a reception for world leaders, environment ministers, NGOs and business representatives on Saturday (5 November). Sunak is intending to attend this event. Other attendees will include US climate envoy John Kerry and COP26 President Alok Sharma.

In other news, Sunak has reinstated the moratorium on fracking which was lifted by Truss.  And, we are waiting to see whether the Government will publish its decision on Environment Bill targets to time this week. The targets will be legally binding and cover metrics such as air and water quality and waste.

Global updates

There is a palpable buzz in the online climate space this morning (31 October) following the Brazilian elections. Jair Bolsonaro was ousted by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, after almost four years in power.

In environmentalist circles, Bolsonaro is hated as a figure who, at best, failed to stop deforestation and pollution in the Amazon, and, at worst, actively encouraged damaging practices. Greenpeace has publicly called the man “a catastrophe for the environment”. Activists on the ground in Brazil have reported a “race” to clear land ahead of the election given the prospect of Bolsonaro’s premiership ending. A report from Carbon Brief states that deforestation rates could fall by around 90% with Bolsonaro out.

Lula has promised to update Brazil’s Paris Agreement commitments and to appoint a climate envoy. In his campaign, he also touted the creation of a new collaboration with other rainforest nations to coordinate and accelerate conservation.

Elsewhere, Mohamed Nasr, lead climate negotiator at the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs, has delivered a pre-COP27 speech urging wealthy nations to “rise to the challenge” on international climate finance and to stop “backsliding” on previous commitments. The need for the creation of a loss and damage system and the need for the Global North to finally meet its $100bn per year pledge to the Global South are both top agenda priorities for this COP. The target was first set in 2009 and has never been met. The peak was $83m, delivered in 2020.

“The gap in finance is huge,” Nasr told journalists, expressing his concern. “Implementation on the ground is lacking, it is really lagging behind”.

In other news:

• Egypt has confirmed ‘together for implementation’ as its overarching mantra for COP27.
• Climate activists convened by Christian Aid, including Vanessa Nakate, have been in London calling on Sunak to back a dedicated loss and damage fund. Their formal meeting was cancelled at the last minute.
• The United Arab Emirates has legislated for a 2050 net-zero target after first announcing the move last October. National representatives told media earlier this year that it has been pushed to implement the target partly due to the growth of net-zero targets in the energy industry.
• The EIB has announced an ‘unprecedented’ boost in funding for clean energy generation, energy infrastructure and energy efficiency to support the EU’s aim to end Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027.
• France has announced a new ambition to plant one billion trees by 2030 – equivalent to a 10% increase in its existing stock.
• The EU has confirmed plans to table a “strategic vision” for carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) technologies in 2023 in a bid to give investors certainty as the nascent industry scales.
• Lewis Pugh, a UN Ambassador for Oceans, became the first person to complete the 100-mile Red Sea swimming challenge last Wednesday (26 October).

Major climate reports

This past week has seen many major reports being published on energy and climate-related topics.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2022 World Energy Outlook came on Thursday (27 October). Much of the report was dedicated to assessing the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the global energy transition. The headline takeaway was that upticks in coal-fired electricity generation and LNG imports in some developed nations were “temporary” and, that, overall, the global transition to clean energy is accelerating and will continue to do so.

According to the report, global clean energy investment will surpass $2trn annually by 2030, up from $1.3trn annually at present. At the same time, fossil fuel investment will decrease. Power sector emissions are likely to peak in 2025, the IEA believes.

Nonetheless, the IEA is stating that the pace and scale of decarbonisation is still not likely to be sufficient for the world to align with the Paris Agreement. It foresees a 2.5C temperature pathway.

That same 2.5C temperature pathway was, separately, predicted by the UN in the latest NDC Synthesis report. The report assesses the likely outcome if all nations committed to the Paris Agreement deliver their commitments in full which is, of course, unlikely in and of itself. The report warns that global annual emissions are likely to keep rising through to 2030, when, for a 1.5C temperature pathway, they would need to decrease by 43%.

Another major report last week came from the Systems Change Lab, which is convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Bezos Earth Found. An array of other organisations are also supporting the report, including Climate Action Tracker, the NewClimate Institute and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

This report tracked progress on decarbonisation in sectors collectively accounting for 85% of global annual emissions. Across the 40 indicators used, progress was not found to be sufficient in any to align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C trajectory. You can read edie’s explainer on the top-line findings of this report here.

Finally, the Lancet published its latest ‘Countdown’ report on health and climate. The report emphasised how physical climate impacts are already impacting public health and worker productivity for large swathes of the population. It tracks increasing numbers of heat-related deaths and cases of hunger since 2000 and warns of worse to come.

