A CALL TO ACTION: Climate Change, EDF 2022, and the Road to COP27

There is no doubt that human actions – and inaction – have significantly contributed to climate change, led to devastating calamities across the globe, and deteriorated multiple habitats and ecosystems over the years.

In 2022 alone, we have witnessed abnormal heat waves, forest fires, and drought across parts of the planet, whilst simultaneously, across other parts of the globe, flash floods, hurricanes, and rising sea levels have claimed lives, disrupted the production of raw material, caused bedlam in supply chains, amplified food shortages, and unsettled international efforts to address poverty.

The global group of scientists who put together the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report didn’t mince words when they referred to the impact of climate change as “widespread, rapid, and intensifying”. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, didn’t either when he declared a “Code Red for Humanity”.

The clarion call is loud and clear: In the absence of strong and sustained climate-positive action in the coming decade, global temperatures could well rise beyond the critical threshold of 1.5°C by 2040. Unless there are very steep emissions cuts, the global warming figure could further climb beyond 2°C, causing irreversible damage past the “point of no return”.

However, these ambitious – yet indispensable targets – cannot be achieved individually or through isolated action. This is a collective responsibility. Attaining net zero CO2 emissions, limiting other greenhouse gases and air pollutants, especially methane, and trimming the mass production and use of fossil fuels will require multi-stakeholder collaboration across the public and private sectors. Everyone will need to be a part of the solution.

The Road to COP27: From Promises & Pledges to Action & Implementation

The first iteration of COP – the Conference of Parties – also known as COP1 took place in Berlin, Germany in 1995. Yet it took a long and arduous journey – until COP21 in Paris in 2015 – for the first legally-binding global treaty on climate change to be agreed.

Commonly referred to as the Paris Agreement, the treaty called on the 196 signatory nations to keep the rise in global average temperature to ‘well below’ 2°C, and ideally at 1.5°C, while building the ability to adapt to current climate change.

Fast-forward to COP25 in December 2019, which witnessed the establishment of the "Santiago Network" aimed at helping affected countries cope with the irreparable impacts of climate change. Although COP25 called for countries to increase their ambitions, it failed to lay down rules to implement curbs to emissions trading systems. The Covid pandemic through 2020 and 2021 placed most climate ambitions on the backburner – and that didn’t do much good either.

The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) saw 120 world leaders gather and debate ways to address the issue, resulting in the Glasgow Climate Impact, which reiterated the need to build resilience to combat climate change, whilst curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and providing the necessary finance for both.

In 2022, “climate action” has transformed into a “climate emergency” amidst an inescapable energy crisis, record GHG concentrations, and rampant extreme weather events.

All eyes have now turned to COP27 in November 2022, which will be held in Egypt, as countries feeling the pinch of the climate crisis call for a change from unkept promises and partially fulfilled pledges to a recourse of strong action and implementation. The message is clear: If we continue down this road, Planet Earth will survive, the People may not.

The Economic Environmental Forum in Cairo

In September 2022, months ahead of COP27, I attended the three-day Environment and Development Forum 2022, which was held under the theme of "The Road to Sharm El Sheikh Climate Change COP27."

The forum, which focused on climate adaptation and mitigation, with a specific emphasis on water resources, brought together experts and leaders from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Switzerland among other participants.

The six main themes discussed were water resources; biodiversity and oceans; agriculture and food security; climate cross-cutting issues, solutions & tools; energy; and sustainable growth and cities.

With only weeks left until COP27, speakers, panelists, and delegates at the event agreed that affirmation and application were the first steps toward making a real difference.

The association between green initiatives and its impact on economies was another major topic throughout the three-day forum, which included multiple sessions on green financing as well as other non-financial angles to address the climate change issue.

The forum also permitted people to view the problem from a corporate vantage. It showed how achieving climate-positive goals would require everyone’s participation – whether governments, private holdings, or individuals – each of whom has a part to play in the solution. Once again, the overall message across an array of panels was conclusive with one clear goal – to act.

Al Masaood as a Part of the Climate Solution

As an active solution to address climate change, Al Masaood’s Power division showcased SHAMS+ (SHAMSPlus) as the first UAE-built smart electric charging solution at EDF 2022.

Highlighting a tangible and scalable solution, Al Masaood leveraged the EDF 2022 forum to place the focus back on innovative technologies that are paramount to countering climate change.

A fully-fledged solar-powered and multi-user charging solution for electric vehicles (EVs) – including cars, buses, trucks, and marine vessels – Shams+ is already being recognized as a significant addition to decarbonizing the transport sector.

This cordless, off-grid and high-power DC solar charging system is also an ideal solution for marine docks, for the desert, agricultural fields, interstate highways and can also be implemented in the city.

With smart internet-based and universal charging ventures, the solution will provide sustainable charging through solar energy at the highest charging speed starting from 25 minutes.

Furthermore, the smart internet-based SHAMS+ charging station consists of one DC fast charger with a dual outlet, two battery energy storage systems, a solar PV power plant, and electrical distribution and control systems, all designed with adequate sustainability standards in place.

Additionally, it has an automatic matching voltage fluctuation for stable charging.

Sustainable and environmentally friendly, the solution is in line with Al Masaood’s commitment to promote green mobility and help the UAE achieve its net zero emissions strategy by 2050.

SHAMS+ marks a new chapter in our sustainability journey and will also foster EV adoption in the industrial, construction, and marine sectors in the Gulf region.

Additionally, Al Masaood also remains invested in exploring the potential of hydropower, which can eliminate up to four billion tonnes of annual GHG emissions, compared to traditional fossil-fuel-based coal-fired generation of electricity, which represents approximately 10% of global annual CO2 emissions.

Multiple studies have also revealed how hydropower projects have an enabling role beyond the electricity sector. They can be viewed – tangentially – as a financing instrument for multipurpose reservoirs and as an adaptive measure regarding the impacts of climate change on water resources.

This is because regulated basins with large reservoir capacities are more resilient to water resource changes, less vulnerable to climate change, and act as a storage buffer against climate change. Yet, more recently the substantial environmental and social costs that need to be offset by large-scale hydropower projects have become key topics of deliberation.

This has also increased the attention on the need for clean hydrogen as a future fuel. The solution comes with a promise of an abundance of carbon-neutral energy by 2030.

However, clean hydrogen can only fully contribute to deep decarbonization if it is produced from low-carbon energy sources. This has led to evaluating the potential of sourcing clean hydrogen from nuclear power, which can also cut production costs, low grid- and system-level costs, and provide hydrogen and energy to industrial hubs at lower costs.

That said, low-carbon hydrogen faces challenges and requires research and development, case studies, and at-scale demonstrations. Yet, the future remains hopeful.

All in all, 2022 is indeed a year of deliberating solutions and acting, and we at Al Masaood intend to lead the way.