Businesses Demand Concrete Climate Action at COP28

When government leaders gather in Dubai this November for the COP28 climate talks, they will face rising pressure from the business community to turn rhetoric into results. At the Reuters IMPACT conference this week, executives delivered a clear message: the time for empty promises is over.

Companies Push for Faster Energy Transition

"A little less conversation, a little more action," said Eric Usher, head of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, summarizing the private sector's frustration. From finance to energy to manufacturing, businesses made clear that governments must use COP28 to accelerate the global transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

"We need to see that sense of urgency," said Christoph Franz, chairman of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. He called for leaders to have the "guts to drive [the energy transition] forward."

Catherine McKenna, chair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, agreed. "We need ambition matched with implementation," she said. "And we need to transition from grey to green."

Stubborn Coal Dependency in Asia

While Europe and North America have made strides on renewables, Asia's continuing coal expansion worries business leaders.

"Far more needs to be done to roll out renewables at scale, particularly in Asia where demand is surging," said Celine Herweijer, global head of sustainability at HSBC. She warned that too many countries still see coal as an affordable baseload energy source.

Sunny Verghese, CEO of Olam International, singled out India and Indonesia as concerning examples. "These countries are hellbent on increasing coal fired power capacity," he lamented. "We need constructive dialogue to change that mindset."

Closing the Finance Gap

For energy transition plans to become reality, massive investment is required - especially in emerging economies. But speakers warned of a troubling finance gap.

"Mobilizing private capital at scale remains the single biggest challenge," said HSBC's Herweijer. She called on governments to provide more incentives for private investors to fund renewables.

Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, emphasized the need to accelerate capital deployment. "The money is there. But the money needs to get into projects faster," he said.

Speakers agreed climate finance must be a priority at COP28. "The cost of capital must come down for emerging markets," Usher stressed.

A Collective Call to Action

Underpinning the business message was a sense of collective responsibility. "No single institution can address the climate crisis alone," said broadband provider Lumen's chief sustainability officer, Shaun Andrews.

Microsoft president Brad Smith agreed. "Partnership is integral to achieving net zero," he said. Smith argued that governments, companies and consumers all have a role to play.

But speakers emphasized national governments must lead, pushing collaborative climate action forward. "The accent has to be on public-private partnership," said Chandrajit Banerjee of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

With COP28 approaching, the business community is speaking loudly and clearly: the time for bold leadership is now. "We need less platitudes, less verbosity, less can-kicking," Usher said. "And a lot more action."

Is Prioritizing Short-Term Profit Compatible with Climate Action?

With rising climate urgency, business leaders increasingly proclaim their commitment to sustainability. Yet many companies continue prioritizing short-term profits over environmentally sound long-term investments. This dissonance raises the question: are shareholder primacy and climate responsibility compatible?

On one hand, executives argue their fiduciary duty requires maximizing near-term returns. But this mindset breeds inertia, inhibiting low-carbon investments that reduce profits initially before generating long-run value. It provides cover for inaction.

Still, shareholder primacy has merits. It imposes financial discipline, acting as a check on wasteful spending. Wise climate investments should ultimately boost competitiveness and profitability over time, if not right away.

Reconciling climate action and shareholder primacy will require nuance: pursuing environmental gains that strengthen, rather than diminish, long-run financial performance. This is possible with smart strategy and technology adoption. But it requires looking beyond the next quarter to envision future value.

With determined leadership and foresight, the business community can decarbonize without sacrificing profits. But it will take companies willing to look past short-termism and recognize that sustainability and shareholder primacy, far from mutually exclusive, can be powerfully complementary. The climate crisis demands nothing less.

Can Financial Innovation Accelerate Decarbonization?

With the world far off-track on emission reduction goals, new financial tools are needed to rapidly scale clean energy investment, especially in emerging economies. This raises hopes that financial innovation can accelerate decarbonization. But can novel instruments like green bonds and carbon markets live up to the climate hype?

On the positive side, green financial innovation is channeling more capital towards low-carbon assets. Asset managers are increasingly incorporating climate risk analysis in capital allocation, steering investments toward sustainable businesses. And new ecosystems like decentralized finance (DeFi) offer the promise of greater transparency and efficiency.

However, dangers lurk behind the excitement. Financial engineering can become detached from real-world impact, funneling capital toward greenwashing more than meaningful sustainability. And new instruments like tokenized carbon credits remain untested at large scale.

Financial innovation holds potential to mitigate climate risk and fund clean energy at speed and scale. But leaders must ensure these tools produce real-world decarbonization rather than just hype. The climate clock is ticking. Green finance must deliver tangible results.

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