Our highlights from COP27 

The headline news coming out of COP27 was a breakthrough agreement to provide “loss and damage” funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters.  

But over the course of the climate conference’s two weeks, there were also plenty of outcomes that will bring the world closer to achieving affordable, clean energy for all by 2030. New relationships were forged, and key initiatives were launched aimed at ending energy poverty and supporting climate progress. 

Many of these outcomes emerged from events at the SDG7 Pavilion, which we hosted with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). For the second year in a row, the SDG7 Pavilion was the main hub at COP for discussing and showcasing how to unite global efforts on energy, climate and development. 

Yet, SEforALL’s involvement at COP27 extended far beyond hosting the pavilion. We were active across the two weeks, with our people speaking at various engagements run by our partners and helping launch major new projects and bodies of work. 

Here are some of the major highlights of SEforALL’s engagement at COP27. 

Heads of Government/State at the SDG7 Pavilion

On 8 November we were honoured to host H.E. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, at the Pavilion along with Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google; and Hastings Chikoko, Managing Director of Regions and Mayoral Engagement and Africa Regional Director at C40. The three were part of a broader session on 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact - Accelerating Decarbonization of the World’s Electricity Grids. 

We were honoured to have H.E. Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria, pay us a visit on 7 November at the SDG7 Pavilion, meeting with Damilola Ogunbiyi and other leadership team members. With SEforALL’s headquarters in Vienna, we are thankful to the Austrian government’s continued support. 

H.E. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, and H.E. Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway, also attended the launch of GEAPP’s Powering People and Planet report at the pavilion.