COP26: Five key lessons from Nigel Topping

Did you know that the mandate of the High Level Champions for Climate Action was created by the UN as part of the Paris Agreement?

“The idea was to recognise that the private sector and local government have huge resources and levers to drive the change to net zero. The first four champions had more of a political focus, whereas my Chilean predecessor and myself were the first to have a private sector background. Knowing the community we’re working with in and out has been really beneficial.”

But the private sector can’t work alone – collaboration is everything:

“We’ve built a team of about 100 people around the world to coordinate businesses, investors, organisations, cities and regions on climate change. I feel fortunate that I get to meet leaders from the private sector, from government at all levels around the world, and from civil society mobilising the grassroots.”

Based on the previous pace of progress and what was deemed possible, Nigel and his team felt positive about the outcome:

“Covering 90% of the world economy by a net zero target. Committing to stay within 1.5 degrees of global warming, not 2 degrees. Confirming that we’ll reduce emissions by 45% by 2030. Or reaching international consensus and commitment to stop international coal financing. No one believed the UK presidency could deliver on all this initially.

“It was so exciting to hear about another company in the automotive sector committing to phasing out combustion engines, or another agreement between two big countries to green a shipping route, or another 50 trillion of assets agreeing to stop financing agricultural commodity-driven deforestation.”

But there was a different side of the story that Nigel heard at COP too:

“Let’s say you’re 15 years old. You’ve just learnt about the climate science and that we’ve known about it for 30 years. That it’s called COP26 because it’s the 26th time we’ve got together, but emissions are still rising. Of course you’re going to be frustrated and angry at the collective response in the face of such obvious facts.

“There were some real highs, but meeting a group of frightened young people, or a group of indigenous leaders who are mourning were stark reminders that we need to continue working to bend the curve and halve emissions this decade.

Nigel reminded us not to obsess about COPs and focus on the work:

“It's easy to see why an event like COP dominates headlines around the world – they are important drivers or forcing moments, but the key message is that fighting climate change is a year-round issue. A promising outcome from Glasgow was the commitment to revise national plans every year, so we can expect a sustained focus over the next few years.”

Nigel was crystal clear on what should be driving businesses to take action on climate change:

“It could be tempting to think of climate change as just a compliance issue, or an ESG issue, or even a moral issue for businesses. But it’s absolutely a competitive issue. The good news is that the pace of change is driven by a familiar dynamic. We’re seeing industrial disruption happening exponentially, just as it’s done in the past.

“As a company or sector, it’s impossible to dictate the pace of change, but markets have a way of making change happen in a pattern which is quite predictable. You may not pay much attention to a certain technology that’s only at 2% market penetration. But the real question is how quickly it has gone from 1% to 2%.”

Here’s a good example:

“For the automotive industry, when you’re going to electrify is not an ESG issue; it’s central to your strategy for competitiveness and survival. Just a few years ago petrol cars were still expected to take significant market share in the 2070s, and electric vehicles were only in single figures. Now we know the combustion engine is dead in about 10 years’ time and electric vehicles are the future.”

Since the start of the year, Nigel and his team have been working to support COP27, which takes place next year in Egypt:

“Countries like Egypt have huge opportunities to put forward ambitious plans on climate action. For example, green hydrogen seemed like a distant reality for the busy Suez Canal a year ago. But since one of the biggest shipping companies in the world announced a net zero commitment, they’re now building green hydrogen facilities in the canal.”

One of the best parts of Nigel’s job is seeing ideas that were once considered science fiction become reality:

“I often use the example of Moore’s law, which states that computing power will double every 18 to 24 months. But here’s the thing – there’s no law that says things have to change in the way that Gordon Moore described. It’s an assertion of belief in our innovative ability that, when enough people share that belief, becomes true.

“I love seeing that dynamic of companies reluctantly coming to the table, having to convince people, setting what seems like a bold stretch target and then investing real engineering resource in it. Suddenly we’re on to something and moving faster than we ever thought possible. It gives me real hope for the future and what we can achieve.”