AS WORLD leaders convene in Dubai for the COP28 summit, the desert heat serves as a stark reminder for businesses worldwide of the pivotal role it can play, as the international community forges ahead with ambitious plans to reduce its carbon footprint. This urgency is underscored by a new United Nations report, cautioning against a projected 2.5 deg C to 2.9 deg C temperature rise this century, with only a slim 14 per cent chance of limiting warming to the safer threshold of 1.5 deg C. These findings echo earlier warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), highlighting the potential for catastrophic consequences even with a modest increase of 1.5 deg C in global temperatures.

While many companies have pledged to lower their emissions to net zero by 2050 or earlier, and major financial institutions, representing trillions of dollars in assets, have committed to minimising carbon-heavy investments, it’s clear there is much more to be done if we’re to shift the trend.

A recent study commissioned by advertising firm dentsu, in collaboration with Kantar, sheds light on a solution rooted in transforming how people consume, live, travel, and work. Surveying 12 Asia-Pacific (Apac) markets, this pioneering research emphasises that the responsibility disproportionately falls on businesses and brands. It suggests that businesses must radically reimagine marketing to make sustainability a guiding principle of the function.