Crucially, the report highlights that there are still opportunities to bring about positive change. It promotes clean energy investment and investment in electric, public and active transport for the sake of avoiding pollution, especially air pollution.

Words of wisdom

“Climate commitments to net-zero are worth zero without the plans, policies and actions to back [them] up. Our world cannot afford any more greenwashing, fake movers or late movers.”

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, nations collectively agreed to update their Paris Agreement commitments within 12 months and signed a new text, the Glasgow Climate Pact – the first from any COP to explicitly mention fossil fuels.

Much has changed since then.

edie has, therefore, launched this COP27 Action Tracker – a regular round-up of the policy and business preparations being made here in the UK and across the world. Read on for our third edition, covering the latest from Egypt, the UK and elsewhere.

The numbers

• 90% of global GDP now covered by net-zero commitments
• 30 nations have submitted Paris Agreement NDCs
• 3,904 companies signed up to implementing science-based emissions targets
• 1,859 companies with verified science-based emissions targets

The headlines              

• Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline sparks pre-COP climate row
• EU countries seek common stance on climate compensation
• US’s John Kerry pushes for King Charles to attend COP27

UK updates

With less than two weeks until the UK hands the COP Presidency to Egypt, we have a new incoming Prime Minister – the third Prime Minister to manage Alok Sharma as COP26 President within the UK’s Cabinet Office.

Liz Truss resigned as PM last week, opening the race for her replacement. After Boris Johnson dropped out during the weekend and Penny Mordaunt failed to meet the requirement of support of 100 MPs, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak was appointed Conservative Party leader on Monday afternoon (24 October).

Given that the Conservative Party’s division over Truss’s approach to fracking ultimately played a major role in her downfall, all eyes are on Sunak to see how he updates the UK’s climate approach. Like Truss, Sunak stated this season that he supports expanding North Sea fossil fuel extraction and permitting fracking in communities that support it. He was less vocally anti-solar and more vocally pro-wind and pro-energy efficiency. You can read edie’s summary of his green policy record here. We will cover his cabinet reshuffle in due course.

The change in leader may also impact whether King Charles attends. He had previously stated that he will not attend the conference, after Truss advised him in this manner.

In other news, Sharma is due to make what may well be his last public speech before standing down at COP President on Tuesday (25 October). MPs from multiple select committees will question him at 3pm, covering topics including NDCs, international finance and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The session is being spearheaded by the BEIS Select Committee and can be watched on Parliament Live TV.

Someone who has already been grilled this week by MPs is Mark Carney. Speaking with the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) on Monday (24 October), Carney advocated for a price on carbon and for this COP to be used to clarify rules on divestment, investment and carbon markets. Precious little time was spent, however, on updating MPs on the progress of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). The $130trn initiative has been in the news for the wrong reasons this season, reportedly arguing that Race to Zero requirements are too strict and losing the support of two pension funds on the grounds of complex reporting requirements.  Carney did imply that new advice for the GFNANZ members, including on investing and divesting in the energy sector, is in the pipeline.

Global updates

Starting with hosts Egypt, the Guardian is reporting that civil society organisations, businesses and governments may need to cancel or scale back events planned for November 6, 7 and 8. Hosts have been told that only events involving heads of state – to whom the first two full days are dedicated – will be allowed to go ahead on November 7.

This has raised concerns about potentially restricting debate and narrowing down the scope of which organisations and topics are seen as important to the hosts. These concerns were already mounting, with young climate activists reporting issues accessing the accreditation, accommodation and travel options needed to attend. Egypt is also facing intense scrutiny over its human rights policies in The Guardian and other titles.

Meanwhile, Egypt has hosted a workshop with representatives of previous iterations of COP to firm up objectives and get advice on delivering strong negotiations. Representatives attended from geographies including the UK, EU, Poland and Marrakesh.

In other news:

• The G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, which was originally set to begin this weekend, will now take place during the second week of COP.
• France has joined Poland, Spain and the Netherlands in confirming its intent to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty. Emmanuel Macron said membership of the Treaty was not compatible with France’s long-term climate goals and that this may still be the case after a proposed update.
• The leaders of EU member states have backed Commission plans for a “temporary, dynamic” price coridoor on gas transactions to ease cost burdens.
• Australia has signed the Global Methane Pledge, joining dozens of other nations in targeting a 30% reduction by 2030.
• The Loss and Damage Coalition have published a new briefing entitled ‘the cost of delay’. The document is endorsed by the Elders, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and 24 NGOs. It details 31 years of calls for a dedicated loss and damage finance mechanism, attempting to quantify the missed opportunities to act.
• Siemens Energy and SODIC have been announced as supporting sponsors of COP27 and GM and Al Mansour have been announced as the principal partners from the transport sector. Together, these latter two firms will provide 150 electric vehicles (EVs) for COP attendees.
• Lewis Pugh (pictured above) is expected to complete his Red Sea swimming challenge on Wednesday (26 October). Pugh, a UN Ambassador for Oceans, is set to be the first person to complete the 100-mile route.

Words of wisdom

“At COP27 leaders must co-operate to secure a dedicated finance solution for loss and damage, any further delay on this is unacceptable.”

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and chair of The Elders

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, nations collectively agreed to update their Paris Agreement commitments within 12 months and signed a new text, the Glasgow Climate Pact – the first from any COP to explicitly mention fossil fuels.

Much has changed since then.

edie has, therefore, launched this COP27 Action Tracker – a regular round-up of the policy and business preparations being made here in the UK and across the world. Read on for our second edition.

The numbers

• 90% of global GDP now covered by net-zero commitments
• 24 nations have submitted Paris Agreement NDCs
• 3,865 companies signed up to implementing science-based emissions targets
• 1,834 companies with verified science-based emissions targets

 The headlines

• Egypt silenced climate experts’ voices before hosting COP27, Human Rights Watch says
• Further delaying climate policies will hurt economic growth, IMF warns
• COP26 President Alok Sharma speaks in Washington, D.C.

UK updates

To say that it’s been a turbulent week in UK politics would be an understatement. Prime Minister Liz Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor late last week, after the measures announced in his mini-Budget caused the pound to plummet. Jeremy Hunt was swiftly announced as the replacement for the former Business and Energy Minister.

On Friday, Truss announced a u-turn on plans to cap corporation tax. This added to an already-announced plan not to change tax rules, thereby allowing those with an annual income of £150,000 or more to pay lower rates. This had commentators worrying that the fiscal plan that Truss had run on was falling apart and beginning to more closely resemble measures proposed by her Tory leadership race competitor Rishi Sunak.

Hunt has today (17 October) delivered his own emergency announcement. Several more of Kwarteng’s measures were reversed and, in an attempt to reduce the bill for shielding homes and businesses from high energy prices, the Treasury promised a review next April.

In the clamor, it has been easy for the Energy Prices Bill to be sidelined. The Bill includes a measure to impose a temporary profit cap on renewable energy generators, which industry bodies fear may deter investment. BEIS representatives have stated that they are working to design a measure which is investor-friendly and short-term.

In other news, the Aldersgate Group hosted a pre-COP27 briefing in London on Thursday (13 October). There, representatives from Aviva Investors, CMS, WWF UK, Ramboll, Nestle UK & Ireland and Cemex UK were on hand to outline their wishlist for the summit.

Themes that reoccurred were the need for developed nations to meet their $100bn climate finance commitments; the need for a greater focus on food systems; the need for clarity on carbon pricing and better synergy between the climate COP and the biodiversity COP, which is set for Montreal in December.

Also speaking was the UK Government’s new Climate Minister Graham Stuart. Stuart said: “We’ve been making a lot of promises and, as I’ve said, we’ve now got to convert that into reality. And a lot was promised at COP26.

“Promises are important, but implementation and action are what count.”

Global updates

COP27 President Alok Sharma and dozens of other ministers from around the world were in Washington, D.C., last week, for the IMF and the World Bank’s annual meetings.

Sharma pushed for further support for the creation of new Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPS), designed to fast-track funding from developed nations to lower-income countries grappling with reducing fossil fuel use. A UK-South-Africa JETP was announced at COP26 and other JETPs will be finalised at COP27.

“Against the backdrop of ongoing global energy security challenges, organisations like the IMF and World Bank must do all they can to help developing countries move further and faster in tackling climate change, to support resilient economies powered by clean, renewable energy systems,” Sharma told the meeting, in what will likely be his last public speech as President.

The Financial Times has called the talks ‘bleak’ and the mood one of ‘gloom’ to begin with. However, it has reported that there was a major sense of optimism towards the end, with many nations agreeing that a post-war-style mobilisation was needed to amend global financial architecture to better unlock global climate finance flows.

In other news:

• Four additional nations are reported to have submitted their Paris Agreement NDCs within the last few days
• EU Countries are reportedly considering watering down the European Commission’s plan for them to target 45% renewables in the energy mix by 2030
• Some hotels near the COP27 venue have raised their room prices for the two-week period tenfold
• The UN is urging Egypt to ensure that civil society can ‘fully participate’ in COP27, amid concerns about limits to protests

Words of wisdom

“‘If we can do something about it, then do it. We can do it. We must do it. Then there will be a future for the planet.” – Sir David Attenborough

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, nations collectively agreed to update their Paris Agreement commitments within 12 months and signed a new text, the Glasgow Climate Pact – the first from any COP to explicitly mention fossil fuels.

