Rapidly reducing global emissions and adapting to a warmer world requires a collaborative effort across businesses, governments, and society. In Glasgow, BCG, the exclusive COP26 consultancy partner, joined leaders from the public, social, and private sectors to seek solutions.
BCG Executive Perspectives offer insights on global topics that matter most to leaders in the public and private sectors. This edition takes readers inside the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), sharing outcomes and implications for businesses related to climate adaptation, financing, and mitigation.
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The critical climate target of 1.5°C can only be reached if we accelerate and scale new technologies. We are proud to have signed up to the First Movers Coalition to commit to buying low-carbon products by 2030, announced by President Biden. First Movers Coalition members, including BCG’s Rich Lesser, meet on the sidelines of COP26.
Countries and companies that firmly embrace these opportunities, among other sustainability and climate innovation initiatives, will play a vital role in saving the planet. Equally crucial, they’ll create business advantage, in such forms as increased market share, new cost efficiencies, boosted valuations, and the ability to attract and retain top talent.
The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) drives ambitious action on these priorities from governments as well as businesses and civil society organizations. COP26, hosted by the United Kingdom in Glasgow in November, is the first climate change conference since Paris 2015 where the world is coming together to assess progress towards limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees—in addition to strengthening climate action across the public and private sector.
Inclusion
Current efforts to combat climate change leave women behind. But drawing women fully into the fight is a win-win—accelerating climate progress and advancing gender equity.
Climate Action
Sustainability commitments have skyrocketed in recent years, but there’s a growing problem. In certain sectors, the demand for sustainability-related resources will soon outstrip the supply.
Sustainability Transformation
Efforts by companies to transform their business to become truly sustainable will disrupt industries and yield new growth opportunities. But successful transformations won’t be easy.
Innovation
Despite good intentions, companies say they are struggling to cut their emissions in line with targets. Their inability to measure appropriately is the leading roadblock.
Transportation
Kick-starting the market is not enough—governments need to plan, orchestrate, and incentivize the buildout of EV charging stations, setting the stage for private investment.
Trade
Levies on emissions tied to imports will impact companies inside and outside the EU and could alter the competitive balance between nations in many industries.
In addition to being the exclusive COP26 consultancy partner, we have been working directly alongside the UK’s High-Level Climate Action Champion, Nigel Topping, and supporting the UK Presidency to generate momentum on key campaigns, including the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience. BCG brings a potent set of strengths to the table:
Extensive experience in helping companies, governments, and multilateral organizations transform to achieve their climate and sustainability ambitions.
Expertise in designing and implementing strategies across sectors to produce industry-wide progress on sustainability goals.
Renowned thought leadership, delivered through research and reports that inform and inspire global climate talks.
Our partnership with public and private sector leaders, as well as environmental advocacy groups, such as the World Economic Forum, World Wide Fund for Nature, and Science Based Targets Initiative.
Drawing on these strengths, BCG is uniquely positioned to support the COP26 goals, which include:
BCG has committed to reach net-zero climate impact by 2030 and then become climate positive—removing more carbon from the atmosphere than we emit each year.
With social impact a key lens for all our engagements at BCG, we can work with organizations to ensure their own future while they help to secure the future of our planet.
BCG is a founding partner for Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a program aimed at accelerating the development of the climate-smart technologies necessary to achieve net-zero by 2050.
BCG joins the First Movers Coalition, a joint effort by the World Economic Forum in partnership with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, as a founding member, to drive demand for zero emissions across the value chain of hard-to-abate sectors.
Ahead of COP26, BCG's CEO Rich Lesser spoke with BBC News about the firm's own journey addressing climate change. "We were already acting to address climate change but not as boldly as we needed to, and I had partners in BCG who pushed back very strongly on me, educating our broader partnership. But those partners [who challenged me] turned out to be right," says Lesser. "It changed our trajectory and helped me break through my bubble."
Watch on BBC News
BCG's Charlotte Degot spoke with Bloomberg about how companies can accurately measure their greenhouse gas emissions. She explains measuring with an AI tool could decrease a company's emissions by as much as 40%, which can be achieved "through identifying the best initiatives, tracking results, and optimizing company operations."
Read now on Bloomberg
In a recent op-ed, BCG's Rich Hutchinson and Rich Lesser outline six essential actions for executives to integrate sustainability into their value creation agenda—ensuring their societal impact creates real value for the business also.
Read now on Fortune
"ESG-driven requests are already prompting more action from banks. Shipping is already feeling it and they (shipping companies) are under pressure now," BCG's Peter Jameson explains, in a recent Reuters article on how environmental criteria is influencing financing for the shipping industry.
Read now on Reuters
Jamie Webster, a senior director in Boston Consulting Group’s Energy Impact Center, argues that [surging global coal, natural gas, and carbon prices] may amount to the first climate change energy crisis, “both in the shocks that initiated the crisis (eg, low hydro [power] production in Brazil) and the muted supply response (eg restricted investment in new gas supply)…This crisis could have happened without climate change, but its probability was higher because of it.
Read now in Financial Times
BCG is delighted to partner with Catalyst to bring the power of BCG’s consulting, climate, and industry expertise to accelerate the green industrial revolution. This new partnership with some of the world’s leading corporations will be critical to unlocking the potential to find, fund, and scale innovative technology solutions. These solutions are essential to closing the gap to vital climate targets.
Read now in Handelsblatt (German)
COP26 President Alok Sharma comments on BCG’s involvement as the exclusive COP26 consultancy partner, “I am pleased to welcome Boston Consulting Group as a COP26 Partner,” notes Sharma. “By committing to reach net zero, and setting science-based targets to achieve this goal, [BCG is] joining the growing number of businesses committed to reducing their environmental impact and helping to drive decarbonization. I look forward to working with BCG in the months ahead as we continue to make progress ahead of COP26.
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