Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

🌍While globally the rollout of solutions continues to grow, we are failing to keep pace with the climate and nature crises, and trends continue to head in the wrong direction. 🦋This year, the climate COP falls just a week after the biodiversity COP has concluded in Colombia, and it is now more important than ever that world leaders take an integrated approach to nature and climate to accelerate action for a sustainable future. 🗳️Finding common ground at COP29 Azerbaijan will be more challenging than ever given the continued growth in populist and nationalist politics, political instability, with key election outcomes yet to be announced, and significant intergovernmental tensions. ➡️However, this COP presents a crucial opportunity to bring together global efforts on climate change and to send a clear signal about the scale and speed of action required. ⏰Now is the time to act. Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) is attending #COP29 with four key policy ‘asks’ of the Parties, designed to unlock private sector ambition and galvanise the private sector’s participation in delivering a net zero and nature-positive economy. Read our full asks here: https://lnkd.in/e8REvcpM #COP29Baku #CISLCOP29 #CambridgeForOurPlanet Lindsay Hooper Eliot Whittington Beverley Cornaby Laura Cochrane-Davies Jessica Attard Viola A. M. Isabelle Cross Katherine Quinn Aoife Blanchard Tsvetelina Kuzmanova James Cole Adele Williams University of Cambridge

As COP29 Azerbaijan came to a close in the early hours of this morning, we examine the role of the UK in the final outcome. While the overall agreement fell short on what was hoped, the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) announcement in week one by PM, Keir Starmer, and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - of an 81% decrease in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 - has set it on its path to net zero, encouraging other countries to follow suit with ambitious statements.  Our UK Corporate Leaders Group Director, Beverley Cornaby, explores what this means for UK climate leadership. “At a time when global climate leadership was desperately needed and the overarching COP29 outcome - particularly on finance - is disappointingly unambitious, the UK has shown it is back as a global climate leader. As one of just a few parties that came forward early with an enhanced, 1.5-aligned NDC target, the UK has set a high bar for others to follow. However, for the UK to firmly regain its position as a climate leader, it also needs to deploy action, and fast.  “The announcements the UK made during COP29 show how it is ensuring implementation happens via the alliances and initiatives it is leading or part of. This includes launching the Global Clean Power Alliance and signing the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge. As well as financial pledges of over £300m new support for poorer countries. “The UK has demonstrated that even if the COP process does not produce an ambitious outcome, it is still possible for strong leadership at a national level to support global goals. Over the coming months, pressure is needed for more of the parties to come forward with ambitious and investable NDCs. As governments will not be able to deliver these alone - with the need for the private sector to be on board - these should set out the critical role of business and unlocking private investment in supporting that implementation.”    #CISLCOP29 #UKAtCOP29 #BusinessLeadership

With COP29 Azerbaijan being dubbed the ‘finance COP’, the agreement of a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was essential for the success of this year’s climate convention. The final figure of US $300bn per year, agreed in the early hours of this morning, is analysed by our Director, Dr Nina Seega.    “COP29 was always going to be measured by two yardsticks: the ambition around the reset of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the amount of finance agreed to help developing countries mitigate, adapt to and compensate for losses from climate change. Coming at the end of what looks like another hottest year on record, the Baku COP kicked off with an agreement on carbon markets which, while not perfect, has been a long time coming and so was seen as a positive sign.    “While the final figure for the NCQG of US $300bn is lower than what was expected from Baku, provisions around mobilisation of finance to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States - along with the launch of a Baku to Belem roadmap to drive the figure closer to US $1.3tn per year - made it a palatable compromise. An ambitious vision of the future, however, it was not.     “As ever, the pressure will need to stay to ensure that Baku to Belem roadmap delivers tangible results and lifts the finance goal much closer to the needs of developing countries. This will entail rewiring our financial architecture to allow public and private finance to flow seamlessly to where it is needed most. It also means aligning all financial flows with Sustainable Development Goals.     “All of this will only be possible with ambitious leadership, skilful diplomacy and a commitment to drive sustainability into every financial and economic decision in 2025 and beyond.”    #COP29 #CISLCOP29 #BusinessLeadership #SustainableFinance

