The climate summit is now in its second week, following historic agreements on coal, deforestation, and methane.
As the COP26 conference in Glasgow proceeds, 95 of the UK’s most powerful companies have vowed to rectify the negative environmental effects of their activities by the End of the decade.
The initiative is part of the Council for Sustainable Business’ Get Nature Positive campaign, which includes signatories such as Barclays, GSK, and Unilever. It was time for change, according to Liv Garfield, CEO of water services business Severn Trent and CEO of the Council of Sustainable Business.
“If you think about food retail, for example, and all the adjustments that a company like Sainsburys will have to undertake in order to halve the environmental effect of the typical shopper’s basket by 2030, there are a thousand gazillion separate initiatives they’ll have to work on.” So it can’t be done right away because it’s difficult, but it has to start today,” Garfield argues.
“The very finest corporations are proud of their environmental obligations,” she said, urging more businesses to join the council.
To avoid the worst effects of the climate disaster, delegates must still work out a strategy to keep global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels – and there is no clear evidence that this will happen.
Ministers gathering in Glasgow this week will work to address stumbling blocks and reach a deal that would allow them to prevent more frequent and increasingly severe climate consequences. This is “where the rubber meets the road,” according to COP26 President Alok Sharma.
The first week of the United Nations-sponsored meetings saw a deluge of climate commitments, with governments agreeing to halt and reverse deforestation, phase out coal, and cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
Business leaders and financial institutions have committed to increasing their investments in “net zero-aligned initiatives.” However, this has now been critiqued for “missing the point” when it comes to fossil fuels.
Today’s main program is on the losses and damage caused by global warming, as well as how countries might adapt to it.
Speakers from nations on the frontlines of the climate catastrophe, including indigenous tribes, will address delegates at COP26 on Monday.
During the afternoon session of the climate summit, former US President Barack Obama will address.
There will be a conference on the role of the fashion sector in lowering global emissions, as well as a gathering of the G-77 and China – a group of 134 poor nations plus China.
