COP28: LinkedIn and Greenpeace urge more pace in the race to a green economy

euronews (in English)

The pressure on politicians is greater than ever. According to the United Nations, COP28 UAE is a prime opportunity to rethink, reboot, and refocus the climate agenda.

Transcript

00:00 On this episode of The Exchange, we talk to the regional head of Greenpeace and the vice

00:06 president of LinkedIn, both calling for radical action to save the planet.

00:15 Welcome to The Exchange from our studio here in Doha.

00:19 Now COP28 welcomes politicians, CEOs and climate activists to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates,

00:27 all to tackle the biggest problem on the planet.

00:30 Well, the pressure is greater than ever.

00:32 According to the United Nations, COP28 UAE is a prime opportunity to rethink, reboot

00:40 and refocus the climate agenda.

00:43 So let's have a quick recap on the COP story so far.

00:47 Well, back at COP21 in 2015, the world agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared

00:53 to pre-industrial levels by 2050.

00:57 And in less than seven years, carbon emissions need to be reduced by 43 percent to make this

01:03 achievable.

01:04 Well, most scientists now agree that we're unlikely to hit this target.

01:08 But at COP28, heads of state and senior government leaders will meet over 70,000 delegates to

01:15 coordinate a new worldwide push for action.

01:19 Bold intentions from the politicians and business leaders.

01:22 But what do the activists think?

01:25 Greenpeace has been at the forefront of environmental activism for 54 years.

01:30 Its network of 15,000 volunteers now spans 55 countries.

01:34 Well, I caught up with their executive director for the Middle East and North Africa, Kiwa

01:40 Nakat, and I started by asking her how COP28 is inspiring more action and less talk from

01:48 politicians.

01:49 So far, it's been talks.

01:52 We need them to act with greater urgency.

01:55 As I said, this is a very important COP for various reasons.

01:59 First, this COP marks the conclusion of the first global stock trade.

02:04 This is the primary mechanism through which we assess progress and collective efforts

02:10 under the Paris Agreement.

02:12 It's evident now that the world is falling short of meeting the agreement objectives.

02:19 And therefore, at COP28, global leaders must chart a path to accelerate climate action

02:26 and close the gaps for 2030 targets.

02:30 And urgently, they need to ensure that the 1.5 degrees remains within reach.

02:37 To do that, we need to have global emissions by 2030.

02:41 And therefore, in COP28, we should have a decision to immediately halt fossil fuel expansion.

02:51 A powerful plea there from Greenpeace.

02:54 But it's not just government officials and activists taking part in COP28.

03:00 Euronews reporter Jane Witherspoon looks back on the preparations to the event, where she

03:05 met an Atlantic rower aiming to create a new spirit of action across the COP community.

03:13 This year's UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai has the aim of uniting the international

03:18 community on climate issues and building on what was promised at last year's event in

03:23 Sharm el Sheikh.

03:25 A series of local initiatives have been running on the periphery of this year's conference.

03:29 Toby Gregory is an adventurer and environmental changemaker who's launched Road to COP in

03:35 a battle against plastic pollution.

03:37 Between 60 and 90 percent of the pollution that gathers on our shoreline around the whole

03:41 region, in fact, the whole world, is made up of plastic.

03:43 So we're going to row around the coastline of the UAE.

03:46 It will take about two months.

03:48 And in that time, we'll be giving the boat over to CEOs, to school teachers, to students,

03:53 to everyone really who cares about the planet.

03:56 This is Expo City, Dubai, the site for this year's event, which is expected to welcome

04:02 around 70,000 delegates, world leaders and heads of state.

04:07 TGP International are a global agency for the hospitality and food retail industry and

04:13 are Expo City, Dubai's appointed consultant overseeing all F&B for the COP28 UAE site.

04:20 They're committed to supporting the global sustainability agenda and stress the importance

04:25 of the food and beverage industry's roles in addressing climate change.

04:30 At TGP International, we're looking into collaborating with several stakeholders such as local suppliers,

04:35 local communities and government bodies to ensure not only the sustainable initiatives

04:40 are effectively implemented, but also communicated to an environmentally conscious clientele.

04:46 As the UAE welcomes the world to COP28, all eyes will be on it uniting together to deliver

04:51 actionable solutions to the global climate crisis.

04:57 Bold ambitions, but is a worldwide shift to the green economy actually realistic?

05:03 According to a report by LinkedIn, only one in every eight workers currently has the green

05:08 skills needed to meet net zero targets.

05:11 I spoke to LinkedIn's vice president of global public policy, Sue Juke, about what she sees

05:18 as much needed radical reform across the jobs market.

05:24 A green job is a job whose primary focus is to combat climate change.

05:29 So think of jobs like wind turbine technician, solar consultant, environmental engineer.

05:36 And of course, to do these green jobs, you need lots of green skills.

05:40 But what's really interesting is that we also see these green skills, their skills that

05:45 are either taking pollution out or conserving natural resources.

05:49 We're also seeing these green skills being applied to a whole host of traditional jobs.

05:55 Some of the top jobs out there using green skills are jobs like fleet manager, data scientist,

06:01 health care worker, not green jobs per se, but jobs that are going green more and more.

06:09 Now it's time for our regular feature, Business in 60 Seconds.

06:13 Start the clock.

06:14 Sony will announce their quarterly results this month.

06:16 It's been a good year for the company with stock remaining high.

06:19 The U.S. rollout of the new PS5 Slim is getting gamers excited.

06:24 With more countries set to sell the latest console over the coming months, millions will

06:28 be updating their Christmas lists.

06:30 U.S. mega pharmacy chain CVS will also be declaring their quarterly results.

06:36 The chain has had a mixed year with some strong results, but staff have also raised concerns

06:40 about the long working hours required to meet consistently strong demand for pharmaceutical

06:45 products.

06:46 Stability is the watchword for analysts who will be hoping for positive news to relieve

06:51 the symptoms of a challenging period.

06:54 And Starbucks will be hoping for an energizing set of results this month.

06:57 The coffee giants have grown from strength to strength throughout 2023, with stock remaining

07:02 high throughout.

07:03 The company is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of its flagship product, the pumpkin spiced

07:10 latte.

07:13 In less than seven years, we'll find out whether carbon emissions have been reduced by the

07:19 43 percent required to stop global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees.

07:24 But according to the experts, the 2030 target is way off the mark.

07:29 The pressure on politicians and CEOs is reaching boiling points.

07:33 And as we've heard from our guests, COP28 needs to deliver something meaningful, not

07:39 just to save our future, but to tackle problems like hunger and clean water right now.

07:46 Well that's all we have time for on this edition of the show.

07:48 Thanks for watching.

07:49 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news and join us again next

07:54 time on the exchange.

07:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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