From pledges to progress – my takeaways from COP27

Last week, I had the chance to attend and participate in many insightful discussions and presentations at #cop27 , all focused on one aim: Accelerating our collective progress towards a sustainable future. Here are a few of my personal takeaways:

• More focus needed on the Global South: Africa accounts for only 2–3% of the world’s CO2 emissions from energy and industrial sources according to the UN. Yet, the World Meteorological Organization warns that its 1.3 billion population remains highly vulnerable as the continent warms at a faster rate than the global average. The global community needs to act. Addressing the digital divide will be part of the solution. In Africa there is one data scientist for every 14 in the Global North. To help address this gap, we are bringing the Microsoft AI for Good Lab to Kenya and Egypt. It is our collective responsibility to ensure those most at risk of climate change are prioritized as we develop solutions and tools to mitigate the crisis.
• Partnerships are essential in driving climate innovation at pace. Not long ago, many were unfamiliar with the cloud. Now cloud technology underpins every organization. Today’s nascent technology will play a significant role in helping address the climate crisis in the future. But this can only happen via partnership and collaboration. One example is through our $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund, that supports emerging tech we believe will shape a more sustainable future. Switzerland’s Climeworks is one example, developing technology that can capture and store airborne CO2. There is also a clear opportunity for an ecosystem led strategy.   Enterprises can partner with academic institutions, NGOs, start-ups and governmental bodies to share data and collaborate on creative solutions that have broad benefits to society.
• If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Addressing emissions requires transparent, real-time data. This is the only way we can collectively learn and optimize our decarbonization efforts. For enterprises, one of the biggest areas of focus is supply chains. The world’s essential supply chains account for 50% of global carbon emissions. But for any company, being able to capture and analyze data across an entire value chain has historically been challenging – especially if done manually. The cloud and AI are helping businesses automate this process.

The question for many leaders remains: Where do we start?

My response:  Begin your journey now with a first step, however small it is.

I suggest starting with your data estate – or, moving to combine the data from “different silos” in your org for more informed decision making. It won’t be perfect, but as the saying goes, “a year from now you may wish you had started today.” Keep learning. Keep sharing. It’s about progress over perfection, for now. Here is what we are learning from our journey at Microsoft: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-pledges-progress-what-microsoft-doing-support-/?trackingId=2A%2BvazSMBxNZp5LKwy7EIQ%3D%3D