Climate rules both countries and companies

Aim at Pariaftalate It is well known that the global increase should remain below 1.5 degrees.

So, it is at least welcome that the main players now say they are ready to raise the bar for their ambition.

This week, both the European Union and the United Kingdom updated their plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in the form of intermediate emissions reduction targets.

The United States and Japan also announced new ambitious milestones under Joe Biden’s digital system Climate Summit That started on Thursday.

All countries that have signed the Paris Agreement must have updated their climate plans ahead of the UN Climate Summit COP26 I’m Glasgow I’m Nov.

One may definitely ask The value of this type of emissions is – at least in light of the fact that the planet appears to be getting warmer.

However, what gives hope is that climate measures are beginning to become an important pawn in the big political game. Countries appear to be competing to wear the world’s leading green shirt, similar to how each country’s fleet size was compared.

Boris Johnson, for example, is very concerned that the UK should have this posture after Brexit, and that the Conservative Party’s version of the green right with wide cycle paths and wind turbines should become a model for other countries.

But it is particularly encouraging Beijing seems to think so. President Xi Jinping has several reasons to care about climate – not the least of which is domestic politics.

But he also appears to have concluded that China needs to show leadership in the global climate, based on his decision to agree to speak at the Joe Biden summit. It is likely to be part of China’s growing ambitions to challenge the United States in the global political arena.

China and the United States are happy to compete for who has the best climate policy. As long as they stick together. If there is talk of releasing a global price of carbon dioxide, which many economists see as the most effective way to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, it is imperative that the world’s two largest emitters go in the same direction.

And it appears that they are, in fact, doing so now, despite the trade disputes.

The big political game Similar to what happens at work. It seems that companies in various sectors are competing for who has the smartest climate plan to win the benefit of consumers and investors. About becoming the next Tesla.

For example, the payment giant Klarna has just launched an initiative that aims to allow users to directly see the size of the carbon footprint their purchases are causing.

Experts predict that corporate values ​​will increasingly be linked to their climate and sustainability work.

It is hard to imagine a stronger corporate momentum for taking over. Or lying.

As in politics, development calls for green washing, meaning the promise of the environment without offering what is needed.

That is why it is positive Produced by the European Union Category, Which will determine what should be considered a sustainable investment within the union.

On Wednesday, the European Commission published the revised proposal for the first level, which is due to take effect at the beginning of the year.

In principle, rating is a good idea. The rating will drive private and institutional capital flows to climate smart firms.

But the process revealed several shortcomings, not the least of which is the difficulty in uniting 27 countries behind the definition and absurdity of treating sustainability as a binary concept. As if companies only have two modes: sustainable or unsustainable.

But instead of adding More energy to respond, the business community must now get used to the idea that the rating will become a reality. And this is soon.

The regulatory framework will not be perfect, but it will evolve over time – and the European Commission has shown this by responding to criticism of its first draft.

Above all, the ranking will add clear game rules to an increasingly stressed green market.

Frida and the Light