WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.003 --> 00:00:00.904
- I'm Wendy Woods,

2
00:00:00.904 --> 00:00:05.142
vice chair for social impact,
climate, and sustainability.

3
00:00:05.142 --> 00:00:07.644
- I'm Michel Frédeau,
senior partner of BCG,

4
00:00:07.644 --> 00:00:10.147
focusing on climate and sustainability.

5
00:00:10.147 --> 00:00:13.717
So Wendy, you're a long timer at Davos,

6
00:00:13.717 --> 00:00:16.086
how have you seen the climate agenda

7
00:00:16.082 --> 00:00:18.018
moving forward over all these years?

8
00:00:18.018 --> 00:00:19.686
- The good news is that it's moved forward

9
00:00:19.686 --> 00:00:21.454
tremendously, Michel.

10
00:00:21.454 --> 00:00:22.789
When I first came to Davos,

11
00:00:22.789 --> 00:00:24.991
I think it's at least 10 years ago,

12
00:00:24.991 --> 00:00:27.460
the word climate wasn't really spoken.

13
00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:28.628
We talked about environment,

14
00:00:28.628 --> 00:00:31.464
but we had those conversations
in a tent down the road

15
00:00:31.464 --> 00:00:33.366
that wasn't even on the map.

16
00:00:33.366 --> 00:00:36.469
This year, climate, net zero,

17
00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:38.571
environment, inclusion, and equity

18
00:00:38.571 --> 00:00:40.473
are part of the mainstream agenda

19
00:00:40.473 --> 00:00:43.410
in the majority of the
conversations at Davos today.

20
00:00:43.410 --> 00:00:45.412
Michel, you've been
working with the companies

21
00:00:45.412 --> 00:00:47.447
in the net zero agenda at WEF.

22
00:00:47.447 --> 00:00:49.949
How have companies' agendas evolved?

23
00:00:49.949 --> 00:00:52.786
- The company's agenda
has evolved quite a lot.

24
00:00:52.786 --> 00:00:55.255
You remember in the COP in Paris,

25
00:00:55.255 --> 00:00:57.190
where we got to this agreement, fantastic,

26
00:00:57.190 --> 00:00:58.892
it was basically with governments.

27
00:00:58.892 --> 00:01:00.860
There were no corporations present.

28
00:01:00.860 --> 00:01:04.664
At the COP26, I was really
positively surprised.

29
00:01:04.664 --> 00:01:08.001
The number of CEOs present
was, if I may say so,

30
00:01:08.001 --> 00:01:09.803
even better than in Davos.

31
00:01:09.803 --> 00:01:12.072
Really huge mobilization,

32
00:01:12.072 --> 00:01:14.941
whether it's on the finance side,

33
00:01:14.941 --> 00:01:16.643
but also, sector by sector,

34
00:01:16.643 --> 00:01:19.679
geography by geography,
it's very impressive.

35
00:01:19.679 --> 00:01:21.948
So you can really have the feeling today

36
00:01:21.948 --> 00:01:24.417
that companies need to understand

37
00:01:24.417 --> 00:01:27.921
that net zero is going to be a must-have,

38
00:01:27.921 --> 00:01:30.557
that there's an urgency to
transform their business

39
00:01:30.557 --> 00:01:33.827
to have a compatible portfolio

40
00:01:33.827 --> 00:01:36.496
with a 1.5-degree world in 2030,

41
00:01:36.496 --> 00:01:37.931
and you need action now.

42
00:01:37.931 --> 00:01:39.399
And the sooner you act,

43
00:01:39.399 --> 00:01:41.301
the better advantage you're going to have

44
00:01:41.301 --> 00:01:44.070
with your supply chain,
with your customers,

45
00:01:44.070 --> 00:01:46.473
and even internally, to
retain the best talents.

46
00:01:47.774 --> 00:01:50.710
- Michel, I've been excited
because the organizations

47
00:01:50.710 --> 00:01:52.579
and the companies that
I've been talking to

48
00:01:52.579 --> 00:01:54.781
have been much clearer
on their commitments,

49
00:01:54.781 --> 00:01:55.648
they are committing,

50
00:01:55.648 --> 00:01:57.717
their commitments are much more ambitious.

51
00:01:57.717 --> 00:01:59.886
As you're saying, I think they
are understanding the value

52
00:01:59.886 --> 00:02:01.321
and they're acting on those commitments.

53
00:02:01.321 --> 00:02:02.889
I'm talking to a number of CEOs,

54
00:02:02.889 --> 00:02:04.824
they're actually making progress,

55
00:02:04.824 --> 00:02:06.793
have already made significant
progress on the agenda,

56
00:02:06.793 --> 00:02:08.394
and they're engaging together.

57
00:02:08.394 --> 00:02:11.798
Because we know the hardest
part of progress on net zero

58
00:02:11.798 --> 00:02:13.600
as it relates to innovation

59
00:02:13.600 --> 00:02:16.402
and the last bits of carbon
across their supply chains,

60
00:02:16.402 --> 00:02:17.937
they're going to have to work on together.

61
00:02:17.937 --> 00:02:21.040
And we're starting to see some
of that collaboration today.

62
00:02:21.040 --> 00:02:24.511
Michel, we're between COP26 and COP27 now,

63
00:02:24.511 --> 00:02:27.247
and it's been terrific
to have our CEO of BCG,

64
00:02:27.247 --> 00:02:29.282
Christoph Schweizer, meeting with

65
00:02:29.282 --> 00:02:31.684
the Egyptian minister, Shoukry.

