The street and the boardroom are closer than they have ever been on climate

(Climate Home News, 19 Nov 2021) The Glasgow Climate Pact and recent pledges have kept 1.5C alive, just. But to get 1.5C out of intensive care we need all these pledges and national plans to be delivered without delay.

People took to the streets calling for urgent, just and decisive climate action. Activists were right to call out those governments and businesses using distant net zero pledges to delay meaningful action today. It is true that many of the current informal and unregulated offset schemes are insufficient and can lead to greenwashing.

However, more than 1,000 companies are setting 1.5C-aligned science-based targets to reduce their emissions. The Net Zero Standard launched at Cop26 enables companies to align their climate action with limiting global warming to 1.5C. The business leaders I met with in Glasgow had come with credible evidence of their progress as well as a sincere and urgent desire to push governments to go further and faster.

While some saw Cop26 as a story of opposing voices inside and outside, I believe that the street and the boardroom are closer than they have ever been. Their message to world leaders is loud. Action, action, action is the only antidote for the blah, blah, blah.

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Climate Home News, 19 Nov 2021: The street and the boardroom are closer than they have ever been on climate