Much has changed since then. Here in the UK, we have a new Prime Minister who appears to be far more vocal in her support of fossil fuels and distain for renewables than her predecessor Boris Johnson. On a global scale, Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted energy markets and food and fertilizer supply chains.

With all of this in mind, edie has launched this COP27 Action Tracker – a regular round-up of the policy and business preparations being made here in the UK and across the world. Read on for our first edition.

The numbers

• 90% of global GDP now covered by net-zero commitments
• 20 nations have submitted Paris Agreement NDCs
• 3,821 companies signed implementing science-based emissions targets
• 1,817 companies with verified science-based emissions targets

The headlines

• $100bn climate aid target ‘will be met in 2023’, EU finance ministers say
• COP26 President Alok Sharma attends pre-COP27 talks in the DRC
• Activists ‘baffled’ that Coca-Cola will sponsor COP27

UK updates

In the run-up to COP26, the UK Government hosted a plethora of events and published swathes of green policy, including the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Net-Zero Strategy.

This time around, new Prime Minister Liz Truss is settling into the role after being elected on 5 September. Truss and her Cabinet members have, so far, pushed the rhetoric of deregulation for economic growth as their primary priority. There have not been any major green policy packages published since she was elected, but her Government has been accused of planning to roll back protections for nature by key organisations in the UK’s green economy, and has been pressed to build on the energy price freeze with a new retrofitting package.

Truss has not stated whether she will attend COP27 herself. It has been confirmed that COP26 President Alok Sharma will attend to hand over the presidency and that he will be joined by new Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.

There have also been reports that Truss has discouraged King Charles from attending COP27. This is despite the fact that he has attended numerous previous COPs and the fact that his mother was unable to attend Glasgow last year due to ill health. Sharma has publicly stated that the King should attend.

Global updates

Pre-COP talks were held last week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The meetings, from Monday (3 October) to Wednesday (5 October), were intended to be high-level, convening ministers from around 50 countries.

Media outlets have reported that a key focus of the talks was international climate finance and loss and damage. This was perhaps to be expected; an agreement on a loss and damage facility was not reached in Glasgow, with observers reporting on opposition from the EU and the US.

Last year also saw developed nations admitting they had yet to meet a new ambition to provide $100bn of climate financing to the global south annually, with this target likely to be met for the first time in 2023 after being set in 2009. Economy Ministers from EU member-states met this week and said the commitment will still be met next year. Egypt has warned developed nations that the picture is still “troubling” and that there will be a “crisis” if finance promises are not met.

Wael Aboulmagd, Special Representative of the COP27 President, said: “The cross-cutting issue is always going to be finance. How are we going to pay for this? We cannot continue along an extremely adversarial trajectory. We need to find creative ways to come up with finance.”

In other news, it has been reported that many African climate activists are experiencing difficulties getting access to the talks. The Guardian has reported that only 20% of grassroots activists have secured accreditation, and that many with accreditation are still unlikely to attend due to challenges securing visas and booking travel and accommodation.

More globally, it has been confirmed that just 20 countries have updated their Paris Agreement NDCs ahead of the conference. Included in this cohort are the UK, Egypt and India.

Business news

Following the hustle and bustle of Climate Week NYC last month, this week has been a little quieter in terms of sustainable business news.

The story causing the biggest stir is doubtless the Coca-Cola Company’s decision to be a supporter sponsor for COP27 – a decision it has doubled down on despite intense criticism.

The soft drinks giant was announced as a sponsor last week and, very quickly, environmental activists and nature charities posted to express concerns.

Comms Declares’s founder Belinda Noble declared: “You know the fossil fuel fox is in the hen house when the world’s largest plastic polluter sponsors COP27…The organisers are so ignorant about the insidious power of greenwashing that they allowed this to happen, and it shows that the soft power of fossil fuelled organisations continues to pervade our society.”

Greenpeace USA’s oceans campaign director John Hocevar added: “This partnership undermines the very objective of the event it seeks to sponsor.  Cutting plastic production and ending single-use plastic is in line with the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees.”

For context, the companies chosen as principal partners for COP26 (the highest level of

sponsorship) were Unilever, SSE, Sky, ScottishPower, Sainsbury’s, Reckitt, Natwest Group, National Grid, Microsoft, Hitachi and GSK. COP26 did not end without its fair share of sponsor greenwashing accusations.

Words of wisdom

“On every climate front, the only solution is decisive action in solidarity. COP27 is the place for all countries, led by the G20, to show they are in this fight, and in it together.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres