KPMG to present climate awareness education course at COP29

NEW DELHI: Consulting firm KPMG will present a basic education program at the COP29 climate summit for global adoption to empower children, Mike Hayes, head of climate change and decarbonization and global head of renewable energy at consultancy KPMG, said Learn about climate and environmental issues.

Mike Hayes said in an interview that a proposal to introduce climate and environmental awareness courses in schools will be presented at the United Nations COP29 summit in Azerbaijan in November. He also said KPMG was working to increase climate awareness in India.

“We want climate to be a basic education subject for children aged at least 4 to 12 years old. What I mean by a basic education program is that no matter where you go in the world, you will be taught mathematics and you will be taught your local language , maybe other languages, French or Chinese or other languages. So, right now, sustainability and climate are one of these fringe topics for two reasons,” he said, adding, ” One, it’s very much about preparing us to build what we call the skillset of the future. The second thing is not just about upskilling, it’s about providing information to people.”

The idea, he said, is to get young people to accept and see climate change and action against it as a fundamental part of their existence.

“We are in discussions with the COP authorities and they are also interested. We will publish a paper on this at COP29. This is KPMG’s idea for the world. The whole idea is that we want to build a coalition around this issue and need The participation of various countries. We are in the early stages of this process and the whole idea is that you sign countries and we would love to find a country like India who will say we are going to take the lead on this,” Hayes added. .

Anvesha Thakker, global co-head of climate change and decarbonization at KPMG in India, said that in India, KPMG has been working with the government and private sector to improve skills, especially in the energy transition area. “First, assess the skills gap across the entire value chain, across all technologies, and then decide what can be done at various levels, including higher education, IDI, etc., to address the skills gap in the energy transition,” Thakker said.

The Baku Initiative on Healthy Human Development for Climate Resilience will deliver a variety of outcomes for human development, including promoting investment in education, skills, health and well-being, especially in children and adolescents, establishing a Continuity, and enhancing environments to improve literacy through educational standards.

On 14 November, deliberations will focus on finance, investment and trade, with the launch of the Climate Finance Action Fund, a second business, investment and philanthropy platform, and a high-level dialogue on investments for a just transition, including jobs and presidential actions in line with COP29 Agenda Letter.

India’s progress towards climate goals

On India’s progress in meeting climate goals and installing renewable energy capacity, Hayes said India’s growth has been affected by cost issues and geopolitical tensions including the Russia-Ukraine war, but added, The transformation is going well. He added that energy companies have slowed progress on green hydrogen due to high cost requirements and demand demands.

“The goals the world has set at a national level are roughly to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, with phased progress in 2030. So 2030 is the next big date coming up. The reality is we don’t have the technology available right now Solutions to achieve net zero emissions “Let’s get to net zero emissions, it becomes very obvious,” Hayes said.

He pointed out that companies that have announced net zero plans are experiencing two situations: one is that there are enough technical solutions for net zero, but there is a larger issue at hand, which is cost.

“The cost of these solutions is still too high and is proving prohibitive. So one of the things that is starting to happen in the market is governments are starting to introduce legislation and initiatives to create greater demand for energy transition solutions. The whole idea is , the more demand you create, will help reduce the cost of these solutions.”