COP22: Three Reasons for Optimism

By:Lisa Manley, Executive Vice President, Cone Communications

I’ve just spent an amazing week at COP22 in Marrakech. Having attended COP 15, 16 and 17, I was delighted to return to the 22nd Conference of the Parties on Climate Change. This year is a pivotal COP, focusing on implementing the historic Paris Agreement from 2015.

The COP started with significant shudders as people around the world internalized America’s decision to elect Donald Trump as President. Trump, after all, has not been a vocal proponent of the action needed to protect the planet from catastrophic climate change.

What I found heartening in this year’s COP experience is the continued resilience of climate negotiators, especially those from developing and small island states as well as the ongoing tenacity of NGOs that work valiantly on mitigation and adaptation efforts around the world. Even more so, I was proud of the business engagement.

In a mere three days, Ceres, a non-profit organization advocating for sustainability leadership, coordinated an open letter from the business community indicating its support of the Paris Agreement. 365 companies signed on including DuPont, Gap Inc., General Mills, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hilton, HP Inc., Kellogg Company, Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oreal USA, Mars Incorporated, Starbucks, VF Corporation, and Unilever. These companies represent over $100 million in annual revenue. Additionally, ten companies: Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, Danone, Fetzer Vineyards, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Mars Incorporated, New Belgium Brewing Company, Stonyfield, and Unilever from the food & beverage space issued their own statement of support for the effort that is needed to protect us all from the devastating effects of warming in excess of 2 degrees. These public statements were in alignment with many of the conversations taking place this week at COP22.

To read the full article, visit The Huffington Post here.