Climate Action

COP27: 5 things to be hopeful about the climate summit and beyond

COP27: A banner displaying climate justice now.

COP27: A banner displaying climate justice now. Image: Unsplash/ Markus Spiske

Stefan Ellerbeck
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
This article is part of: Centre for Nature and Climate

Listen to the article

  • With many countries’ climate commitments falling short, the COP27 summit is as vital as ever.
  • But there are reasons to be optimistic, too, as these 5 pieces from the World Economic Forum’s Agenda platform make clear.
  • Investment in renewable energy production is ramping up, while the use of science and technology to provide more sustainable solutions is rapidly growing.

World leaders have another chance to make progress on taking concrete steps to tackle global warming at COP27 in Egypt this November. It is the United Nations’ largest and most important annual summit on climate action.

Recent reports have provided a timely reminder of the urgency of the situation. The World Meteorological Organization says that atmospheric greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are at record levels. And the UN itself has concluded that global commitments to reduce emissions are falling short and there is currently “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place”.

Things to be hopeful about COP27

However, amid the alarming warnings around this year’s summit, COP27, there is still optimism that ongoing efforts to ease the climate crisis will make a difference. World Economic Forum contributors to its Agenda platform have recently highlighted 5 things that we can feel hopeful about:

1. Clean energy production is rising to the challenge

Renewable energy met all increased electricity demand in the first half of 2022. According to data released by the energy think-tank Ember, global electricity demand rose by 389 terawatt hours, or 3% compared to the first six months of 2021. During the same period, renewable energy generation increased by 416 terawatt hours, meaning clean energy sources met 107% of demand.

A tweet showing renewables met growing electricity demand, halting coal and gas.
Clean energy sources met 107% of demand in the first half of 2022. Image: WEF/Ember

Ember’s Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights report estimated that new solar and wind generation met 92% of energy demand in China, 81% in the US and 23% in India.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that renewable energy employment now accounts for more than half of all energy sector jobs. Major new manufacturing facilities, especially in solar power and electric vehicle technologies, are helping to drive this ‘clean jobs’ growth, the IEA says.

2. Investment in renewable energy reaches record levels

The Ukraine conflict and the subsequent decision by many nations to reduce their reliance on Russian oil and gas has caused energy prices to soar. The upside is that this is leading to greater investment in renewable energy sources.

Clean energy investment is expected to top $1.4 trillion in 2022, according to the IEA. It now accounts for almost three-quarters of the growth in overall energy investment, and has been growing at an average annual rate of 12% since 2020. Investments in renewable power, greater energy efficiency and electric vehicles are all driving the increase.

A graph showing annual clean energy investment from 2017-2022.
Investment in electric vehicle technology has been rising significantly in 2022. Image: WEF/IEA

However, the IEA’s Executive Director, Fatih Birol, says that although “this kind of investment is rising … we need a much faster increase to ease the pressure on consumers from high fossil fuel prices, make our energy systems more secure, and get the world on track to reach our climate goals.”

Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

3. The race to net zero is affordable

Achieving net zero will not be as prohibitively expensive as many people think, argues Sverre Alvik, Director, Energy Transition Outlook at DNV. He says, “since the Industrial Revolution, energy demand, cost and emissions have moved in lockstep with GDP growth”. However, he says that as the world electrifies, and benefits from the associated energy efficiency improvements, energy demand - together with emissions and costs - will slow, while global economic growth continues. “This historic decoupling means that just 2.1% of global GDP will be spent on energy in 2050 compared to 3.4% today,” he adds.

A graphic showing world energy expenditures by source.
The growth of green electricity will bring energy costs down. Image: WEF/DNV

Although there will be higher upfront costs of additional renewable installation, huge investment in carbon capture and removal, and premature retirement of fossil plants, Alvik says the world will still spend a much lower share of GDP on energy than it is today. Factoring in the cost of climate change would make the difference even larger, as this would also increase year by year.

4. Autonomous farming is coming

Food production systems produce more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to UN scientists. Autonomous farming promises to produce more crops with less effort and in a more sustainable way. It also could be the key to securing future food supplies. The sector is projected to be worth $95 billion by 2027.

Self-driving tractors could help solve farming labour shortages which are affecting food chains globally. Drones are helping farmers to monitor and increase crop production. Farmers are using drone data to extract soil samples to check temperatures, moisture and elevation. Seed sowing requires a substantial amount of human effort, but innovations like seed-sowing robots are saving farmers time and money.

5. Biotech is helping sustainability

They say that biotech can protect biodiversity in food production, and companies are already working towards replacing chemical insecticides and fossil-based pesticides with biological components. Progress is being made in transforming food systems with plant-based solutions using fermented proteins and microorganisms. Meanwhile, sectors such as the construction industry are looking to become more sustainable by using microorganisms to produce bio-cement.

However, transformative biosolutions can often face long approval processes before they can be released into the market. “To incentivize the shift, we need fast-track approval processes for biosolutions that contribute to the green transformation.”

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

COP28

Related topics:
Climate ActionEnergy Transition
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Climate Crisis is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How digital twins are transforming the world of water management

Anja Eimer

November 1, 2024

1:36

CEO Climate Alliance Letter | Gim Huay Neo

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum