EVERY year climate change stakeholders, activists, political leaders and regulators meet for a Conference of the Parties (COP) under the aegis of the United Nations, to realign goals and priorities to avoid cataclysmic risks brought about by a warming planet. COP27 in Egypt in November once again highlighted how close we are to breaching the 1.5-degree C planet boundary. Sadly, no real breakthrough materialised on the energy transition agenda. The responsibility to bring greenhouse gas (GHG)/carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 has fallen back once more on individual companies and their supply chains.

As a professional actively engaged with ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues, I am heartened to see the continuing ambition of many countries and companies to race to a carbon-neutral world. Their goals are loftier as political leaders, regulators, investors and activists of all stripes are introducing green regulations at an unprecedented pace. A recent Economist report notes that of the 1,900 pieces of legislation on climate change, almost two-thirds were enacted in the past decade. Seven years on from the 2015 Paris Accord that envisioned a net-zero world by 2050, over 70 companies accounting for 75 per cent of global emissions and over 3,000 companies are participants in the “Race to Zero” UN campaign.

Capital markets are building emissions risks into asset prices. Venture capital investments in renewable transition technologies are at an all-time high. Activism is more authentic. Companies in sectors from software to banking, food to carmakers, besides the traditional most-polluting petroleum, coal and mining firms, are making public disclosures to cut their carbon footprints. So are countries, including Singapore with its Green Plan and an ambitious carbon tax. The European Union is of course leading the pack, with the Biden administration in the US happily picking up pace towards a greener corporate world.