In the early hours of this morning, COP29 Azerbaijan came to a close with a deal. Not looking likely at times during the negotiations, our CISL experts examine what this means. From the absence of the wording ‘fossil fuels’ in the text and a lower than hoped New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of US $300bn to a long-awaited deal on carbon markets and several ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) announced, notably from the UK.     First, read CISL's Chief Systems Change Officer, Eliot Whittington, examine the overall outcome: “These negotiations limped over the line with some shreds of progress, but represent baby steps forward when we need to be picking up the pace. Baku was billed as the ‘finance COP’, where new resources would be mobilised to support the most vulnerable countries and communities. However, in a badly managed set of talks that flirted with collapse, countries made only minimal progress – setting a new financial target that represents little increase in resources over what’s required to keep up with inflation, while widening the pool of ways to contribute to it. They have also called for a much more ambitious plan to be developed for next year’s COP, so there’s still room to do more.     “In a year where many elections around the world delivered a shift away from international collaboration towards nationalist isolation, and where multilateralism seems in danger with a weak G20 and a collapsed biodiversity COP, we are at a dangerous moment. We need more collaboration internationally and we need more leaders willing to make the case for it. COP29 did little to increase faith in a difficult and slow-moving process. Indeed, in dropping the explicit naming of fossil fuels as the source of climate problems, in many eyes the talks will have gone backwards. But dialogue and discussion are vital tools for collective progress, and we need more collective leadership and ambition to raise the pace of action.    “Beyond the negotiations it is worth noting that COP29 did include a huge range of positive discussions and interventions. Countries including the UK, Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico made commitments demonstrating real leadership. And the huge presence of business and civil society outside the direct negotiations showed that the green economy is alive and kicking and developing new plans to build and grow.”    #COP29 #CISLCOP29 #BusinessLeadership

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At #COP29, the UK, Brazil and UAE are some of the countries who announced their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as part of the new round of climate plans that countries need to submit by February 2025. 📖 In this round, business leaders want to see ambition, strong targets in line with 1.5C degrees, and roadmaps for implementation on how we will triple renewables and phase out fossil fuels, says Dominic Gogol of We Mean Business Coalition. 💰 CISL is calling for ambitious and investable NDCs, which will raise market confidence and help to unlock new finance flows to achieve ambitious 2035 emissions reduction targets. 🎯 To unlock #MoreRenewables and accelerate the transformation of the energy systems, NDCs should also include sectoral and timebound targets. Through our Corporate Leaders Network #MoreRenewables campaign, we are calling on businesses and governments to work together to define the NDC commitments that will expedite the implementation of renewables while ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.  Find out more about our #MoreRenewables campaign here: https://lnkd.in/eNpg_CPc Sign up here to support the campaign and keep up to date with our activities: https://lnkd.in/ehzR4FzC Katherine Quinn Aoife Blanchard Annabelle Roblin-Sserwanja Beverley Cornaby Eliot Whittington #CISLCOP29 #MoreRenewables #FossilToClean #EnergyTransition #Renewables #COP29Baku

From Ambition to Action: A Briefing on Net-Zero Aviation from #COP29  Turning ambition into action—that’s precisely what sustainable aviation needs right now. Achieving this will require bold moves from leading governments and strong, cross-sector coalitions. Read the reflections by Prof Rob Miller why COP29 matters and what must be done next: https://lnkd.in/eBUHNRCr   After launching our report on the 2030 Sustainable Aviation Goals at New York Climate Week in September, alongside The King’s Sustainable Markets Initiative, we’ve been overwhelmed by the support it’s received: https://lnkd.in/e3A5Yswf Last week, we presented our report to King Charles at Buckingham Palace. His message to was clear: the time for action is now. With this message ringing in our ears we headed straight to #COP29, ready to help transform words into real-world impact. Today is #TransportDay at #COP29. Let’s see if aviation can take the bold steps necessary to engage with other sectors and make progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Aviation Goals (report.aiazero.org). Now is the time to turn our vision into reality. Read about why COP29 matters for aviation and what must be done next : https://lnkd.in/eBUHNRCr    #SustainableAviation #NetZero2050 #COP29 #ClimateAction #GreenHydrogen #ContrailReduction #UKClimateLeadership #AviationImpactAccelerator Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Whittle Laboratory Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge Malcolm Turnbull

“As we enter the critical final days of this year’s climate #COP29, it is becoming increasingly - and worryingly - clear that transitioning away from fossil fuels this decade may not be included in the final text,” says Eliot Whittington, CISL’s Chief Systems Change Officer. “This decisiveness is needed, not only for the future of the planet, but for the certainty, consistency and clarity that businesses require. Therefore, we fully support We Mean Business Coalition CEO María Mendiluce’s statement that ‘Without clear signals that align with last year’s commitments, including the transition away from fossil fuels, governments risk stalling critical private sector investment needed to achieve climate goals.’” #BusinessLeadership #CISLCOP29

🟢 CISL is one of 100 organisations and leaders who've signed Nature4Climate's open letter, pushing for nature's outcomes at #COP29. We attended both COP29 and #COP16 in Cali because we believe the nature and the climate crises should be tackled together to create meaningful action. https://lnkd.in/gkcukUub In the final days of negotiations in Baku, the urgency to act has never been greater. And this urgent statement is calling on parties to address the severe nature finance gap, which is threatening progress on climate goals and an ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). Closing the nature finance gap would: ✔ Unlock solutions for a sustainable future. ✔ Enable countries to embed #NatureBasedSolutions into their Nationally Determined Contributions #NDCs. ✔ Drive meaningful progress on climate and biodiversity. 📢 As negotiations reach their conclusion, bold commitments are needed to prioritise nature at the heart of climate finance. 💬 Read the full statement here: https://lnkd.in/eHHhj-bK