Blog

In my November article, I mentioned a number of things that were "about to happen", namely:

• com webinar (29 Nov)
• PMI European Leadership Institute Meeting (LIM, 1 - 4 Dec in Lisbon, Portugal)
• COP28 (30 Nov - 12 Dec in Dubai, UAE)

These have now happened, so this article will focus on the outcomes and the next steps.

However, I will start with what happened on 17 Nov 2023:

Global temperature exceeds 2°C above pre-industrial average:

The global average temperature on 17 November was measured at 2.07°C above pre-industrial levels.

This is the first time ever that the measured temperature anomaly has exceeded 2°C. This, and indeed the temperature anomalies throughout 2023 (bold red curve above) have been concerning.

The timing of this data enabled me to use it as timely and impactful input to the presentations mentioned below.

 

Sam Baker and I were delighted to welcome 1,749 attendees to our webinar: The Climate Crisis needs "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once". The webinar is available online and has so-far been viewed over 5,000 times.

We opened the webinar with an audience poll of which stage attendees considered they were at in relation to tackling the Climate Crisis. We did this using the "Kübler-Ross" model for accepting change (which may be familiar to you from your professional activities). 

785 attendees participated, with responses distributed as follows:

• Shock 6%
• Denial 5%
• Frustration 33%
• Depression 11%
• Experiment 21%
• Decision 15%
• Integration 9%

 I think this illustrates a wide spread of experiences across the PMI Global audience - with an important need to help and support our colleagues through this journey towards feeling positive from making a purposeful contribution.

I described how we can respond to the Climate Crisis as individuals, as professionals and together as members of the PMI and Sam introduced Climate Fresk as a specific Climate Action initiative.

I specifically shared my thoughts on "Discounted Carbon Flow" which are explained further in the following post.

We received many insightful and supportive questions and comments from attendees across the planet.

There was some very limited evidence of resistance to taking Climate Action, but the overwhelming majority response was positive (average rating 4.44 out of 5, or 89%).

In a 2nd audience poll, 545 people expressed interest to hear more about PMI Sustainability initiatives, 302 were specifically interested in Climate Fresk and 118 thought Climate Fresk may interest their PMI Chapter colleagues.

We were very pleased to receive enquiries from PMI Chapters in USA and Canada about potential participation in the Climate Fresk initiative. 

If you are interested, and / or seek 1 PDU, you can view the webinar recording here.

Together with Manuel Ancizu from PMI Madrid, Spain Chapter, I presented at the LIM event 1 - 4 Dec in Lisbon, Portugal on the theme of Strategies and Tools to Connect Chapter Purpose with SDGs.

My aim was to seek the involvement of the leaders of 12 European Chapters to take forward the rollout out of Climate Fresk across PMI European Chapters in 2024.  I was delighted to get a positive response from leaders from 20 Chapters indicating an interest to participate. Including other Chapters I had also been in contact with, there are currently a total of 25 Chapters who have expressed interest in working together on this in 2024.

If you are interested to see the presentation, please let me know, I'd be happy to share.

In addition to our session, there was a lot of discussion at LIM about Sustainability and Climate Change.

Nikolas Ballantyne gave a tremendous closing keynote presentation entitled: "Superhuman Projects - A view to 2030 and beyond".  He discussed the global Mega-Trends that will impact the Project Management profession which of course include the Climate Crisis.  I was interested and concerned by his observation that 2023 could be the the coolest year of the next 100 years - in particular in the context of my observations above on the extremes of 2023.  

Next step on Climate Fresk will be a call scheduled for 19 Dec to start joint planning of the Climate Fresk rollout across European Chapters in 2024.

I will be sharing further details soon, but the opportunity to attend a Climate Fresk workshop should be starting for PMI Belgium members from Tuesday 6 Feb 2024 (evening session tentatively scheduled at a venue in Leuven 18:00 - 21:30) - please note in your diary and let me know if you are interested in participating (numbers will be limited).  

Our intention is that going forwards there should be monthly opportunities for you to participate in a Climate Fresk workshop (primarily via virtual events after this initial face-to-face session).

COP28 Climate Change Summit

COP28, ran from 30 Nov - 13 Dec in Dubai UAE.

There are many summaries in circulation but I'm sharing here what I consider a balanced view from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO):  "COP28 concludes with historic agreement to try to tackle the climate crisis."

Key messages (from WMO):

• Declaration recognizes need to transition away from fossil fuels
• It aims to keep Paris Agreement 1.5°C goal within reach
• It voices concern at accelerating pace of climate change
• It reflects WMO scientific input
• It urges more adaptation financing, including through Early Warnings for All

Whilst the agreement was less ambitious than many had hoped, the parties are called on to contribute to the following global efforts: 

• Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030
• Accelerating efforts to the phase-down of unabated coal power
• Accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emission energy systems, utilizing zero and low-carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century
• Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.
• Accelerating and substantially reducing non-CO2 emissions globally, including in particular methane emissions, by 2030.

The good news for the Project Professional community is that these measures will lead to tremendous opportunities for us to make a major positive contribution to the required initiatives.

Thank you to Christine Dassy

As Christine Dassy concludes her role of PMI Belgium Chapter President, I'd like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Christine for her support of the Climate Crisis initiatives in PMI.

Here are a few key milestones:

• Aug 2022: I approached Christine with a suggestion that we could be more active on the PMI Global megatrend topic of Climate Crisis. Christine responded with the suggestion that I write a newsletter article and organise a Climate Crisis related Chapter event.
• Nov 2022: Chapter event: "Climate Action with Walk2COP27" shared perspectives on Climate Action in general and COP27 in particular - generated many follow-up ideas including to link up with colleagues in other Chapters.
• April 2023: Christine invited PMI European Chapter Presidents to a call to discuss whether and how Chapters should work together to tackle the Climate Crisis. A positive response obtained with next steps agreed to proceed with a Climate Fresk pilot activity, to hold a Sustainability Summit and with a view to preparing a Sustainability / Climate Action related presentation for LIM in Dec 2023.
• Nov 2023: Sustainability Summit 2023 - involving collaboration across many PMI Chapters in Europe (see summary in past month's article).
• Dec 2023: LIM presentation successfully delivered (see summary above).

I think Christine exemplifies the kind of "yes, can do" philosophy that will be necessary to us successfully managing the Climate Crisis.  Her support has led to significant progress in 2023 that would not have otherwise been possible.

In Conclusion

2023 has been a challenging year from a Climate Crisis perspective due to the clear evidence we have seen of Climate Change leading to extreme weather events.

However, it has also been a year of significant progress both inside and outside the PMI.

As the year draws to an end, it's time to celebrate what we have achieved so far and take a short break before pushing forwards with the initiatives that will help us to make a positive contribution to the Climate Crisis.

I will be reflecting with PMI Belgium Board on how to communicate most effectively relating to the Climate Crisis going forwards.

As for all of my articles, feedback and comments are welcome via stuart.thorp@pmi-belgium.be.

Have a great end of year holiday and a happy, healthy and sustainable 2024!

 

 

---------- for context - previous article from Nov 2023 ----------

Click here to learn more