Best-in-class external standards have emerged in recent years — notably, standards for setting carbon-emission reduction targets that are based on climate science.
Image: Shutterstock
With the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments the world over made a commitment to limiting global temperature increases. Then in 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that global warming must not exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change. To achieve this, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must halve by 2030 and drop to net zero by 2050.
Business has a vital role to play in building a zero-emission economy. To empower peer companies, suppliers and customers to follow suit, we need a race to the top, led by pioneering companies. And science-based targets (SBTs) are a critical part of the solution.
[This article has been reprinted, with permission, from Rotman Management, the magazine of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management]