No more lip-service

Global efforts are still not on-track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius and protect people from the ever-growing impacts of the climate crisis. We know that we need to accelerate climate action and ambition, particularly through international cooperation and collaboration.?

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While the focus often falls on states to lead on climate action, ‘non-state actors’, such as industry, financial institutions, cities and regions, must also speed up and scale up to become part of the solution.??

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The climate emergency is a global crisis that requires a global response and, in today’s modern world, where some businesses wield more power than entire nations, the heat is now being dialled up on corporate accountability.?

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But this isn’t a time for lip service. At the UN Climate Ambition Summit this week, there will be a call for non-state actors to provide credible plans and targets, backed by concrete data, to transition to net-zero emissions. There is no room for greenwashing, and transparency will be key to progress. ?

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With UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, calling for zero tolerance for net-zero greenwashing, corporations need to take heed. Claiming to be “green” or “net zero” whilst continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel supplies is wholly incompatible with the Climate Action Acceleration Agenda, hindering real progress. Corporations engaged in greenwashing - either by providing a false picture of progress or by being selective in their disclosure – might find themselves unwelcome at the Summit. But they could also be putting themselves at growing legal risk.?

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At ClientEarth, we have a strong track record in using the law to tackle greenwashing, which began with a precedent-setting complaint against BP. In 2019, we lodged a world-first legal complaint alleging BP’s global ‘Keep Advancing’ and ‘Possibilities Everywhere’ ad campaigns misled the public by focusing on BP’s low carbon energy products, when mor e than 96% of BP’s annual spend was on oil and gas. That led to BP withdrawing its advertisements. Today, we have a series of live actions against KLM, Total, Danone and others.? Longer term, we hope to see harmful fossil fuel ads banned - as happened with tobacco.???

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The UN’s ‘Race to Zero’ campaign includes more than a thousand firms that have set ambitions to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but many of them have not yet disclosed some form of Paris-alignment or net zero target in their annual reporting, highlighting the gap between ambition and action. So there’s an urgent need to move towards a more credible and accountable system to reach net zero targets, which is why ClientEarth works to clarify the law and provide legal guidance for companies who want to lead the way.?

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None of this is easy, but there are companies who are leading the way in the transition to net zero - and will reap the first-mover advantage. There is no solution to this crisis without the corporate world pulling in the right direction, and credible plans and targets, along with greater transparency, are critical in driving the change we need to see.???