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. Changes to our climate and environment, 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. Imperatives like ocean conservation, mitigating the effect of wildfires, and ensuring access to clean water have never been more important. Organizations that embed sustainability into their business models and governance processes, with a particular focus on our changing climate and environment, will drive lasting competitive advantage.
Protecting our climate and environment is an urgent challenge. No matter the industry or region, now is the time to prioritize and proactively invest in transformational action that will reduce plastic waste, limit global warming, and set organizations on a path to success in a decarbonized world. With innovative and strategic approaches, 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. That’s where BCG’s climate and environmental consulting team can help.
Today’s climate and environment conditions compound many other environmental challenges. Take ocean conservation, for example. Our oceans 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. BCG employs this approach and helps clients rethink the traditional take-make-dispose economic model and envision 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.
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
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
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
Protecting our planet's most precious resource isn't just a matter of environmental stewardship. It's a substantial business problem.
As the impact of plastic in the marine environment reaches crisis proportions, businesses are joining the call for a UN treaty to address the problem.
Companies seeking to reduce their environmental footprint should focus on one element of their operations in particular: their global supply chains.
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Recycle or reuse? That’s the decision for companies looking to profit from millions of retiring EV batteries. What’s the business case?
The COVID-19 crisis is causing people to pay more attention—not less—to urgent environmental issues such as climate change.
Since 2012, BCG has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in support of its mission to ensure the conservation of biodiversity and stop the degradation of our planet's natural environment.
BCG’s climate and environmental consultants and industry experts partner with businesses, governments, and social-sector organizations to deliver solutions for environmental sustainability. These are some of our experts on this topic.
Explore our latest thinking on social impact and sustainability
