“Running a company sustainably goes beyond just profit”, says Vera Spender Koubek, Sustainable Finance Expert at LIBF. This conversation explores actionable strategies for embedding sustainability in business and corporate practices, emphasising the balance between growth and environmental responsibility.
Vera Spender Koubek has significant experience in sustainable business operations, training, and leadership and people management.
Twenty-seven companies in Dubai have been awarded the Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Label, it was announced this week.
The Label, launched in August and developed by the chamber’s Centre for Responsible Business, was designed to help organisations evaluate their ESG readiness and maturity levels and promote sustainable business practices.
Among the 27 recipients of the Label are organisations such as ADNOC Distribution, ALEC Engineering and Contracting, Aramex, Bidfood Middle East, Canon Middle East, Chalhoub Group, DP World, Empower, and others.
“The Dubai Chamber of Commerce ESG Label is designed to encourage the business community to adopt and develop practices that have a positive impact on society and the environment, as well as promote good governance, by recognising participants’ efforts to advance sustainability,” commented Maha Al Gargawi, Vice President of Business Advocacy at Dubai Chambers.
According to the Chamber, one of three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, organisations of all sizes that have been established for at least two years are eligible to apply for the ESG Label.
Ever since Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023 and told the world that Brazil is “back on the world stage,” the government has endeavored to establish itself as a global climate leader. As the current G20 president, Brazil is pushing for a sustainable bioeconomy and scaled-up climate finance – goals that it will surely continue to pursue as the host of next year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30). Moreover, the country recently formed a troika with the hosts of COP28 (the United Arab Emirates) and COP29 (Azerbaijan) to preserve the Paris climate agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5º Celsius.
The Brazilian government has not been afraid to challenge rich countries and individuals as part of its efforts to halt the rise in global temperatures. But to have the biggest impact, Brazil must lead by example. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. The timing could not be better: countries must submit more ambitious 2035 emissions-reduction targets, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), by February 2025.
The need to cut greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions has never been more urgent for Brazil, which was recently hit by record flooding and has been fighting devastating forest fires for weeks. To be sure, investing in adaptation and resilience requires increased financial flows from the wealthy countries responsible for the bulk of historic pollution to vulnerable countries suffering the worst effects of global warming. But reducing fossil-fuel emissions and extraction, which has harmed traditional and indigenous communities’ health, destroyed their land, and diminished their capacity to provide for their families, is also a matter of economic and social development. Brazil must devise an energy policy that works for these communities.
The share of electricity generated from wind and solar power is expanding rapidly, and these renewable-energy sources are becoming cheaper by the day. Brazil has abundant sun and wind and the tools to operate these technologies successfully. But, equally important, local communities are already expanding clean-energy infrastructure and have created innovative and effective solutions to participate in the decarbonization decision-making process.
Various community-led and decentralized clean-energy projects, often developed in partnership with NGOs, are being launched across Brazil, from isolated villages in the Amazon to densely populated favelas (informal settlements) in Rio de Janeiro. At the same time, the country’s indigenous peoples have developed robust consultation protocols for the design and implementation of public and private renewable-energy projects on their land.
Last year, COP28 closed with an agreement to “transition away from fossil fuels” – the first time such a call has been made at the climate summit – and to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030. To honor that agreement, Lula’s government must challenge the false notion that fossil fuels are necessary for development and can complement efforts to scale up and provide equitable access to community-centered renewable energy.
To show the world that Brazil can lead the global renewable-energy transition by example, its updated NDC must commit to bold action, such as stopping new fossil-fuel projects and shutting down existing ones, and deploying the resources required to meet the global goal of tripling renewable-energy generation. Moreover, to advance the goal of energy justice, the government should implement policies aimed at ensuring that solar and wind power reaches vulnerable communities.
If the Brazilian government creates a national platform that provides operational support to these clean-energy solutions, the country can show the world that it is possible to decarbonize while putting people first. In fact, this is not only possible but essential.
A few years ago, the world came together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments quickly poured resources into vaccine development and production, successfully creating the tools to solve a novel problem in record time. In this case, the world has everything it needs to accelerate the energy transition and limit global warming; all that it is missing is the political will to commit to – and follow through on – ambitious targets and policies. Brazil can and should be one of the first countries to demonstrate it.
By Savio Carvalho, Head of Regions at 350.org.
© Project Syndicate 1995–2024
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Azerbaijan, which is set to host this year’s UN climate summit in November, has “critically insufficient” climate plans, according to an assessment from the Climate Action Tracker.
The petrostate—the third consecutive petrostate to host a COP—has weakened its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)—one of the very few countries to do so—removed its 2030 target and pledged to ramp up fossil fuel production.
