Now that the dust has settled on COP26, the Torque team has had some time to reflect on the event and the role we played in supporting our client, AEM.

We were immensely proud of the work we did to bring AEM’s COP26 session to life, from developing the event’s narrative and scripting speakers’ presentations, to achieving significant broadcast coverage and social media engagement. Focusing on how the automotive sector can make sure EVs are truly sustainable, it’s safe to say that AEM’s COP26 was a success.

But can you call COP26 itself a success? Well, it doesn’t look good…

On the day that AEM took to the stage at COP26, YouGov asked more than 4000 people whether they were more concerned about climate change or Coronavirus. The answer was overwhelmingly in favour of climate change, with 51% saying this was their primary concern, compared to 25% who chose Coronavirus.

With that in mind, there were plenty of people watching COP26 and hoping for change.

But they seemingly feel let down. In separate YouGov surveys, just 23% of people thought that COP26 was a success, while only 16% thought that it resulted in significant action to tackle climate change.

So, why are we telling you this, when we could just be patting ourselves on the back that our event for AEM went well?

It’s because as communicators that understand and love the automotive and transport sectors, we know that we can help our clients make a difference in tackling climate change and wider pollution.

COP26 may be over but the need for brands to talk and act to improve the world is still very much present.

And there is so much more to talk about. While climate change is an immediate and urgent need – it isn’t the only environmental challenge that faces the automotive and transport sectors. What about water and soil pollution, the production of toxic and radioactive waste as a by-product of rare earth mining, or the ever-growing e-waste dumps set on the doorsteps of some of the world’s poorest?

There is an obvious risk that in trying to solve the climate change crisis, we could end up making any one of these problems much, much worse.

Instead, our industry can make a huge difference to solving these problems and reducing their impact, and the good news is that many pioneering companies – big and small – are already putting solutions in place.

Next year, we’re excited to be working on several impactful projects that help our clients communicate what they and their customers can do to reduce their impact on the environment, and continue to drive change.

Watch this space!