What is COP and what does it mean for me?

Neil Pharaoh unpacks the impact of COP27 for the for-purpose sector.

I am currently writing to you from Sharm El Sheikh, on the east side of the Sinai Peninsula, about an hour flight east of Cairo and a similar distance south of Israel. From my hotel I can just see Saudi Arabia on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba. 

For those of you who don’t know, Sharm is the location for COP27 – the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) – but what does a summit half a world away have to do with me working for a not for profit in Australia? 

Those in the climate and environment space might know a bit more about COP, and it will be in the news, but even for those social purpose organisations not in the environment space, there are some huge lessons to take away in COP around justice, equity and equality.

The theme for civil society for this year’s COP is ‘time to deliver for climate justice’ – which focuses on climate specifically. But given the undertones of the recent federal budget, and the increasing focus on things like wellbeing and inequality globally and in Australia, the tone and theme resonates beyond the climate space. 

The opening summary for civil society ambition for COP talks about the multiple civil and environmental crises unfolding before us – famine, drought, floods, cyclones, bushfires – and while famine and drought is rare in Australia at the moment, the rest are already having an impact on our lives.

It continues that “business as usual will not do” – increasingly common in the discussions around renewable energy, coal, gas, and also across other social areas such as food insecurity, poverty and the impact of rising inflation (inflation being a highly regressive tax on those less well off in our community). 

Talk of burden is common – those less responsible and most vulnerable are carrying the climate burden. In Australia this applies across First Nations communities, those living with precarious work or on welfare benefits – and the solutions are based around equity and justice.  

The final topical theme to round out civil society ambitions for COP is around ‘international equity’ – a debate we also hear in Australia, largely in the context of debt, baby boomers and government services, but also as the government starts to buy back flood prone homes, in the context of housing and homelessness.  

Big questions about who pays for loss and damage will be raised. Should the polluters? Government? Oil and gas companies? Should a super profit tax be applied to fossil fuels to pay for it? What about those communities without a voice at the table? What role do they have? And finally, in Egypt, where civil society has been largely curtailed under an authoritarian President, what role does the social purpose, not for profit and civil society have at an increasingly hostile table?

So in reflecting on COP27, already nick-named the “COP for vulnerable communities” and the first in Africa, what lessons can we learn for Australian civil society both within and beyond the climate and environment space?

1. We need to understand what justice means in the context of our work, society and beyond – who are we helping, who are we hurting, who is present and who is missing?
2. Business as usual will not do – so what do we want to change? We need to start having discussions about what needs to shift and how we are going to get there. What do we want as the new normal? Unless we can paint a picture and convince people of our new vision, in whatever social area that may be, it becomes easy to stay still and do nothing.
3. What does ‘equity’ mean in ‘my’ context – whether education, healthcare, social services, environment or everything in between, spending time planning this will be key to mobilising supporters, and working with government, particularly given we have all bar two state, federal and territory governments now Labor aligned.

The Climate Action Network International (to which, on full disclosure I am the chair of the Climate Action Network Australia) concludes it executive summary of COP with the phrase “we are the people, and we have the power, together we are stronger” – something which is as relevant, if not more so for civil society in Australia, as it is international for the climate crisis we face.

Happenings on the Hill is a fortnightly column focusing on all things politics, policy, campaigns, and advocacy. Focusing on both Federal and State & Territory politics, stay tuned for updates around political trends and elections, lobbying and advocacy news, and hints, tips and ideas on government engagement that are specifically written for the social purpose/for purpose sector.