Michel Frédeau
Managing Director & Senior Partner
Paris
From the air we breathe to the food we eat, nature and well-functioning ecosystems bring critical services that are essential for human livelihood and well-being.
Our ability to provide food, energy, and other resources to more people around the world has come at the expense of our future. Climate change, unsustainable land and natural-resource use, pollution, and other factors are all major threats to the critical ecosystem services that we rely on.
Taking action is a business issue. Organizations that embed sustainability and strategies to fight climate change into their business models and governance processes will drive lasting competitive advantage.
Fighting global climate change is one of today’s most urgent challenges. No matter the industry or region, now is the time to prioritize and proactively invest in transformational action that will limit global warming and set organizations on a path to success in a decarbonized world. With innovative approaches to climate change, companies can ensure that the planet’s needs—as well as humanity’s—are met.
Global temperature has increased by about 1°C above preindustrial levels, a change that is correlated with an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Even if warming is contained to 2°C—as prescribed by the Paris climate agreement—increasingly destructive events, such as fires, droughts, hurricanes, rising seas, and forced migration, will likely materialize. Current policies and pledges are not enough to get the world on track. We need to act now in order to reverse emissions and ensure we are on a clear downward trend in the coming decade.
It’s not going to be easy, but the good news is that we can use existing technology to achieve most of the required transition to a low-carbon economy in energy, industry, transportation, land use, and infrastructure—and we can do so in an economically viable way.
Climate change compounds many other environmental challenges. Our oceans, for example, are threatened by rising temperatures, acidification, and the increasing damage associated with storms and high tides. But there’s also the overexploitation of resources like fish stocks; the erosion of critical habitats, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves; and damage from pollution and single-use plastics.
Corporate leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the business and societal value of strategies that reuse and recycle resources and are thus moving toward what’s known as a circular economy. This approach rethinks the traditional take-make-dispose economic model and envisions a new one that is regenerative by design.
We have to view the relationship between business and the environment from a fresh perspective. Those that do so will be in the best position to combat the impact of climate change and ecosystem degradation while also capturing valuable new business opportunities.
The Center for Climate Action
We partner with clients across the public, private, and social sectors to align their strategy, operations, and stakeholder engagement with a low-carbon world. Our work is supported by BCG’s range of consulting experience across all industries and capabilities, as well as by our expanding reach of brands.
Learn more about our climate action center
Lead the Circular Economy with CIRCelligence by BCG
To avoid economic and environmental collapse, companies must abandon take-make-waste business practices and move from value chains to value cycles.
Learn more about CIRCelligence by BCG
A User-Friendly Tool for Ocean-Friendly Business
The ocean—our planet’s respiratory system and a vital economic resource—is deteriorating rapidly. A new tool developed in a collaboration among BCG, France’s Fondation de la Mer, and the French government’s Ministry of Ecological and Societal Transition offers companies worldwide a user-friendly way to measure their impact on the ocean, set objectives for mitigating it, and report on their progress.
Learn about the Ocean Dashboard
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Since 2012, BCG has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in support of its mission to stop the degradation of our planet's natural environment.
BCG’s consultants and industry experts focusing on climate and the environment partner with businesses, governments, and social-sector organizations to deliver solutions for environmental sustainability. These are some of our experts on this topic.
Principal
San Francisco - Bay Area
