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This week the fight against climate change took center stage, with Climate Week NYC and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) taking place in parallel.

This is all part of preparations for COP29, the annual UN climate conference that will bring together world leaders in Baku, Azerbaijan in November this year.

Under the theme “It’s Time” for Climate Week 2024, run by the nonprofit Climate Group, the focus is clearly on ensuring a just transition that ensures the benefits of climate action are felt by all.

The cost of climate inaction

Large companies have been asked to weigh short-term economic gain against long-term sustainability.

The societal costs of climate inaction should also be guided by government regulation of industries, speakers said.

“Two thirds of employees are affected by this extreme heat – There are costs associated with this,” said Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

“What is needed is the translation of scientific numbers into impact on society. We need to use these numbers to convince other stakeholders that inaction will cost far too much.”

Incentive programs like those of the EU Green deal and the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are a step in the right direction.

“Since President Biden “Since we took office, private companies have announced more than $425 billion (€381 billion) in new clean energy projects,” said John Podesta, senior advisor for international climate policy to the President of the United States.

“More than $270 billion (€242 billion) of this has been announced since the IRA, creating more than 330,000 well-paying jobs. Last year, Clean energy jobs grew twice as fast as normal jobs in the economy.”

But companies need consistency so they can make long-term investment decisions, said Will Jackson-Moore, global sustainability leader at PwC.

Financing losses and damage for developing countries

Nations contribute the least Climate change are still bearing the brunt of this, and speakers at Climate Week called for priority to be given to loss and damage funds.

“Diplomacy is good, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. The Loss and damage The fund is unfunded and improperly established,” said Leo Pinder, Attorney General and Minister of Law of the Bahamas.

“We believe that you have to be energetic. Can states be held accountable for perpetuating the climate crisis? I’m ready to go there The Hague and fight this case.”

Share the direct impact of Warming of the oceans Regarding his island nation, Pinder said: “Our fish stocks are being depleted. This has a major impact on the Bahamas, who are now no longer trading. Do we have to retrain them? It’s a legitimate tragedy. The bigger countries ignore it and don’t care about it, but in our country it affects us.”

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U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii also spoke forcefully on loss and damage and said recipients of funds should be given the opportunity to decide how to spend them.

“What is the purpose of the Loss and Damage Fund? “It’s about helping, not about creating a particular account and declaring victory – it’s about helping people,” he said.

Discussion about Pacific IslandsHe added: “They don’t ask for money to be brokered. It’s not about funding a specific account, but instead it should go into existing programs and existing infrastructure.”

Should fossil fuel companies pay for climate damage?

One way to finance loss and damage and the green transition in low-income countries would be to follow the polluter pays principle, some speakers argued.

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“The amount of subsidies fossil fuel Payments received by companies in one year amounted to $7 trillion (€6.3 trillion). This would have enabled developing countries to meet their climate protection investment needs for three years,” said Laurence Breton, Managing Director of the European Climate Foundation.

“It should be front and center – that polluters should be the ones paying,” agreed

Senator darling.

Meanwhile, Mike Hayes, global head of renewable energy at KPMG in Ireland, called for a “global reset” of energy systems.

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“We have to talk about the positive – that is increasing renewable energy rather than abandoning fossil fuels,” he said. “We also need to think about how public and private can work together – the network should be a public good.”

AI is not the “secret recipe”, but it can certainly help

The role of technology in the fight against climate change was also a hot topic during Climate Week.

“We have to think about how AI can help us accelerate the transition and understand the mechanics of renewable energy development,” said KPMG’s Hayes.

“AI can help with site selection and procurement of renewable options, significantly speeding up the entire process. It’s not the secret, but it can certainly help and will likely be the focus of KPMG POLICEMAN.”

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Technology has already helped speed up climate adaptation processes, noted Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland: “Fiji needed a natural dam and we were able to apply and get it approved within 12 months with the help of.” technology and AI.”

It can also be used to assess whether environmental efforts are effective. Blair Swedeen, Global Head of Net Zero and Sustainability at Meta, shared how their AI canopy height model, developed with the World Resources Institute, can measure the height of any forest Tree in the world.

“This can be used for validation Reforestation Carbon credit efforts and projects,” he explained.

Addressing AI’s carbon footprint and Data centersHe said the technology could even be part of the solution: “The application of AI to novel formulations of concrete (can) reduce the carbon footprint in our data centers … by 40 percent.”

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It can also help improve Energy efficiencysaid Melissa Schoeb, Nokia’s chief corporate affairs officer: “Since we digitized our factory at (smart mobility company) ULU and used AI, we have increased our production by 250 percent and kept our energy consumption constant.”

Expanding climate technology will only make it more affordable, said Mark Patel, senior partner at McKinsey. “It’s counterintuitive, but we will change the odds as we get bigger and faster,” he said. “We observed the pattern. A 100 percent increase in the scope of a technology can result in a cost reduction of at least 70 percent.”