Read on Twitter
Well that was some year! What did we see happen in the world of corporate sustainability? Some thoughts....
The year kicked off with a notable acknowledgment from the business community that climate change is an increasingly tangible business risk with the top 5 risks from the WEF Global Risks Report being climate related. https://lnkd.in/g8_vMbu
Microsoft launched a potential game changer sustainability strategy focusing on Science Based Targets, Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions, and supplier engagement. This was soon followed by Google, Apple, Brewdog and others. https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030
Climate risk became clearer as a McKinsey report found that by 2030, 105 countries representing 90% of global GDP were likely to suffer from physical changes such as increased water stress, flooding, or a greater number of people exposed to extreme heat https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Sustainability/Our%20Insights/McKinsey%20on%20Climate%20Change/McKinsey-on-Climate-Change-Report-v2.pdf
But as the risks increased, climate change was still outside the top ten concerns of CEOs, according to a PWC report. https://www.linkedin.com/slink?code=gP7hQMX
And while we saw a growing understanding that sustainability and climate skills are integral to business as H&M named their Chief Sustainability Officer as their new CEO…. https://fortune-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/fortune.com/2020/01/30/hennes-mauritz-first-female-ceo-helena-helmersson/amp/
We still have a way to go to embedding climate literacy in leadership…..
The role of consumption in driving emissions became clearer as did the understanding of the need for a circular economy. But as a @circleeconomy study found, the global economy is only 8.6% circular, so we have a long way to go yet. https://www.linkedin.com/slink?code=gXE2vhb
We saw more and more focus on sustainability from investors through ESG, and clear indicators that time is running out on carbon intensive investments. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/13/climate-change-a-7-trillion-warning-from-markets-biggest-investor.html
ESG funds continued to outperform their traditional counterparts. And while ESG has a way to go to deliver real climate impact, the direction of travel is clear. https://www.wealthadviser.co/2020/12/08/293220/esg-funds-outperform-across-global-uk-and-equity-income-sectors-2020-says-willis
Doughnut Economics continued to grow as Amsterdam adapted the approach in designing their COVID-19 recovery, followed shortly by Copenhagen and others. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/amsterdam-doughnut-model-mend-post-coronavirus-economy
The @BCorporation movement continued to grow with Danone becoming the first listed company to adopt the ‘Entreprise à Mission’ model created by French law as part of their own BCorp journey. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/20/2036111/0/en/Danone-to-pioneer-French-Entreprise-%C3%A0-Mission-model-to-progress-stakeholder-value-creation.html
Carbon became the new calorie. A flurry of companies moved to onpack carbon labelling, including L’Oréal, Logitech, Quorn and others. https://lnkd.in/en52NsM
We saw lots of new initiatives using AI to report real time emissions and further prevent companies from hiding their total climate impact. https://www.fastcompany.com/90527328/this-al-gore-supported-project-uses-ai-to-track-the-worlds-emissions-in-near-real-time
Companies came under increasing pressure regarding sustainability claims, including Ryanair’s ads claiming to be Europe's lowest CO2 emissions airline being removed by the UK's Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) https://amp-rte-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.rte.ie/amp/1113225/
Climate Litigation continued to grow. Joining the over 1500 climate litigation cases worldwide, @climatecaseire were successful in challenging Ireland’s national climate mitigation plan. https://www-irishtimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-quashes-government-s-plan-to-reduce-greenhouse-gases-1.4318578?mode=amp
The role of corporate climate advocacy also grew as more and more companies were called out for being polluters by association. https://www-bloomberg-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-08-21/climate-friendly-companies-can-still-be-polluters-by-association
Mandatory Climate Risk Reporting continued to scale with tools like the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) quickly becoming mainstream around the world. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3ba016dd-20d4-4edb-84ef-350f48a5fa42
We also FINALLY started to see different sustainability reporting initiatives work together to try create more aligned standards and reporting infrastructure. https://www.pionline.com/esg/groups-join-forces-sustainability-reporting
We saw employees start to demand more ambition and begin to organise their whole industries around climate action, using their skills and influence to drive positive change. Groups like @PurposeDisrupt and @IrishDocsEnv emerged.
In the year we learnt that we have lost 68% of our animal populations since 1970, we began to see companies finally start to understand the necessity of biodiversity to their survival https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-us/
We were also reminded that climate change is cruelly unequal. An Oxfam study showed that the richest 10% accounted for 52% of emissions between 1990 and 2015. Social sustainability is still notably absent from most corproate sustainability strategies. https://www.linkedin.com/slink?code=eeAd7VC
But we also learnt that when climate action does finally come, it comes fast. The rapid shift to EV manufacturing, the drop in solar prices, and the shifts in diets were all strong examples of lasting change we saw in 2020. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/honda-ditches-diesel-and-phases-out-pure-petrol-models-three-years-early-mtpfstnzp
So where to now? We have a long, long way to go in terms of seeing real corporate climate leadership, but there are signals of hope to be found. We have an ambitious landscape for COP26 emerging, less room for climate incumbents to hide, & more allies emerging than ever before.
But we need to keep the pressure on, we need strong policy to level the playing field, we need more climate skills across all sectors, and we need real collaboration and ambition. Onwards! 
