Climate protection: the challenges for companies are growing

Around 25,000 people recently met at the UN Climate Change Conference "COP26" in Glasgow, Scotland. It is not clear whether the resolutions will be enough to achieve the important 1.5 degree target for limiting global warming. Companies can go their own way to protect the climate and achieve real sustainability.

It was a major media and political event in the fall: the UN Climate Change Conference "COP26"which took place from October 31 to November 12, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, was the 26th annual Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. "COP" stands for "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" ("26th Conference of the Parties"). COP26 was attended by around 200 countries and around 25,000 people, including high-ranking heads of state.

Goal: Limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees

At the United Nations, the outstanding goals of COP26 were defined as follows:

Achieve global net zero by mid-century and keep the 1.5 degree target within reach

Adaptation to protect communities and natural habitats
Mobilization of financial resources
Cooperation during implementation
The Federal Agency for Civic Education states the following about the 1.5 degree target: "In their final paper, the states commit themselves far more clearly than before to the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age. The global community recognizes that the consequences of climate change would be significantly lower if the 1.5 degree target were achieved than if the increase were two degrees."

According to experts, countries have hardly presented any new climate protection pledges

The problem: experts criticize that the resolutions will probably not be enough to really protect the climate. Wolfgang Obergassel, Co-Head of the International Climate Policy Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute, for example, said in an interview with the "Watson" platform: "At the conference, hardly any new climate protection pledges were presented by the states. Even if all the announcements were to be implemented, there would probably still be twice as many emissions in 2030 as should actually be caused in order to achieve the 1.5 degree target.

On a positive note, Wolfgang Obergassel emphasizes: "What the conference has managed to do, however, is to reiterate the level of ambition we need. The conference managed to get the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognized in the diplomatic process. [...] The IPCC had determined that if we want to comply with the 1.5 degree limit, global CO2 emissions must be reduced by around 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2010 and we even have to achieve net zero by 2050. The targets are now much more precise and ambitious."

What companies can do now

Of course, the economy itself can take action and promote climate protection with its own initiatives and activities. A few figures for orientation: the entire energy sector was the largest source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, accounting for around 82.8 percent, according to the Federal Environment Agency. Industrial processes were responsible for 7.9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, while agriculture and livestock farming accounted for around 8.2 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. Added to this are the impacts of mobility and private households, primarily due to the operation of heating systems for space heating and hot water.

The question therefore arises: How must a company urgently act today in the areas of climate protection and sustainability to achieve the national climate protection targets? For some companies, climate protection and climate management are already common practice. For most companies, starting to implement their own climate strategy and accounting for their own emissions will be an important step on the way to legally compliant and sustainably successful business practices in the future. One thing can be assumed: The regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting obligations for companies and organizations will increase in the future.

Integrate objectives and scenarios into the business strategy

A professional approach to climate management and the corresponding reporting involves a comprehensive process ranging from data collection and the selection of methods, scenario analysis and the definition of key figures and targets through to the establishment of paths to net zero emissions. At Höppner Management & Consulting, we systematically support companies in recording, reporting and managing their sustainability performance and prepare sustainability reports in accordance with the criteria of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or the German Sustainability Code (DNK). We are the compass for sustainable target achievement and prioritize and integrate the relevant targets and scenarios into the business strategy and sustainable supply chains.

This means: With solutions from the areas of CO2 and climate accounting at company and product level and an introduction to a sustainable screening of their own supply chains, companies and organizations can align their own actions sustainably with a well-founded climate strategy. Höppner Management & Consulting advises companies on these processes through its "Climate protection and sustainability".

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Image source: Image by Tumisu from Pixabay