COP28 interview: Reducing emissions in GCC supply chain is a major challenge: Reed Smith

COP28 interview: Reducing emissions in GCC supply chain is a major challenge: Reed Smith

Reducing emissions in the supply chain remains a major challenge for the GCC region due to a lack of established manufacturing bases, Sachin Kerur, Managing Partner, Middle East, Reed Smith, told Zawya. “Oversight and tracking emissions in the supply chain is clearly an issue, given that many companies in the region operate in fragmented industries,” he said. This means costs, including technology, lack of skilled resources, inaccessible infrastructure, and a lack of clear information and support on measures and pathways to adopt, are barriers to implementing corrective preventive action for many smaller regional corporations. The UN climate change conference, COP28, opened last week in the Expo City Dubai with a resounding call to accelerate collective climate action. The summit will run until December 12, 2023. Despite the challenges, many regional private-sector companies have been taking strong actions to reduce harmful emissions, which is by the scale required to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature standard. Kerur said COP28 is critical in ensuring that countries implement their net-zero objectives vigorously, adding there is a continued drive to seek additional initiatives to curtail harmful emissions. “The first global stocktake, a process mandated by the Paris Agreement, will be reported at the conference. This