New tool to help drive low-carbon business decisions in wake of ‘Paris Agreement’
Businesses can now keep track of climate policies affecting their operations and supply chains using a freely available online tool, the Climate Policy Tracker, launched today.
Since the historic UN climate change deal was signed in Paris by 195 countries in 2015, policymakers have been implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at scale and transforming the regulatory landscape for business, sector by sector.
According to a study from the London School of Economics, 1,200 climate laws have already been adopted across the globe, compared to 60 two decades ago.
Companies that want to remain competitive in the transition to the low-carbon economy can use the new tool to keep track of this new wave of regulation. Those businesses that do so can be more strategic in their investment decisions and benefit most from the innovation, risk management, competitiveness and growth opportunities that the transition offers.
Businesses can use the tracker to search for the most relevant policies to them, filtered by geography and sector, revealing critical information to factor into their strategic planning. The Climate Policy Tracker was developed by We Mean Business, a global coalition of nonprofit organizations, working with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change and BSR, a global nonprofit organization and policy specialist, working with over 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world.
By using the tracker, companies can determine actions they can take to reduce regulatory risk – drawing on the We Mean Business coalition’s Take Action campaign. Businesses that sign up to the campaign are among an ever-growing group of companies already taking bold climate action like setting science-based emissions reduction targets, switching to renewable energy sources and increasing energy productivity.
David Wei, BSR’s Director of Climate said: “The scale and ambition of climate policies is increasing. For company leaders who want to ensure they’re ahead of the curve in the transition to the low-carbon economy, this tracker will be incredibly useful. The goal is to help companies seize one of this century’s most significant business opportunities and make it easier to align with the implementation of the Paris Agreement.”
The tracker was designed in consultation with a group of stakeholder companies.
Kevin Rabinovitch, Global Sustainability Director at Mars said: “As business actions to combat climate change continue to escalate, it’s important to stay apprised of relevant policies around the world. A real-time, reliable, open-source platform with national and local policy details is a real asset for planning and decision-making.”
David Hone, Chief Climate Change Adviser at Shell said: “I welcome the launch of the Climate Policy Tracker – as it gives information on how the laws affect us and what the rules are. We can use this to do an assessment relevant to our own operations.”
The tool currently includes business-relevant policies from the EU, South Korea, India, Japan, China, the UK, Brazil, the US and South Africa. More countries, and eventually city and state policies, will also be included over time to avoid the need for companies to check multiple sources.
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