Day: July 26, 2021

The Exponential Climate Roadmap was developed in 2018, in advance of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. It explored how laws to curb carbon emission could be implemented globally across all sectors of the economy, and aimed to provide achievable solutions for governments and businesses to cut their own emissions. The Exponential Roadmap Initiative’s goals are rooted in The Paris Agreement’s evidence that the risk of dangerous climate change can still be accomplished if global emissions of greenhouse gases peak by 2020, halve by 2030, and then halve again by 2040, and 2050. Like other environmental initiative coalitions, the ultimate goal of the Exponential Roadmap is to limit the global impact of climate change by strategizing business models to ensure that global warming stays below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels.

The Exponential Roadmap Initiative works in partnership with the United Nation’s ‘Race to Zero’ campaign, which ‘is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth’ (UN Climate Action, 2021). It also works in cooperation with ‘TED: Countdown’, the which aims to champion and accelerate global solutions to the climate crisis by facilitating ‘turning ideas into action’. Companies which have subscribed tothe initiative include Ikea, Google, Nestle, and Unilever, amongst hundreds of others. Unlike The Climate Pledge, the initiative is aimed at providing sustainable solutions for all companies, from tech giants to small businesses, rather than simply holding globally powerful companies to account for their environmental impact. No matter how big or small your business is, this initiative and its business playbook could be the key to developing the management of your own company for economic and environmental sustainability.

To this end, The Exponential Climate Initiative was a founding partner of the SME Climate Hub, which aims to support small to medium businesses to develop and maintain sustainable business practices in order to be ‘future-proof’. Through this hub since 2020, the UK government has been able to partner with business owners and influential climate groups to facilitate positive change in line with the climate commitments made in the 2016 Paris Agreement. This is similarly based on the 36 solutions presented by the 1.5 °C Business Playbook, which provides a framework of environmental sustainability based on 4 key principles called ‘pillars’. The first step is to reduce the business’s own emissions, andthe second is to reduce the business’s value chain emissions. The third pillar is the integration of climate considerations into wider business strategy, and the fourth is to meaningfully influence climate action in society.

For any UK company, The Exponential Roadmap Initiative, and the achievable climate solutions put forward in its business playbook will be essential to success. Enviro SP Consulting are therefore committed to providing relevant and informed guidance around the input and application of sustainable business strategies to your, in line with aims to halve global emissions by 2030.

Fundamentally, The Climate Pledge is a tangiblecommitment made by companies to the challenge of reaching net zero emissions by 2040. It is a pledge which has already been made by a vast range of 110 businesses, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, Coca-Cola, and ITV. around the globe. This is ten years in advance of the deadline set out by The Paris Agreement, made within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed in 2016. The agreement includes a number of mandatory measures for monitoring, verifying, and public reporting of progress towardseach country’s targets for emissions-reduction.In line with scientific research, however, signatories of the pledge recognise that the terms of this agreement, while vital for the prevention of irreparable climate damage, will be too little to late. The Climate Pledge therefore functions as a coalition of influential global companies, which strives to put pressure on governments to not only maintain the commitments made in The Paris Agreement, but to go above and beyond to protect our planet for future generations.

The Climate Pledge therefore consists of three main principles, to which signatories are required to adhere:

Regular Reporting – under the pledge, businesses are required to measure and publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis. This is designed to make companies aware of which aspects of their business model need to change in order to reach net zero emissions, and should exist as a record to demonstrate significant, quantifiable reductions year upon year.

Carbon Elimination – By implementing various decarbonization strategies,as described in the Paris Agreement, signatories must strive to make real business changes. This will include efficiency improvements, renewable energy, and materials reductions, as well as new and innovative carbon emission elimination strategies.

Credible Offsets – In order to neutralize any remaining emissions which cannot be avoided, signatories are required to contribute toquantifiable, real, permanent, and socially-beneficial offset schemes and initiatives in order to maintain their commitment to achieving net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040. The consequences of failure are almost inconceivable. From rising sea levels, to forest fires, rising global temperatures are already beginning to take a toll on the environment. Around the world, we are already beginning to see areas of human settlements being destroyed by climate change, ultimately making them uninhabitable and creating increasing numbers of ‘climate refugees’. In a world where consumers are increasingly aware of the risks of climate change and the need for sustainability, the future of signatories to The Climate Pledge therefore depends upon their ability to keep their promise to strive for net zero. In the long run, these businesses are as dependent as the rest of humanity on the continued habitability of the planet, while consumers are increasingly likely to choose more sustainable competitors. For a business to fail in their commitment to The Climate Pledge, then, is to be boycottedfor an environmentally unsustainable business model, making businesses continued commitment to net zero essential to their survival in every way.