Lessons for companies from COP28 in Dubai (and how to meet Bill Gates in the restroom)

This year, Business Finland, Climate Leadership Coalition, the Confederation of Finnish Industries and the Finland Chamber of Commerce hosted for the first time a Finland Pavilion among all the other country pavilions at the event. Finnish businesses, organizations, and universities are using the pavilion to present their climate solutions and innovations to global audiences, to form new partnerships, and to learn from one another.

As Miltton is a consultancy focused on societal change with a strong sustainability practice that helps companies and organizations navigate all things green transition – from sustainable strategies and roadmaps to reporting or crystallizing and communicating your sustainability story – we, too, have been present at COP28.

Here are lessons we learned:

1. If you arrange your own event, make it interesting to gain relevant audience

Choose a specific, concrete topic. Many of the panel discussions stay on a superficial level and repeat cliches of the importance of co-operation, investment, and climate targets. If the description of your event on the program is at this level, only the most devoted will come. If you want a wide audience and attention, make your event a real discussion that considers opportunities and challenges honestly.

Speakers will make or break you. Gather a diverse group of speakers from different countries who are either themselves well-known or whose organization is well-known. People choose the events based on the speakers. If your event features only speakers from your own country or company, you’re on your own. If, on the other hand, your primary goal is to gather your stakeholders together on the stage for a discussion, and the number of people in the audience is of secondary concern, that is fine too. As long as you know your goal.

Sending invitations is a must. Surprisingly enough for today’s digital age, COP28 had no clear online schedule to browse all the zillion events going on. All the pavilions published their own programs online, but mostly the attendees relied on word of mouth and direct invitations either sent to them by the event hosts or shared in various WhatsApp groups that attendees gathered in. Tackle this by figuring out who is representing your stakeholders at the event, and send them invitations already beforehand.

2. Become a speaker at someone else’s event in a different pavilion than your own.

You will immediately gain a wider audience without the hassle of organizing your own event.

3. Plan and arrange meetings with potential clients and stakeholders in advance.

People are constantly coming and going during the two-week stretch. If you want to meet specific people, make sure you are there on the same days as they are. Having said that, approaching people spontaneously can also be easy. Individual events can feel intimate and informal, and people are friendly and chatty and there to have conversations. It is very easy to approach almost anyone before or after the events.

4. Use the event for improving your own sustainability thinking and messaging.

Many of the companies attending this year used COP as an opportunity to hone and advance their sustainability narratives, and to listen to reactions and feedback carefully. COP will present you with the most knowledgeable audience so you should welcome the opportunity to prepare, present, and learn.

5. Use the event for your internal communications and sustainability training.

Some of the companies attending this year pointed out that handing over the responsibility of the arrangements for COP to certain teams gave their people internally a deadline to really familiarize themselves with the company’s sustainability strategy and messages in a way that was extremely useful for the company internally, even if the impact externally was not as measurable, at least in the short-term.

6. Network, network network, and learn, learn, learn

Chatting with scientists, regulators, activists, customers, suppliers, competitors, scientists and other experts from all over the word during the events, subway rides, security lines, lunch breaks, and even restroom visits gives you an amazing opportunity to learn something related to climate change or the world at large in every conversation you have. Prepare to spend time queuing but make also that time count – a Finland delegation member ran into Bill Gates queuing for restroom.

7. Follow the official negotiations as well

Many of the official negotiations are open to other badge holders. Enter the meeting rooms where countries present their thoughts on the agreement drafts one at a time. If you are not an expert in international diplomacy and climate agreements, the conversations can seem slow and impenetrable, but sit yourself next to someone knowledgeable who can point out to you when a delegate utters a key word that stakes out the country’s position on some crucial language in the agreement that eventually will impact us all. Enjoy the sight and sound of people of the world discussing their disagreements in a calm and civilized manner.

In the spirit of negotiations, the location for COP29 in 2024 is still under discussion. Under U.N. rules, it is the turn of eastern Europe to host it, but apparently, Russia is making the decision difficult. Rumor has it that it might be held in Bonn, Germany, or again in Dubai. Our final piece of advice: If you have the chance to join COP – go for it. No matter the location, attending the event will expand your audience, your connections, and if you really make the most of it, your whole worldview.