Climate Action 2016-2017

BUSINESS & FINANCE
GATHERING MOMENTUM
The good news is that the world is catching on
to the possibilities for business involvement. In
2015, clean energy investment surpassed fossil
fuel investment – but this is only the beginning.
It’s possible to go much further, and we must
go faster. Numerous opportunities are available
for businesses to streamline efficiency in
transport and logistics, while offering new ways
to manage natural resources and increase
the world’s capacity to mitigate harmful
greenhouse gases – not to mention the fact that
addressing climate change represents a US$4
trillion opportunity, while the cost of inaction
could create between $6 trillion and $14
trillion in losses (http://newclimateeconomy.
report/2014/).
and 80 partners from around the world, LCTPi is
a collaboration led by WBCSD to accelerate the
development of low-carbon technologies and
scale up their deployment.
An independent impact analysis by PwC
shows that the LCTPi plans could deliver
as much as 65 per cent of the necessary
emissions reduction, while stimulating
between US$5 trillion and $10 trillion of
investment into the low carbon economy and
creating between 25 million and 45 million
jobs around the world each year.
This is just one of many initiatives operating
around the world. A recent report by We Mean
Business, titled The Business End of Climate
(www.businessendofclimate.org), shows how
bold climate action, supported by smart policy,
can keep the temperature rise below 2°C. The
report looks at five initiatives that companies
have joined as part of their efforts to address
climate change: Science-Based Targets, EP100,
RE100, Zero Deforestation and LCTPi.
The analysis shows what would happen
if these five initiatives achieved their most
ambitious plans. Effectively a ‘businessdetermined
contribution’, the report shows
that by 2030, business will cut its greenhouse
gas emissions by 3.7 billion tonnes of CO 2
equivalent a year – half a tonne of CO 2
for
every man, woman and child on the planet.
The report goes further, estimating that if all
relevant companies that were able to join the
initiatives actually signed up to them, the total
impact on emissions could go as far as 10
billion tonnes every year.
Analysis like this shows that business is the
best implementation partner for governments
around the world as they strive to hit their
climate targets.
"Sustainable business
must become mainstream
and companies must
join the global initiatives
described here."
THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS IN
CONSERVATION
Our impact on nature is overlooked too often in the
global fight against climate change. At this year’s
IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, the
importance of moving the conservation agenda
forward was emphasised by all stakeholders. The
need to invest in nature to preserve our chances
to fight climate change and provide enough for the
growing population to develop sustainably is well
understood by non-state actors. However, while the
private sector’s engagement in global conservation
efforts is on the rise, the business case for investing
in nature is not yet fully understood.
If the private sector starts integrating nature
in its business approach and its impact on the
natural environment, others will follow suit. To
move the conservation agenda forward, the
business case must be backed by science and
understood by all stakeholders. To address the
gap, WBCSD launched the Natural Infrastructure
Guide for Business to help raise awareness of
why investing in natural infrastructure makes
good business and ecological sense
(www.naturalinfrastructureforbusiness.org).
These initiatives are important touchstones
for companies on their individual sustainability
journeys. However, to reach scale, more companies
must begin to use the Natural Capital Protocol
(http://naturalcapitalcoalition.org/protocol) and
integrate their impacts and dependencies on nature
in their decision-making processes.
As the topics of natural capital, certification,
sustainable food systems, nature-based solutions
and oceans continue to grow in urgency,
business collaboration and engagement will
continue to be a key theme in discussions and
delivering solutions.
BUILDING THE CASE
Essentially, we need to change course completely.
But this isn’t news. Today, companies are in the
process of understanding and prioritising which
SDGs are the most relevant, and where they can
have the widest, most positive impact. They are
assessing how they can innovate to meet the
ambitions of the Paris Agreement. However, the
business case for the SDGs is not as clearly made as
the one for climate action. For this reason, WBCSD
is one of the contributors to the Business and
Sustainable Development Commission that is put in
place precisely to do that: build the business case
and engagement pathways for business to lead the
SDG solution implementation. By getting sectors
to create sector roadmaps, innovation to focus on
SDGs as well as the financials to be completed by
natural and social capital elements, then we will
position the SDGs at the heart of business strategy.
The private sector must take its role even
further in terms of innovation, investment and
engagement. Sustainable business must become
mainstream and companies must join the global
initiatives described here. Financiers must
unlock the capital that will drive solutions, and
governments and business must work together
to help these initiatives achieve their targets.
We must make a global concerted effort. The
technology and the solutions are available today
– it’s up to us to implement them at scale, and
accelerate the transition to a sustainable world.
Peter Bakker is the President and CEO of
the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD). Until June 2011, he was
the CEO of the Netherlands-based TNT NV. Under
his leadership, TNT rose to the forefront via a
partnership with the UN World Food Programme
and ambitious CO 2
reduction targets from its
Planet Me initiative. Mr Bakker is the recipient
of the Clinton Global Citizen Award (2009) and
the SAM Sustainability Leadership Award (2010).
He is an Ambassador Against Hunger for the
UN World Food Programme (since 2011). Mr
Bakker is an appointed Commissioner for the
Global Commission on Business and Sustainable
Development, and in 2016 he was named an SDG
12.3 Champion for his commitment to reducing
food loss and waste. In addition, he is the
Chairman of War Child Netherlands.
The World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD, www.wbcsd.org), a CEOled
organisation of some 200 forward-thinking
global companies, is committed to galvanising
the global business community to create a
sustainable future for business, society and the
environment. Together with its members - who
represent all business sectors, all continents, a
combined revenue of more than US$8.5 trillion
and 19 million employees - the council applies
its respected thought leadership and effective
advocacy to generate constructive solutions and
take shared action.
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