COP27, the 27th version of the UN Climate Change Conference, is well underway in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
This year’s edition is the first time that a COP event is taking place outside Europe. It focuses on key issues such as climate change and the energy transition. In addition, global leaders are looking into how investments in science and technology can enable more sustainable solutions.
Technology can do a plethora of wonderful things. A crucial driver for economic growth and innovation, it can reshape industries and create new ones. Sustained technological advancement is key to the progress of nations across the world. However, the work that goes behind developing the latest technology solutions and products also have a significant impact on the environment.
So, what do the discussions at COP27 mean for the technology industry?
We caught up some of the major players in the tech industry to find out what the climate talks mean for them:
Reem Asaad, Vice President, Cisco Middle East and Africa
“Now more than ever, the world needs incremental progress on key issues and meaningful steps towards tackling the climate change crisis. COP27 is a crucial platform for nations, industries, and thought leaders to come together, unite and prioritise moving from pledges to actions.
“At Cisco, everything we do relates to our purpose: to power an inclusive future; and this starts with having a livable planet. We believe that the tech industry has a unique opportunity to lead the twin transition to a digital and green future. As digitization makes other industries more sustainable, the tech sector must address its own carbon footprint. Having that in mind at Cisco, we have worked towards creating a more sustainable future for more than 15 years, while advancing our innovation agenda. We do that through reducing emissions, building more efficient products, and playing our role in shaping the circular economy. Cisco remains committed to holding itself accountable and leveraging the power of digitisation to support our customers, partners, and communities on their individual ESG journeys.”
Fida Kibbi, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Communications and Sustainability, Ericsson Middle East and Africa
“The need to address the climate crisis is well established. Adding to an already detailed body of climate research, the agenda at COP27 makes clear the critical need for immediate and concrete climate action and highlights the indisputable link between climate change and human activity.
“This is a transformation that will rely on technology solutions, innovation, and cross-industry collaboration. ICT and digitalisation are key enablers of reductions in global greenhouse emissions, according to Ericsson Research, ICT solutions have the potential to enable a 15 percent reduction of emissions across industries by 2030 and move society toward a low-carbon economy. Technologies such as 5G, AI and IoT are essential drivers of decarbonisation, and part of the solutions that feature prominently at COP27. This is undoubtedly an opportunity for technology companies. But most importantly, our work will underpin the digitalisation of industries and the future competitiveness of all businesses.
“Today, Ericsson is creating a world of limitless connectivity, where mobile technology opens new possibilities to pioneer a sustainable future. Sustainability and responsible business practices are thus fundamental to Ericsson’s strategy and culture. We believe that the discussions around sustainability being hosted at COP27 are critical to our long-term business success, but more importantly can catalyze the collaboration and concrete action needed to address the climate crisis.”
Saad Toma, GM, IBM Middle East & Africa
“Many companies know the time to act is now, but progress is hindered by a lack of expertise or not knowing where to start. Their challenge is to make ESG a true business driver while delivering ROI.
“IBM has a track record of setting precedents with environmental and social commitments for over 50 years starting with our first corporate policy on environmental affairs enacted in 1971. This collaboration with the Presidency of Egypt builds on IBM’s history of environmental commitments and alliances, such as establishing a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 or promoting environmental justice programs like the IBM Sustainability Accelerator that enables organisations and communities to tackle environmental issues.
“We believe that technology is a critical enabler to meet ESG targets both internally and externally. We are working with leading clients in the Middle East like ARAMCO, WTTCO Saudi Arabia, Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi and Saudi Data and AI Authority to design, deploy and manage sustainability solutions. We also announced IBM Impact, a new framework for the company’s ESG work that aspires to create a more sustainable, equitable, and ethical future.
“At COP27, organisational leaders inside and outside the technology sector must recognise sustainability as a core element of their business strategy. Organisations must examine how they can best establish an ESG data foundation to operationalise sustainability goals and increase transparency. Data-driven intelligence suites are vital to reducing the cost, time, and the burden of ESG reporting, so that organisations can focus on delivering ESG strategic outcomes.”
Sherif Tawfik, CSO, Microsoft Middle East and Africa
“Companies must take a rigorous approach to achieving net zero if the Middle East and Africa is to avert the worst effects of the rapidly changing climate. This begins with recording and reporting emissions with better data collection and automation, reducing emissions as much as possible, replacing electricity consumption with renewables, and removing the remaining emissions.
“Technology is the most transformative resource at our disposal for responding to this challenge.”
Omar Akar, Regional Vice President, Middle East & Emerging Africa, Pure Storage
“Changing behaviour is difficult — it takes an understanding of why change is necessary, time, energy, willingness, and often money. Right now, change is needed.
“COP27 is looking into discuss how we can change our behaviour to counter global warming. The fact that there is a climate congress is of course a good thing, and it shows that a lot of people are aware of the problem. However, in our digital world, it’s still difficult to see your carbon footprint resulting from your actions online or in the cloud. For example, around three percent of all electricity globally is used by data centres. This number will continue to rise, as more and more datacenters are being built. In many first world countries, only a third of electricity is produced in a sustainable way.
“The first step in tackling a problem is acknowledging the problem. Storage providers should therefore show transparent actual and peak power consumption figures from their solutions versus estimates, even providing proactive insights and guidance on directly improving carbon footprint. Being aware of your own carbon footprint is an important first step to tackle global warming and the suppliers tackling this head-on are best placed to succeed in the coming years.”
