How best to convey the urgency of the climate crisis to UK corporations?

It is a commonly held view across the UK that climate change is a significant issue that requires urgent attention from everyone in order to tackle it.

However, though collective calls to action are often seen in the media and from environmentally-linked organizations, climate stories are often portrayed in a negative and inevitable manner, as complex issues beyond hope of reversal. Therefore, it can be easy for corporations and stakeholders to simply overlook the risks posed to their companies by climate change, as well as the impacts their own operations are having on the climate. 

Conveying the urgency of the climate crisis to UK corporations is a must so that business operations can be safeguarded and opportunities to move towards net-zero operations can be taken. Currently, 60 of the UK’s FTSE 100 companies have committed to achieving net zero by 2050, meaning 40 large corporations have not. Therefore, the urgency of the climate crisis must be conveyed to these companies in a way that will encourage them to take positive action. 

One of the first things to highlight when conveying climate change urgency is just how businesses are likely to be impacted at a functional level by the physical consequences of climate change. CEOs must be made aware that while extreme weather events such as flooding and fire may not be affecting customers or indeed head office, the likelihood that supply chains, manufacturing, and distribution of products or services are being impacted by extreme weather is increasing.

Perhaps greater media coverage of the increasing prevalence of extreme weather events globally will go some way to underlining that climate change is not the far-off phenomenon we would all like to think about. Possibly the most crucial part of informing business leaders of the need to take urgent climate action is to present them with the correct information.

The inclusion of data from peer-reviewed journals is key since these are generally reliable, science-based sources, free from political or financial incentives. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), misinformation and disinformation on the subject of climate change are extensive, resulting in misperceptions of the scientific consensus, leading to the dismissal of any sense of urgency to take action. 

In addition to presenting scientific facts on the need to take action, corporate entities should also be made aware of the growing financial pressures associated with climate change. Stakeholders are becoming more wary of hidden climate risks within their investments, so are acting accordingly. Decarbonization impacts are now occurring beyond greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive industries as financial institutions remove funding from investors with assets that are associated with climate risk. Therefore, corporations should be aware that the climate pledges they make will impact the value of companies and their abilities to acquire funds and insurance. 

Governments are also committing to more and more net-zero pledges. At the COP26 meeting in 2022, it was revealed that 90% of the world economy is covered by a net-zero pledge, as part of a multi-national climate change mitigation strategy. Earlier this year, the UK government released its Environmental Improvement Plan, outlining how 10 climate goals from a previous plan are being met.

From 2024, the producers of plastic packaging will be responsible for paying for its recycling in an attempt to use plastic more sparingly and to cut unnecessary use where possible. This may well force companies to innovate more sustainable packaging alternatives if they wish to avoid potentially large end-of-life recycling fees. 

When communicating the urgency of climate change to corporations, the opportunities that arise from transitioning to net zero should also be mentioned. Adopting carbon-neutral practices is very likely to improve a company’s reputation, as more and more customers expect businesses to be making some kind of climate pledge.

This doesn’t necessarily need to be a detailed decarbonization plan, small businesses could take part in local tree-planting schemes to help offset their emissions.  Alongside consumer expectation comes climate competitiveness. Some large corporations are already making bold climate pledges in a bid to gain competitive moral advantages, for example, Tesco has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 60% by 2025. 

Recognizing the need to diversify operations and services produced can be important, as new, fast-growing adjacent markets can sometimes be pursued. Research into developing green products can provide business leaders with an overall picture of the market, helping them make informed decarbonization decisions that will be economically beneficial, based on an understanding of the competitive implications involved in transitioning to become carbon-neutral.