This blog post, adapted from a shorter article that appeared on the Haga Initiative blog, highlights business-relevant findings from the new IPCC report and explains why climate action cannot continue to be postponed in favour of economic interests. It also argues that businesses need to play a bigger role in climate action, and that it is in their interest to do so.
‘Business as usual’ does not apply just to public policy. It is, in fact, primarily about business – about the global economy, what we buy and sell, what resources we exploit, what we invest in (or not). Every good and service has a carbon footprint, and all those footprints add up.
Consumer demand for greener products is driving businesses to take action, but not fast enough. Yet as companies from Apple to IKEA have shown, success requires not just responding to demand, but creating it. Some are already driving demand for sustainable goods and services; we need more.
Businesses also need to focus less on short-term gains, which are often pursued at the expense of long-term investments in resource efficiency and overall sustainability. We know this is difficult in the face of investor and shareholder pressure, but some companies have proven it can be done.
Source: EurActiv, Belgium
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