Throughout 2021, we’ve experienced Covid-19, COP26 and a host of green and socioeconomic challenges. What could make for smoother sailing in 2022?

What’s on the Content Coms wish list for 2022?

Throughout 2021, we’ve experienced Covid-19, COP26 and a host of green and socioeconomic challenges. What could make for smoother sailing in 2022?

The 2022 sustainability wish list

A top and immediate need for 2022 surrounds COP26. Many promises and deals were made at the conference; but any true greener realities will stem from their implementation this year, not merely their creation.

As anyone who has served their time within the sustainability sector knows, promises only work when they are kept.

Therefore it’s imperative that The Glasgow Climate Pact is translated into reality, including strengthened efforts to build resilience to climate change, to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to provide the necessary finance for both.

Crucially, the pledge of providing 100 billion dollars annually from developed to developing countries must begin in 2022. At Content Coms we would like to see proof of this happening as soon as possible, ideally through evidenced reports of the cash flowing the right way.

Plainer talking

We would also like to see plainer documentation, plainer targets and less greenspeak surrounding sustainability closer to home.

One of the biggest issues affecting UK sustainability to date surrounds the myriad documents, schemes, proposals, finance mechanisms, legislation, policy guidance and more which sit within our Net Zero approach.

These should be much, much simpler for non-experts, particularly those short on time in the business sector, whom we absolutely must engage to achieve the purpose of all this documentation.

Key point; we’re not arguing the path to Net Zero is simple; it isn’t. But getting engagement and understanding on where potential finance mechanisms can help individual businesses and what individual companies need to be doing must become simpler.

A degree in Environmental Sustainability shouldn’t be a must to simply decipher a) What Net Zero is b) What should my business do? plus c) Here’s how the Government can help you.

If we at Content Coms can generate these three simple abcs, it would be lovely to see similarly active, engaging communications appearing across centralised channels to get emissions falling in the corporate world.

A word on Covid-19

Given the unprecedented events of the last two years, any roundup or wishlist for2022 seems incomplete without a mention of Coronavirus.

At Content Coms we extend our sympathies to all suffering from the challenges and the tragedies the virus has wrought globally.

But further, we would like to highlight the point that Covid-19 impacts the world universally, identically to the manner in which sustainability does.

The developed world must take faster and wider responsibility for both sustainability and Covid-19 solutions; growing sustainability, better socioeconomics and crucially human health. We have the finance, the technology and seemingly the skills to do so now.

There’s a strange resonance between this United Nations call for wider global vaccination and similar UN stories noting that less developed countries suffering most from the climate crisis are also those that are least responsible for the emissions behind it.

The message appears to be, developed countries must lead on both global emissions reductions, supplying green finance to developing states and sharing out future health solutions more equitably and faster too.

This would represent true sustainability in action, at global scale.

Energy wish list

It is absolutely imperative we continue the UK and global push for renewables. Equally we must continue to highlight categorically the fact fossil fuels are obsolete.

It is essential that COP27 strengthens COP26 initial wording on fossil fuels to make it blindingly clear they must be eradicated from the global energy mix.

An interesting UN metric observes that in terms of mitigation, Africa is already net positive being home to 17% of the world’s population while being responsible for less than 4% of global emissions.

Given the next COP is taking place in Egypt, there is a startling truth evident here. We must rebalance global energy usage and the type of energy we use, but further we must rebalance the services, products and human benefits we create from this new green energy to rebalance a fairer global social contract.

We would love to see meaningful progress on this throughout 2022.

The final word

“2022 will undoubtedly bring challenges across the sustainability sphere,” comments Joanna Watchman, Founder and CEO, Content Coms.

“There are many further points to those highlighted above; can we raise the bar on energy efficiency, can we push harder on technical solutions like a more responsive energy grid here in the UK and on electric vehicles?

“We have the potential to achieve a vast amount in the coming year. Joined up thinking, positive approaches to sustainability and above all a can-do attitude will be the tools to help deliver the promises.”

What do you think? Have we missed any key sustainability challenges this coming year? Let us know.

Content Coms
Content Coms
We create award-winning content for businesses delivering a greener, healthier and more sustainable future.