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GHG emissions need to peak soon and to reduce rapidly thereafter to avoid dangerous climate change. In the last few years, plans have been put in place to make businesses respond to the challenge of climate change. The majority of global investors are on board with making this happen and are putting the biggest polluters under pressure as never before. So there are a number of encouraging signs, but also evidence that wide-ranging change has not happened yet and significant challenges remain.

Some signs of progress

Paris v Kyoto
Under Kyoto, there were legally binding pledges by countries to reduce GHG emissions. However, there were major drawbacks with this approach to reducing GHG emissions:
  • countries were reluctant to make legally binding commitments - the USA and China never signed
  • targets were unambitious (as countries were reluctant to make legally binding commitments)
  • business and civil society were not directly involved, as the onus was on countries to deliver

Under Paris, the pledges on reducing GHGs are voluntary. However, it benefits from the following:
  • countries decide their own targets and policies
  • the ramping up mechanism ensures increasingly ambitious pledges
  • development and international investment money is channelled to support mitigation and adaptation in all countries
  • business, finance, all levels of government, philanthropists and civil society are officially engaged, making their own pledges and contributions
Progress has been acknowledged, with Richard Dixon of Friends of the Earth Scotland saying  “Despite many weaknesses the Paris Agreement has been a surprisingly effective spur to both governments and business.”

Strengthening of environmental law
Laws covering environment, human rights and property damage are increasingly being used to stop climate change. Key international laws include the Rio agreement (the UNFCCC) placing an obligation on every country to avoid dangerous climate change; the Aarhus Convention requiring that people can participate in decision-making and have access to justice on environmental matters; the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations placing a moral and legal duty on governments to avoid dangerous climate change. Moves to make ecocide an international crime against humanity would hold politicians legally responsible if they did not act to stop climate change. See an excellent overview of international and national environmental law and how it can be used on QUNO website.

Progress report from PRI
The Inevitable Policy Response from PRI report says there is progress on:
Coal: The UK has committed to phase out unabated coal use by 2025 and support for a just transition is starting to emerge
Internal Combustion Engine sales: All new cars to be emissions-free in the Netherlands by 2030 and other countries have announced similar intentions
Carbon pricing: 57 carbon pricing initiatives around the world cover 20% of global emissions and discussion of Border Carbon Adjustments
Zero-carbon power: Nuclear, hydro, solar PV, wind and other renewables represented 36% of electricity generation globally in 2018
Energy efficiency: A coalition of 8 European cities have pledged to completely decarbonise their existing building stocks by 2050
Land use-based greenhouse gas removal: National and bilateral payment systems trialled and support for nature-based solutions, including re/afforestation and bioenergy production

But backsliding from commitments
An investigation by Greenpeace and the Huffington Post found that Shell and BP are still active members of at least eight trade organisations lobbying against climate measures in the USA and Australia and that their relationship with these trade organisations was not revealed in their public reporting. Also despite pledging to create “a world free of plastic waste”, a lobbying company representing Shell, Total and Dow had been pressing the US government to expand the plastic and chemical industry across Africa, according to a Greenpeace report. It seems that there will definitely be a continued role for independent observers to ensure that companies are taking the action they say that they are.

Across-the-board action is needed
Organisations in the public sector, the professions, small businesses and the voluntary sector and civil society also need to commit to Paris Agreement goals, even if they do not engage with global systems of disclosure. Also, governments will have to put in place the right legislation, policies and infrastructure to make GHG reductions happen in areas like agriculture, forestry, land use, buildings and waste management. Continued pressure is needed to ensure that all of this happens.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Inevitable Policy Response
https://www.unpri.org/inevitable-policy-response/what-is-the-inevitable-policy-response/4787.article

Quaker United Nations Office
overview of the international and national laws that can be used to stop climate change
https://quno.org/sites/default/files/resources/QUNO%20People%27s%20Climate%20Empowerment%20Series_spreads_0.pdf

Shell & BP still support lobbying against climate action
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bp-shell-climate_n_5f6e3120c5b64deddeed6762?ri18n=true&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tL2F1dGhvci9hbGV4YW5kZXItYy1rYXVmbWFu&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD8NJBD_YLyKeR4shAtM-OK_gAY3pFN-WpcUvoH2N0vBCM8ug3GG6WwcGLyAHIX5IZwhrFmB0WcVVAGwbdPgB3R4XDgKKln8-C7nHjQUiEgPO75PFen_6_P_ANZxI6cIOISc9CB9N7zevRYGl8oujuI_45LEGpuE95E3QSR_z4nG&_guc_consent_skip=1609170117

Shell, Total and Dow support expansion of chemical and plastic industry in Africa
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/08/30/plastic-waste-africa-oil-kenya-us-trade-deal-trump/