In fact, Azerbaijan is planning to increase fossil gas extraction by more than 30 per cent over the coming decade.
This is at odds with the scientific consensus of what is required to limit global warming at 1.5C.
According to the analysis from Climate Action Tracker, which assesses national climate plans, the country’s emissions are actually set to rise by around 20 per cent through to 2030, with methane emissions also quickly on the rise and already 6 per cent above 1990 levels.
“Azerbaijan does not include a transition away from fossil fuels in its NDC or in the COP29 agenda. This is not the kind of leadership we need in this crucial time of climate action as the world is increasingly being hit by catastrophic, climate-fuelled weather events,” said Ana Missirliu from CAT partner organisation NewClimate Institute.
This week, the independent research group called for the country to “substantially upgrade” its policies to reduce emissions, considerably improve its NDC, put forward a net zero target and devise a plan to transition away from fossil fuels.
It has been nearly ten years since countries came together in Paris and agreed finally to get serious about averting a climate disaster. But while there is an emerging consensus on the structural economic reforms needed to transform sectors such as energy, transportation, and agriculture, the necessary investments are not being made fast enough.
Instead, our governance systems are struggling to muster an adequate response to what is an increasingly obvious and severe climate and ecological crisis. Although many governments have proposed robust climate measures, these often trigger a social backlash, because they are perceived as unjust and inequitable. Many see policies that pit the old against the young, the city against the country, or the Global North against the Global South. Such controversies are tailor-made for social media, where they ripen and then rot in a hothouse of misinformation, incendiary rhetoric, and polarization.
Although the argument for the necessity of major reform has been won, the argument for how to do it fairly has not. This challenge will become only more difficult the deeper we get into the net-zero transition. Most people care deeply about addressing the climate crisis: in a survey conducted across 18 G20 countries, 71% of respondents agreed that major action is needed immediately to reduce carbon emissions. But trust in government action is lacking, with only 39% believing that their own government will act effectively.
One way to address this gap is to allow citizens participation in the elaboration and implementation of climate policies and measures designed by governments. Instead of having climate policies imposed by technocrats from above, governments should embrace approaches that combine “top-down” with “bottom-up” methods, with the latter bringing together ordinary people who are tasked with shaping a shared vision of the future.
Successful examples of those participatory methods already exist. Citizens’ assemblies in France are decision-making bodies composed of randomly selected, demographically representative individuals who deliberate on a specific issue of public concern and provide policy recommendations.
In addition to fostering consensus on divisive topics, citizens’ assemblies educate the public about complex policy issues and give citizens a direct role in decisions that affect their lives. These elements are especially important for issues like the net-zero transition, which entails major economic changes that can leave communities feeling divided. Unlike politicians, assembly members make decisions free from electoral pressures and lobbying. Notable examples include Ireland’s assemblies on marriage equality and abortion, which led to national referenda and breakthrough legislation; and France’s climate assembly, which helped shape its most ambitious climate bill to date.
Brazil’s long standing participatory approach to policymaking has also proved successful. For example, its Climate Plan is being developed through a governance structure that includes several ministries of the federal government together with representatives from the scientific community, subnational governments, the private sector, and civil society.
Moreover, a climate participatory platform (involving both digital and in-person exchanges) has been launched to invite all Brazilian citizens to propose solutions. The National Environmental Conference and the National Social and Economic Development Council, by prioritizing the Climate Plan, have further contributed to strengthening this bottom-up process.
Such methods can steer climate policy proposals away from sources of polarization, and toward opportunities for collaboration and deliberation. Among G20 countries, 62% of people favor using citizens’ assemblies for decision-making, and that number has risen above 70% in countries like Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa, and to over 80% in Kenya. More than 170 citizens’ assemblies have been held in more than 30 countries, each with the goal of accelerating climate action in ways that support a fair and just transition for all.
Drawing on the model of the World Social Forum, what we need now is a Global Social-Climate Forum, or a Global Citizens’ Assembly for People and Planet, to bring citizens together from every country, not just to chart a collective path forward, but to reimagine our politics and encourage a global ethical stock-take. This would be an opportunity for humanity to come together, to understand each other’s aspirations and anxieties, and to co-create a green transition that benefits everyone. Rather than leaving anyone behind, we can forge a new social contract rooted in solidarity, equity, and fairness.
In 2015, France and Peru established a new mechanism, the Action Agenda, because they recognized that the scale of change needed to tackle the climate crisis requires more than just government action. It also depends on the wealth of ideas that civil society – including businesses, cities, and communities – has to offer.
