Businesses could cut their global greenhouse gas emissions by a total of 3.7 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year by 2030, according to a report issued Tuesday by We Mean Business. That amount would equate to 60 percent of the emissions cut pledged in the Paris climate change agreement by nations in their intended nationally determined contributions. “This report makes it clear that business will have an enormous role to play in enabling the global economy to achieve – and exceed – its climate goals,” Paul Simpson, CEO of the CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, said in a press release.
The 3.7 billion-ton sum only takes into account those pledges already made by businesses, but the report also considers what could happen if every relevant business that could join emissions reductions initiatives did so. “The result could be emissions cuts of around 10 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases,” accord to the report, which adds “that can only happen if governments create the right policy environment.”
To create that policy environment, the report calls on governments to: encourage utilities to offer renewable energy contracts and make it easier for businesses to commit to them; help companies build their own renewable electricity installations; support research and development of low-carbon technologies; offer grants and capital depreciation to make energy efficiency investments more attractive; create incentives for buyers and sellers of sustainable products; and reduce the administrative and cost burdens of certification for producers, so it’s easier for them to produce commodities without deforestation.
