Funding, Regulation, and Speed & Scale

1.Speed and Scale

1. We can start this week's newsletter with something a bit motivating. Speed and Scale. This is a great resource that was shared by some of our team recently. The Speed & Scale plan shows how we can cut greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 and get nearly halfway there by 2030. Check the interactive tracker, which monitors progress across the ten critical objectives and their key results and how they are performing currently - (which shows how much remains to be done).

These 10 critical objectives include:

1. Electrify Transportation
2. Decarbonizing the Grid
3. Fix Food
4. Protect Nature
5. Clean Up Industry
6. Remove Carbon
7. Win Politics and Policy
8. Turn Movements into Action
9. Innovate
10. Invest

On the link above you can see how each critical objective is doing based on various reports and indices. And while some of them I would change slightly - EG swap electrify vehicles for ‘Decarbonise vehicles’ - it still makes for a very interesting and visual resource for a global sense check on the road to net-zero.

2. Policy & Regulation

A really great overview by Christine Uri on the top policy updates, ESG program implementation, and general cliff notes on what you need to know and understand right now. This is a great resource if you're an in-house counsel or a more policy-oriented sustainability expert.

I'm excited to see this space normalise with a more standardised understanding and application so that it's clear to all stakeholders. I think the publicly traded company space will set the bar/pace for adoption of these rules and regs thereby water-falling down to private company adoption, as well as the continued policy focus for the US and other western countries.

3. The Role of Funding Climate Action in Net-zero

Lastly, I want to focus on the role funding climate action plays in the path to Net-Zero. It starts with a five-step process: Calculate, Target, Reduce, Fund and Engage. This process is repeated to maintain sustainable reductions in emissions and ensure progress towards Net-Zero. When we use the word “Fund” we are talking about Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM). The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) describes BVCM as “mitigation, action or investments outside of a company’s value chain”. They go on to stress that “decarbonising a business in line with science and reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century, is increasingly becoming the minimum societal expectation”.

Whilst reductions in business emissions needs to be the priority, the SBTi highlights that reductions, alone, will not be enough to tackle climate change and strongly emphasise BVCM. That’s why investment in nature-based solutions and new technologies, like Direct Air Carbon Capture (DAC) alongside core emissions reductions is so important. The Guardian article stresses ‘the need to act beyond the value chain’ meaning that companies that can, or are willing to, can have a huge impact beyond reductions to their own emissions.

PS, If you’d like to find out more about BVCM, here a couple of useful links:

https://info.ecologi.com/webinar-why-funding-carbon-credits-is-key-net-zero-271022

PPS, I just also want to thank those who read my newsletter last week and I apologise for the state of the spelling and grammar. It's told me I am too reliant on things like Grammarly! Thanks for sticking with me, Josh