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The vast majority of the world wants and is ready for the energy transition. The voices protecting the status quo are weakening and it is a financial risk if a company doesn’t join to this train on time. While in the media we heard mostly about the 400 private jets and the closing document, there are further key take-aways what should be highlighted. While COP 26 didn’t ensure yet the decrease to the 1.5 °C with all the commitment and pledges, yet we are going to right direction with a speed we have never experienced before.

‘What is the next step after COP 26?’ working group meeting, our guest speaker, Prof. Dr. Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, climate researcher and professor of CEU shared her firsthand experience and takeaways from the COP26 global event, highlighting the import role of the business leaders as they are the ones, who are actively working on the implementation of the energy transition.

Three weeks ago, 2/3 of the global emission was covered by net zero targets, today it is 90%. A clear message for all the companies as laws are getting introduced. NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) were mostly increased, having India and China joining in is considered one of the key achievements of the event, while there are some disappointing contributors as Switzerland, Australia or Brazil who stepped back and became less ambitious than before. Big loopholes got closed but some smaller ones remained open regarding the Paris Agreement’s article 6 on carbon trading. 80 bln USD fund was created for the developing countries but without global financial facility behind to ensure transparency. Individual sectoral pledges were introduced, a final document and “Coalition of the willing” shaped on coal phase out, greening finance, ending deforestation, methane pledge and electric vehicles – these are only meaningful if they come in addition to NDCs, but many has still key countries and payers missing. – commented Diána.

Could have all these been achieved via Zoom? – the answer is clearly no. COP events are becoming more as a climate jamboree with 50.000+ participants, attracting all type of voices to deliver their messages while the delegates are locked-away for the negotiation phase. The question is raised again… do we need so many people to be present every year? Possibly don’t. Companies yet again have the opportunity to shape a trend, simply by shifting intra-European business travel to train to set an exemplary travel pattern.

What all business leaders need to keep on mind:

the world is ready and you have the opportunity to join the train early and lead the change,
any financing / investment related to fossil fuels or related infrastructure is associated with substantially increased risks,
there is an increased drive for identifying and separating greenwashing from meaningful action,
in addition to CO2, other climate forcers are gaining attention.

In 2015, ahead of the Paris Agreement, the CAT estimated a warming of 3.6 °C based on the 2015 policies, and the submitted targets would lead to 2.7 °C. Six years later the warming of current policies has now come down to 2.7 °C and if governments achieve their 2030 NDC targets, temperature increase could be limited to 2.1 °C. We came this far together, and we won’t stop here.

The measures taken so far need to improve to achieve a climate-neutral economy, drastic steps and commitments are needed, which was agreed upon during the BCSDH Climate Talks, a series of three business roundtables where companies presented their existing climate commitments and discussed what steps are needed to accelerate the process.

The contribution of the business sector is essential to tackle climate change. They also have a lion’s share to play in times of the pandemic and in restarting the economy at a more sustainable level. Systemic change is needed in value chains, business models, technological innovation, cross-sectoral collaboration and in shaping mind-sets, “business as usual” is no longer acceptable.

The April and May CEO roundtables, organised by BCSDH with the participation of 42 of top executives, presented the results and findings of the Towards Net Zero survey, conducted for the first time in Hungary, on the carbon neutral activities of the domestic business sector. Participating companies shared their climate change mitigation and adaptation commitments, their outstanding business solutions and discussed which leverage measures can help accelerate progress towards carbon neutrality.

Business leaders agreed that carbon neutrality targets can be achieved through targeted action plans based on sound measurement, sharing of existing business solutions and innovation. Avoiding further emissions, minimising current emissions and offsetting were also mentioned as current directions, but increasing transparency, new financing options and working with regulators were also mentioned as further steps.

“Last year showed us the vulnerability of many systems and how interconnected our world is. How health, the environment and the economy are interconnected. We need a more broad, systematic approach to make our world healthier, more resilient and more sustainable. We are seeing sustainability being embedded in more and more companies’ strategies, but we need to focus on key priorities such as ending the climate crisis, halting further loss of natural diversity and tackling dramatically rising inequalities. We must accept that businesses have a key responsibility to lead and drive change to improve our society. Lead with action and collaboratively, in partnership with academia, policy makers, institutions and NGOs,” said Attila Chikán Jr., President of BCSDH, CEO of Alteo Group.

BCSDH aims to showcase what the business sector can do on climate change and adaptation, how companies can make a real impact, and present exemplary commitments and business solutions that can be easily adapted by other companies at its annual business lunch on 7 October and in a publication to mark the occasion.

Tag Archive for: climate

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