Aiming for Zero: Business leadership for a net zero economy

Prompted by the Paris Agreement and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a faster pace, governments across the world are reviewing their initial ambitions, and looking at what is required to deliver on the goal of ‘net zero’ emissions. Achieving this goal requires further discussion, with every sector and region involved. Business has a unique and crucial role to play, and as public debates gather momentum at national, European and international levels, businesses will be expected to change their operations in order to deliver on this vision. The Corporate Leaders Group is calling on governments to set net zero goals in line with the Paris Agreement, and is working to lead its business peers to work with governments on what a net zero economy could look like.

Julian Allwood: Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open

December 2012 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global greenhouse gas reductions of 50–85 per cent will be needed by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change, representing a radical shift away from today’s fossil-fuel-derived economy. This begs the question: is such a reduction achievable, and if so, how? This is one of the key challenges tackled through the research of Dr Julian Allwood and his Low Carbon Materials Processing Group (LCMPG) at the University of Cambridge.

Mike Brown: Hard limits flexible strategies

December 2012 – COP17 – the 17th Conference of the Parties for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – proved a catalyst for South African business to engage more deeply with the challenges of climate change. What became clear through my attendance at the event, and my active participation in the South African Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, is that the global climate system is not open to negotiation.

Carlos Fadigas: Business as part of the solution

December 2012 – There are many roles for business in developing sustainability, but the most important is to integrate sustainability principles into business strategy. Sustainability means much more than just worrying about the environmental impacts of business operations – this only represents ‘business as usual’. I prefer the idea of looking for the business opportunities that could arise from the huge challenge of trying to raise living standards for a likely population of 9 billion in 2050, yet remaining within the limits of our planet.

Sandrine Dixson Decleve Leadership Creating the Space to Act

December 2012 – Europe’s policy leaders at all levels of the political ladder – from the EU institutions to the member states – are confronted daily with short-term economic challenges. As a result, sustainability and climate issues are often set aside, and leadership is waning.

Polly Courtice: The critical link: strategy and sustainability in leadership development

January 2013 – Over the past 25 years, business has shifted its response to sustainability issues from a focus on compliance and reputation management to longer-term risk management and building competitive advantage.

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: The role of insurers in strengthening business resilience to climate risk

February 2013 – Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance is Japan's leading general insurance company, established in 1879. In this ClimateWise Thought Leadership article Kunio Ishihara, Chairman of the Board, discusses the role of insurers in supply chain resilience, and where climate change poses particular threats to these supply chains across Asian markets.

Measuring managing and reporting GHG emissions from internal air travel

April 2013 – PSSI is a unique consortium of leaders from professional services firms to encourage and deliver tangible steps towards a sustainable future. Its sub-group on Internal Air Travel was set up to look into the measuring, management and reporting of internal air travel in the professional services sector. It was conceived of and launched by professional services executives in 2012. The group leverages the professional services’ expertise to better understand, communicate and act on their GHG emissions resulting from business internal air travel.

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: A one in ten chance: As risk experts do insurers really communicate risk effectively?

July 2013 – Exploring how the perception of risk affects customer responses to climate risk. How risk is perceived is key to whether people take action to manage risk. Advertisers use insights from behavioural science all the time but it is not often considered when looking at responses to unexpected events.

Building Resilient Cities: From Risk Assessment to Redevelopment

November 2013 – ClimateWise publishes priorities, planning framework and toolkit. Urban resilience against the weather effects of climate change is an imperative of the insurance industry. It reduces losses, promotes insurability, and presents opportunities for innovative risk transfer and insurance solutions to help manage climate risk.

Building Resilient Cities Priorities for Collaborative Action

November 2013 – This is one of three documents developed by insurance industry leaders and city stakeholders through the Building Climate Resilience in Cities workshop series convened by Ceres and ClimateWise in 2012 and 2013. This document distils the key priorities that emerged from the workshop series for collaborative action between key urban resiliency stakeholders to build climate resilience in cities.

The Corporate Leaders Group is calling on governments to set net zero goals in line with the Paris Agreement, and is working to lead its business peers to work with governments on what a net zero economy could look like.

Julian Allwood: Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open

Mike Brown: Hard limits flexible strategies

Carlos Fadigas: Business as part of the solution

Sandrine Dixson Decleve Leadership Creating the Space to Act

Polly Courtice: The critical link: strategy and sustainability in leadership development

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: The role of insurers in strengthening business resilience to climate risk

Measuring managing and reporting GHG emissions from internal air travel

ClimateWise Thought Leadership: A one in ten chance: As risk experts do insurers really communicate risk effectively?

Building Resilient Cities: From Risk Assessment to Redevelopment

Building Resilient Cities Priorities for Collaborative Action

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