66
00:02:31.684 --> 00:02:34.621
What are your expectations as a result

67
00:02:34.621 --> 00:02:36.990
of all the planning we
see happening around this?

68
00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:39.192
- So first, I must say that we are honored

69
00:02:39.192 --> 00:02:41.694
and very proud to have been selected

70
00:02:41.694 --> 00:02:45.532
as the exclusive consulting
partner for the COP27.

71
00:02:45.532 --> 00:02:49.335
And we started working quite
heavily, as you can imagine,

72
00:02:49.335 --> 00:02:51.171
to contribute to the agenda.

73
00:02:51.171 --> 00:02:54.641
I think it's no secret
to say that, you know,

74
00:02:54.641 --> 00:02:56.809
the first point is clearly

75
00:02:56.809 --> 00:03:00.146
that the next COP is
going to move from pledges

76
00:03:00.146 --> 00:03:02.549
and ambition-setting to delivery.

77
00:03:02.549 --> 00:03:05.852
We need results, we need
projects, a pipeline of projects,

78
00:03:05.852 --> 00:03:10.123
to show that we are
really having solutions

79
00:03:10.957 --> 00:03:13.359
to decrease emissions in the world.

80
00:03:13.359 --> 00:03:16.095
The second one is the focus on adaptation,

81
00:03:16.095 --> 00:03:18.598
taking advantage of
having a COP in Africa.

82
00:03:18.598 --> 00:03:20.600
Adaptation has not been

83
00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:23.636
the main focus up to now in mitigation,

84
00:03:23.636 --> 00:03:26.372
but now we need to open up the discussion

85
00:03:26.372 --> 00:03:28.675
on adaptation with clear plans,

86
00:03:28.675 --> 00:03:30.944
as we know that unfortunately,

87
00:03:30.944 --> 00:03:34.080
we will pass the 1.5 degrees quite

88
00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:38.318
before the end of the decade
as the IPCC report shows.

89
00:03:38.318 --> 00:03:40.386
The last one, of course, money counts.

90
00:03:40.386 --> 00:03:41.921
So it's going to be the finance

91
00:03:41.921 --> 00:03:44.857
and finding finance solutions

92
00:03:44.857 --> 00:03:48.962
for countries in emerging
markets and beyond

93
00:03:48.962 --> 00:03:51.397
to make sure that the transition happens.

94
00:03:51.397 --> 00:03:52.332
And what's on your side, what

95
00:03:52.332 --> 00:03:56.836
do you see as an important
element of the agenda, Wendy?

96
00:03:56.836 --> 00:03:57.837
- It's going to be a full agenda

97
00:03:57.837 --> 00:03:59.839
'cause I have a few things to add, Michel.

98
00:03:59.839 --> 00:04:01.908
But first off, I would
say, again, in Africa,

99
00:04:01.908 --> 00:04:04.577
we can't forget the just transition.

100
00:04:04.577 --> 00:04:06.346
We know that a green economy

101
00:04:06.346 --> 00:04:08.114
is going to create more jobs than we lose,

102
00:04:08.114 --> 00:04:10.083
but they're not all in the same places.

103
00:04:10.083 --> 00:04:11.918
And the economy is local.

104
00:04:11.918 --> 00:04:14.320
And we're going to have
to find a way to achieve

105
00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:17.991
a just transition as we
do our green transition.

106
00:04:17.991 --> 00:04:20.493
The other thing is we
need to focus on food.

107
00:04:20.493 --> 00:04:22.929
In Africa, the vast
majority of the economy

108
00:04:22.929 --> 00:04:25.331
depends on small shareholder
farmers and food,

109
00:04:25.331 --> 00:04:27.267
and we need to make sure that food agenda,

110
00:04:27.267 --> 00:04:29.769
the agricultural agenda,
the adaptation, as you said,

111
00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:32.939
is all fully embedded
into the agenda on COP.

112
00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.375
And last, we are dealing with so many

113
00:04:35.375 --> 00:04:37.477
difficult issues in the world right now,

114
00:04:37.477 --> 00:04:39.646
but we can't allow any of those

115
00:04:39.646 --> 00:04:42.181
to give us an excuse, to
take our eye off the ball

116
00:04:42.181 --> 00:04:45.818
on what we need to achieve
in getting to a net-zero,

117
00:04:45.818 --> 00:04:48.054
nature-positive, and an equitable world.

118
00:04:48.054 --> 00:04:50.089
- Thank you, Wendy.

119
00:04:50.089 --> 00:04:53.259
So, I think the agenda is pretty full.

120
00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:56.129
This Davos session has been exceptional.

121
00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:59.299
I think all the key
issues have been discussed

122
00:04:59.299 --> 00:05:00.900
with the right stakeholders,

123
00:05:00.900 --> 00:05:03.503
and we are quite positive on the fact that

124
00:05:03.503 --> 00:05:05.138
the work is moving

125
00:05:05.138 --> 00:05:08.274
and has really understood
the urgency of action.

126
00:05:08.274 --> 00:05:09.676
Thank you.

127
00:05:09.676 --> 00:05:10.910
- Thank you, Michel.

128
00:05:10.910 --> 00:05:13.279
I think everyone here
is continuing to work

129
00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.582
for a net-zero world, a
nature-positive world,

130
00:05:16.582 --> 00:05:18.217
and an equitable world.