As countries prepare to announce their next climate commitments in 2025, we must acknowledge the critical role that ordinary citizens have to play, both individually and collectively, in addressing the climate crisis. At COP30 and beyond, we must provide a dedicated space to hear every voice, and to ensure that the transition is not only fast but fair. Failing that, we will not achieve our common goals. That is why Brazil is committed to making COP30 (in November 2025) the People’s COP, and to giving every person on Earth the opportunity to participate in shaping our common future.
By Laurence Tubiana, former French ambassador to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and professor at Sciences Po and Ana Toni, National Secretary for Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Brazil.
© Project Syndicate 1995–2024
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A new report from ActionAid has found that climate-destructive sectors are benefiting from subsidies amounting to an average of US$677 billion in the Global South every year.
According to the report, climate finance grants from the Global North for climate-hit countries are still “grossly insufficient” to support climate action and the necessary transitions.
Indeed, climate finance grants amount to just 1/20th of the Global South public finance going to fossil fuels and industrial agriculture, it says.
Between 2016 and 2023, the fossil fuel sector across Global South countries received an annual average of US$438.6 billion in publicly financed subsidies.
Meanwhile, the industrial agriculture sector benefited from publicly financed subsidies worth an average of US$238 billion a year between 2016 and 2021.
The impact of this lack of climate finance for solutions in the Global South is that renewable energy receives 40 times less public finance than the fossil fuel sector.
Commenting on the report, Arthur Larok, Secretary General of ActionAid International said that it exposes wealthy corporations’ parasitic behaviour: “They are draining the life out of the Global South by siphoning public funds and fueling the climate crisis. Sadly, the promises of climate finance by the Global North are as hollow as the empty rhetoric they have been uttering for decades. It is time for this circus to end, we need genuine commitments to ending the climate crisis.”
The report makes a number of recommendations, including:
For the full report, head here.
This week, the UAE Ministry of Economy issued a ministerial decision mandating that private joint-stock companies must increase women’s representation on boards.
The decision, which will come into force in January 2025, will require these companies to “allocate at least one seat” for women on their boards of directors after the completion of the current board’s term.
“This decision will bring added value to private joint-stock companies, enhancing their institutional performance by drawing on the insights and experiences of successful businesswomen in the country,” said Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy.
This move follows an earlier decision to require listed companies to mandate at least one woman on the board of directors, which was introduced back in 2021 by the Board of the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
According to research from Aurora 50, since its introduction, some progress towards better representation has been made. In the 2024 GCC Board Gender Index Report, released by the social enterprise alongside Heriot-Watt University, it was found that women now hold 10.8 per cent of board seats at publicly listed companies in the UAE, up from 8.9 per cent in 2022, and 3.5 per cent in 2020.
Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, commented: “This initiative not only advances social development but also contributes to raising the UAE’s status as a prominent global investment destination.”
Previous research, including from Cranfield School of Management, has found a positive correlation between higher levels of gender representation on boards and profitability and performance.
Indeed, when researchers from Cranfield assessed data from FTSE 100 firms, it was found that greater gender diversity on boards leads to both higher profitability and higher market valuations.
However, globally, representation remains low, with women holding just 23.3 per cent of board seats.
As summer in the northern hemisphere draws to a close, hundreds of temperature records have been broken, and there is a roughly 95% chance that 2024 will beat 2023 as the hottest year since measurements began. But millions of people don’t need data to tell them that – they are living through it. In 2023, the United States suffered 28 climate-related disasters that each caused at least $1 billion worth of damage, while China experienced both extreme heat and devastating floods, with a typhoon displacing more than 120,000 people in Beijing.
It is clear that warming is occurring faster than expected, and that the world needs to pull an emergency brake on rising temperatures. China and the US, as global superpowers, could work together to drive change, and they recently held a high-level meeting to discuss opportunities for reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. As these conversations continue ahead of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) and into 2025, they should focus on dealing with the climate crisis that has already arrived. To address it requires increased efforts to mitigate emissions of super pollutants, which are responsible for more than half of climate change.
Super pollutants, specifically warming agents like methane, N2O, tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons are tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide per ton. Methane, for example, is a GHG that is roughly 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period and contributes to ozone smog. But it remains in the atmosphere for only around a decade, whereas CO2 can last centuries. This means that reducing methane emissions is the fastest and most effective way to fight climate change and improve air quality.
Cleaner air is especially important for communities living or working near cattle farms, oil and gas infrastructure, landfills, and other pollution sources. Deteriorating air quality has become a pressing public-health problem, and reducing methane levels in the atmosphere would lower rates of death and asthma, and lessen the severity of wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events.
