Get ready for an exciting week in Dubai at COP28, the annual United Nations climate conference, where I’ll join 70,000 others from around the world. One of the big stories this year is the “global stocktake,” where each of the 196 signatory countries to the 2015 Paris Agreement will account for how well they are doing to keep the worst of the climate crisis in check.
But you probably don’t have to travel to the Middle East to know the answer.
Just like with countries, companies are also significantly off-track.
According to State of Climate Action 2023, the world is woefully off track on 41 of 42 indicators of climate progress, with another six indicators heading in the wrong direction entirely. It seems we’re not going to hit the maximum hoped-for temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius stated in the Paris accord. Instead, we are on track for nearly 3 degrees rise by the end of the century, as noted in a new United Nations report.
What about companies?
While national delegations assess each other, I’ve been doing a “corporate stocktake.” Are companies doing what needs to be done to confront the climate crisis?
Spoiler alert: Just like countries, the world’s companies are significantly off-track.
“Businesses are far, far ahead of where they were three, five or 10 years ago,” said Aron Cramer, president and CEO of the nonprofit consultancy BSR. “And it’s equally true that it’s not enough.”
“The progress that’s being made is undeniable,” he continued. “The investment, the innovation, the commitment and, in most cases, good-faith efforts to make things happen — that is all substantially ahead of where we were. But we’re not getting where we need to go.”
Cramer’s concerns are backed up by recent reports on corporate performance. For example, emissions are still rising, according to MSCI. This year, publicly listed companies are likely to pump 12.4 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, an 11 percent increase from 2022.
And let’s not forget the findings from an EY survey of chief sustainability officers, which revealed a decline in company greenhouse gas emission reduction ambitions.
Get more details on these concerning reports here.
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