| The COP27 climate conference has handed business a daunting to-do list, in a flurry of announcements aimed at outlawing greenwashing, sharpening up climate reporting and harmonising companies’ carbon data.
Any company building or investing in fossil fuel supply would be banned from claiming it was net-zero.“If fossil fuel companies think that they can expand production under a net-zero target, they need to think again,” said Australia-based Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare, a member of Ms McKenna’s expert group.
And it comes with calls for greater accountability mechanisms and tougher regulation, so that companies “cut emissions, not corners”, Ms McKenna said.Her report emerged from a taskforce of scientists, academics, bankers and regulators that Mr Guterres set up at the COP26 in Glasgow last year following a meeting with Mr Bloomberg.
He said businesses should “abide by this standard and update your guidelines right away - and certainly no later than COP28”.The taskforce has gone beyond the boilerplate recommendations, such as: targets must be science-based; data must be clear and accurate; and transition measures and deadlines must be specific.Its report also says that any company building or investing in new fossil fuel supplies cannot claim to be net-zero.
Following a consultation and sandbox process in coming months, the UK government hopes to turn its Transition Plan Framework into a “gold standard” that will spell out exactly what companies need to include, and how to set it out.The risk is the latest initiatives leave willing businesses more confused.