This post was written by Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director, EDF.
Companies can set the stage for climate action by empowering employees including sustainability, ... [+]
Climate change poses a major threat to the global economy, with economic costs ranging from damaged facilities to disrupted supply chains and operations.
Yet, while over 900 of the world’s 2,000 largest companies have set climate goals, the vast majority don’t have concrete plans to turn pledges into progress at the speed and scale that’s needed to stabilize the climate.
To limit the worst impacts of climate change, businesses must act now to bridge this gap between ambition and action. Delaying action on the climate crisis could cost the global economy $178 trillion by 2070, while immediate action could bolster it by $43 trillion.
What’s holding up corporate climate action?
Responding to the climate crisis is smart business — but it's also complicated work.
Organizations across the globe report that barriers to climate action include budget cuts, a lack of data, changing regulation and confusion about where to start and what guidance to follow.
Developing targets and action plans takes time, money, expertise and internal buy-in. Plus, there is the ongoing work of tracking and evaluating progress, and keeping on top of evolving climate science, corporate trends and regulatory change.
Sustainability staff are often under-resourced, and while there are many existing tools and services to help companies address their emissions, navigating them can be challenging and overwhelming. Off-the-shelf support also often doesn’t suffice because every company is unique.
Bridging the gap between climate ambition and action
To fast-track emissions reductions, many companies are running their own accelerators and in-house incubators.
Some businesses are leveraging innovation challenges or competitions to crowdsource ideas and solutions for climate action, or joining purchasing coalitions and alliances focused on climate technologies.
But to bridge the gap between climate ambition and climate action, we need to simplify the net zero landscape and get companies the information they need to move faster and go further. We need to empower employees within companies — including sustainability, finance and procurement staff — with the tools they need to make direct progress on sustainability goals.
To help, Environmental Defense Fund, with resources from Oxford Net Zero, Race To Zero, We Mean Business and others, has launched a free climate action resource hub: the Net Zero Action Accelerator.
The accelerator helps companies prioritize and implement high-impact climate actions, curating best practice resources and practical trainings from leading organizations like EDF, Deloitte, Oxford Net Zero, Exponential Roadmap, the National Retail Federation, and Transform to Net Zero.
Companies can use the accelerator to find guidance on topics that range from addressing methane emissions and reducing toxic chemical use to supporting environmental justice and developing a policy advocacy agenda, along with leading resources on reducing value chain emissions, which account, on average, for 92% of a company’s total emissions footprint.
To drive systemic and lasting change, the accelerator currently targets six key sectors of the economy: transport, retail, agriculture, consumer packaged goods, technology and professional services.
Together, these sectors contribute almost half of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. They also influence the rest of the economy through their deep value chains. Climate action by companies in these sectors will bring them countless benefits while transforming what business-as-usual looks like around the world.
Corporate action is central to halting the climate crisis
Targeting and reducing carbon emissions in a company’s direct operations is no longer enough for climate leadership.
Customers, investors, regulators and employees are raising their expectations. They want transparency, disclosure and evidence of progress, as well as action that addresses the full breadth of climate risks and opportunities. Leadership means that companies are doing this in addition to actively advocating for climate policy.
The actions that companies take in the next decade will determine our success in preventing the most catastrophic and irreversible damages from climate change. They’ll also determine which companies are able to capture the immense opportunities available in the net zero transition.
