Why should climate action matter to your organization?
On February 8th, we held our first Anchor Event of 2022, covering the central question:
Why should climate matter to your organization?
If this question seems straightforward to you, you are on the same page as the 42 participating organizations and, by extension, with all 92 members of the BACA community. Together we share the belief that the current climate urgency requires prompt action – not in the least by businesses – to limit the global temperature rise to 1,5°C.
When undertaken with the right intention, climate action proves to bring about additional business value in the shape of increased trust of all company stakeholders and reduced financial risks. Consequently, integrating climate into your business plan makes your company more likely to attract fruitful partnerships - and investors.
But how to give this climate urgency substance within your organization? How to get everyone on board, including employees, customers, and other stakeholders across your company’s value chain? And how to make your efforts count, not only in dry carbon reduction numbers, but also by inspiring the wider (corporate) community that climate action does indeed matter?
Setting the stage
Romain Pardo from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL) got the ball nicely rolling by providing us with useful insights on business ambitions and relevant climate policies at the EU level. He demonstrated how, supported by business climate platforms such as Corporate Leaders Group (CLG) and policy packages like Fit for 55 , European business are increasingly committing to reducing their carbon emissions. In doing so, they encourage others to decarbonize their value chain and demonstrate increased political ambitions.
From a Belgian perspective, Julie Stuckens from EY Belgium presented some key finding out of their ‘Climate Risk Disclosure Barometer Study Belgium 2020’. Disclosing about climate change helps reveal the true risks and opportunities of your business. Knowing that 84% of the consumers indicate that sustainability influences their purchasing behavior and that 78% of investors conduct a structured, methodical evaluation of a company’s nonfinancial disclosures, can support making of climate action an integral part of your business plan.
BACA members testify
After having set the stage from an EU and Belgian perspective, we invited three BACA members to share how exactly they each walk their climate talks: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Statik and Solvay.
Megan Mitrevski Dale, Associate Director Climate and Water at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners explained that 94% of the company’s emissions originate in the supply chain, with packaging taking up almost 50% of these scope 3 emissions. “We will support our climate commitment in two ways” Megan explained. “First of all, by putting carbon reduction as part of our long-term incentive plan for the entire management team. We will also make sure that 100% of our strategic suppliers set their own Science Based Targets and use 100% of renewable energy by 2023.”
CEO of digital agency Statik, Pieter Jelle De Brue, clarified how he sees true impact happening at the intersections of the company, stakeholder and community levels: “We try to make sure to transform client relations into partner relations, in order to intensify our climate impact potential together.”
Philippe Chauveau, Head of Climate Strategy at Solvay concurred that the climate question impacts the entire company ecosystem, including customers, suppliers and investors. So how do they accelerate this change and make sure it spreads throughout the company? “We have raised our internal carbon price recently, from 50 to 100 euros per ton of CO2. Besides impacting Scope 1 and 2 emissions, this measure also allows to reduce scope 3 emissions, supported by our system of ‘sustainable portfolio management.’” The latter is a methodology to analyze the sustainability of the company’s activities and products. “Ultimately, it all builds into the scenario analysis (given different global warming scenarios, red), which is an important part of steering our company towards sustainability.”
The 1,5°C Business Playbook puts it well: Achieving the 1,5°C ambition will require the fastest economic and societal transition in history – but one which is both necessary and achievable. Hence, the climate urgency merits a place on your company’s agenda. Climate support and policy frameworks and network agencies such as CISL, Fit for 55 and our very own BACA are available for guidance at the global, European and national level. When well surrounded and correctly informed, purposeful and well-founded climate action will bring additional business values of increased client, employee and investor’s trust and reduced financial risks. We rest our case.
For more information, contact us via baca@theshift.be