PwC at COP29

Emma: So the COP process and being here in Dubai is a really extraordinary event. You've got 70,000 odd people all gathered together with a single mission to pursue action on climate change. 

Bob: It's clear that the COP is talking about a couple of different angles. One is mitigation. Second is the transformation of the energy uses and the carbons associated with it. And third is adaptation. The reality is there's opportunity in all of those, as well as an opportunity to mitigate the downside risk from this transition that we're talking about and doing it in a just way.

Eu Lin: Just transition is not only about technologies, it's not only about getting the emissions down, but also bringing along society so that no one is left behind. It is an extremely complex situation and I think something that PwC, with the might of our knowledge and also our people and talent, can really help with.

Lit Ping: I've just come from an event around women and sustainability, and I think that is incredibly important, that we recognize the need to bring a diverse voice to the table so that every decision that we're making around climate action is an inclusive one. 

Will: We need to move quickly to reduce carbon in our energy system. And the quickest way to do that is just not using the energy in the first place. Energy efficiency is fundamentally important. We believe that we could reduce energy demand by 30% with existing technologies and if they were fully deployed.

Andrew: It's clear in order to reach the net zero target that's required to limit the rise in temperatures to at most 1.5 degrees more than $4 trillion annually of new investments are going to be required in areas like clean energy, in areas like energy efficiency and new forms of transportation. And of course, there's going to be no investment without financing.

Emma: We're living the experience of climate change now. It makes business common sense and just common sense for the security of people to think, how do we adapt to how the climate is changing?  The reality is that adaptation has not had enough focus. It has not got enough finance, and there's a long way to go to get it firmly on the business agenda. 

Dion: So when one compares businesses with government, businesses are generally seen to be much more focused and much more skillful at execution. So whilst on the one hand it is the role of government to set the policy, to set the agenda, it is really business that actually make things happen. 

Bob: And so coming out of COP, what's gotta to happen is a continuation of refining what's being discussed here today and then a periodic check to make sure that we have accountability, accountability by governments, by corporate entities, for that matter, citizens to say, have we changed and are we changing fast enough? And what we need to make sure we do is set the stage for the next intervention be it a G20 or G7 meeting or the next COP to make sure that we're demonstrating to the world that we're actually making progress. So coming out of here, it's actions and impact, not the words.