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Sunday, 30 October 2022

Businesses want businesses to do better on climate impact disclosures + WFH becoming less popular amid energy crisis

Over 300 businesses are pressuring governments to make nature impact disclosures mandatory by 2030, Enterprise Climate reports. H&M, Sainsbury’s and Nestle are among those petitioning for a call to action in the run up to COP15, the UN biodiversity conference being held in Montreal this December. The companies issued an open letter to world leaders explaining that “business and financial status quo was economically shortsighted and will destroy value over the long term.”

If passed, the pledge would apply to all major corporations operating in the 196 countries participating in the conference. It would be mandatory for companies to assess their impact on nature and disclose nature-related information by 2030 in a bid to increase accountability, encourage fairer competition, and push for a more responsible sourcing of materials. A report released by Business for Nature, the Capitals Coalition, and CDP indicates that companies are ready to transform their business to become eco-friendly because “there can be no business on a dead planet.”


Only 24 climate plans were submitted by the 193 countries who pledged to increase their climate commitments, according to a UN climate report released last week. UN climate chief Simon Stiell says “the statistics are rather disappointing,” and calls for governments to take serious action toward global greenhouse gas emissions as the planet faces 2.5°C of warming, far higher than the 1.5°C submitted under the Paris Agreement of 2015. The report suggests that current commitments will see a 10.6% increase in emissions by 2030, which is an improvement from last year’s 13.7% compared to 2010 levels.

The global energy crisis is pushing people back to the office: Nearly a quarter of UK employees and two-fifths of US employees are planning to work from the office or other workspaces outside home this winter to save energy, according to an Infogrid survey. 74% of Americans and 70% of Brits are beginning to see an increase in their energy bills as a result of the energy crisis, the survey says. Now, employees are more environmentally conscious and eager to take “personal action to improve sustainability in the workplace,” with 40% of US and UK respondents believing that their companies should do more to curb environmental impact, according to the survey.

Commuting remains a problem area: While working less from home appears to be a good solution to rising energy prices, the fuel expenses can offset this — 61% of UK commuters are concerned commuting is more expensive than before, Financial Times reports, citing a Mobilityways survey.

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