Background

At the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), world leaders expressed concern that human activities had already caused approximately 1.1 °C of global warming, with the impacts now being felt in every region. Drastic action and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across sectors and regions would be required to meet the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reaching the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, and thus preventing the worst impacts of climate change, will require carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to stop rising around 2025, reduce by around 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050.

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Achieving these goals will require dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors, ranging from how energy is generated and used to how goods and services are produced, how transport operates, and how buildings are built, heated, and cooled. It will require changes in industrial processes, in particular in hard-to-abate sectors like cement, steel, and chemicals.

Achieving such change will require collective action by government, civil society, and the private sector. So how do we get there?

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Session Description

This session will discuss how the drastic cuts needed in emissions can be achieved, and the policies and tools needed to push broad-based emissions reductions in companies across sectors. It will engage company representatives in a discussion on the policy and regulatory environment that will be needed to drive the needed transformation, what tools will be needed, and how commitment-based initiatives such as the Science-based targets initiate can help drive change.

Much work remains to be done to ensure emissions reductions not only at the organizational level but also across supply chains. It will thus discuss how small and medium enterprises (SME’s), which form the bulk of enterprises and account for more than 50% of company employment, can be part of the transformation.

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Objectives

This session will engage companies in the Asia-Pacific region in a moderated discussion on the possibility for achieving the required cuts, and the role of policy and other levers (regulatory, financial, advisory) in driving decarbonization of company operations. It will share good practices and lessons learned and discuss how states and investors can ensure the right incentive structure is in place to drive rapid emissions reductions.

 

 

Guiding Questions

• Given that a drastic reduction in emissions will be required across sectors by 2030 - how feasible do you see it it would be for companies to reduce their emissions by 50% by 2030, and reaching net-zero by 2050?

• What government policies and investor actions would be needed to push broad-based action on climate in your industry?

• How is your company performing on the targets that have been set?

• How have your emissions reductions targets impacted your supply chains / inspired actions among suppliers?

• What are your key lessons learned, challenges faced, and what are your suggestions for scaling up action across the private sector?