The good news is that there are ways to cut methane emissions by as much as 45%, which could reduce warming by 0.3° Celsius by 2040, bolster energy and food security, and put the world on a path to a healthier future. In addition to the broad public support for government intervention to address methane emissions, there is also global consensus on the need to address non-CO2 GHGs. To date, 158 countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions by 30% by 2030. And at last year’s COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed to submit updated 2035 emissions-reduction targets, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), that are economy-wide, cover all GHGs, and are aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Increased global attention to non-CO2 GHGs could not come at a better time, as updated NDCs are due in February 2025. While current NDCs contain meaningful CO2-reduction targets, they often lack concrete, measurable goals for cutting super pollutants. Countries must recognize that this approach does not fully address the fight against climate change and raise their ambitions accordingly. Strong 2035 targets for methane and other super pollutants are necessary to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 and would reduce potentially irreversible planetary changes.
Methane has historically been hard to track, making it difficult to include specific targets in NDCs. But now, after addressing critical funding and technology gaps, methane-detecting satellites are improving data collection. Satellite programs launched after the previous NDC update, including MethaneSAT, Carbon Mapper, and the WasteMAP, have helped local authorities pinpoint and address emissions sources. Given these developments, there is no excuse for submitting NDCs that lack methane targets.
China and the US can build on the climate commitments they made in last year’s Sunnylands Statement by including robust super-pollutant targets in their updated NDCs. The Chinese government has already expressed its intention to do so, while the US has shown a willingness to implement ambitious climate policies, including support for research on emissions-reduction innovations.
The world must unite to reduce super pollutants and usher in a new era of cleaner air, improved food production, and greater energy security. The public overwhelmingly supports measuring and mitigating methane emissions across sectors, and it is time for governments to listen. A good first step would be for the US and China to set quantifiable non-CO2 targets in their revised NDCs and encourage other large methane-emitting countries to do the same.
By Marcelo Mena, CEO of Global Methane Hub, former Chilean minister of the environment and Sarah Ann Smith, Energy Program Director at Global Methane Hub.
© Project Syndicate 1995–2024
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Global content and technology company Thomson Reuters has announced a product integration partnership with SAP focused on ESG reporting compliance.
The partnership with SAP is reportedly aimed at simplifying compliance with emerging ESG regulations for multinational corporations, combining Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Statutory Reporting and SAP Sustainability Control Tower to create a unified solution where customers can prepare, gather, and file ESG data.
Ray Grove, Head of Corporate Tax and Trade at Thomson Reuters, said the collaboration will “reduce the complexity and burden of complying with emerging regulations.”
“This integration represents a significant step forward in simplifying ESG reporting for global organizations, particularly in light of the upcoming CSRD requirements and other global ESG reporting requirements. Together, we are committed to helping businesses navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and achieving their sustainability goals,” explained Grove.
Indeed, according to the two, as countries roll out global standards, the produce integration will provide the foundation to address last-mile reporting obligations.
“The partnership with Thomson Reuters is part of SAP’s commitment to provide ERP-centric, cloud-based and AI-enabled sustainability solutions that meet the needs of businesses worldwide,” said Gunther Rothermel, Chief Product Officer and co-General Manager for SAP Sustainability.
Emirates NBD Egypt has joined Chapter Zero Egypt, a climate governance association for business leaders in Egypt.
The association, the first of its kind in Africa and the Middle East, is a part of the Climate Governance Initiative (CGI), which was initiated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
“We are delighted to welcome Emirates NBD Egypt as a member of Chapter Zero Egypt. Their commitment to embracing sustainable practices and addressing climate risks comes in line with our mission to empowering boards to fulfill their fiduciary duties to better serve their organizations in the long term by raising awareness on climate change and its repercussions, while providing the necessary skills, tools, processes, and information to act,” Ayman Salah, Executive Director of Chapter Zero Egypt, said.
According to the bank, by joining Chapter Zero Egypt, it will gain insight into how to effectively manage its sustainable development efforts, optimise the outcome of available opportunities and navigate challenges.
Salah explained that Chapter Zero Egypt also provides networking opportunities for companies to enhance their climate governance capabilities.
When the association launched last year, Julie Baddeley, Chair of the Climate Governance Initiative’s Governing Board, explained that its core mission is to accelerate climate action in Egyptian organisations.
Amgad Doma, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Emirates NBD Egypt, commented: “Our collaboration with Chapter Zero Egypt marks a significant milestone in achieving our sustainability and corporate governance objectives. This includes climate change risk management approaches, and leveraging opportunities in renewable energy and green finance, among other initiatives Through this fruitful cooperation, we aim to contribute to a more sustainable future for all, guided by our unwavering responsibility not only to our customers, but the community at large.”
