UN Climate Change News, 10 December 2019 – Businesses have a responsibility to bring their practices in line with global climate targets, but in so doing can expect to find valuable opportunities, senior UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) and OECD officials told public- and private-sector representatives at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid.
National and subnational governments, investors, civil society and companies, they said, have acknowledged both the responsibility and opportunity for business in taking concrete steps to scale immediate action on climate change.
Speaking at an event organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UN Climate Change, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Ovais Sarmad said: “Business-as-usual is no longer an option,” said Ovais Sarmad Deputy Executive Secretary UN Climate Change. “Companies that do not take immediate steps to align their work with climate goals will soon be out of business.”
View the panel discussion on Responsible Business Conduct
The UNFCCC secretariat and the OECD renewed a call for the private sector to step up efforts to address climate change, citing for urgency UN Environment’s latest Emissions Gap Report that found global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut 7.6% annually to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world is currently on a trajectory to 3.2 degrees Celsius of warming, which would have catastrophic consequences for ecosystems and humanity.
“We’re simply not on track, on course, for a sustainable future,” said Mr. Masamichi Kono, Deputy Secretary General, OECD. We need business to understand “this is an existential crisis” and we need governments to “set environments” in which business can take action and find the opportunities in that action.
However, there is limited concrete guidance at the international level on what businesses can and should do to address climate change and the full range of climate risks related to business operations and supply chains.
OECD offers a resource to businesses wanting to act on climate change, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which the organization describes as “the most comprehensive government-backed instrument on responsible business conduct [. . .] representing international consensus on the responsibility of companies regarding impacts on people and the planet.”
“The OECD Guidelines can help companies in ensuring that their business operations across supply chains are in line with international expectations with respect to impacts on climate,” said Cristina Tébar Less, Acting Head of the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct. “With increased scrutiny from consumers and investors, companies that are able to address these impacts can improve their reputation and increase in competitiveness.”
OECD has published some practical tools, among them the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, developed in cooperation with policymakers, business, trade unions, corporate social responsibility officers and NGOs to help businesses implement due diligence in accordance with the OECD Guidelines, in their own operations and in global supply chains.
For its part, UN Climate Change operates, among other things, a range of initiatives under the banner Global Climate Action (GCA) to help business take concrete steps to address climate issues and receive support and recognition for their actions. From sectoral initiatives supporting whole value chains, to reporting and tracking on commitments and engaging civil society, the GCA initiatives complement the guidance on responsible business conduct.
For more information contact:
Stephanie Venuti, Policy Advisor and Legal Expert, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct, stephanie.venuti(at)oecd.org
Miguel Naranjo, Programme Officer, UN Climate Change, mnaranjogonzalez(at)unfccc.int
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Founded in 1961, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Our goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all. Together with governments, policymakers and citizens, we work on establishing international norms and finding evidence-based solutions to a range of social, economic and environmental challenges. We draw on almost 60 years of experience and insights to better prepare the world of tomorrow.
See also:
www.oecd.org
mneguidelines.oecd.org
UN Climate Change
With 197 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near-universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame that allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.