I was at the ACCA/KPMG Climate Change Challenge event the other evening. I was there with captains of industry, entrepreneurs, leading practitioners and experts in accounting, business and climate change.
I came away challenged. On one hand there was a total acceptance of the basis of the science. Sure, as our enquiry widens and we become cleverer at piecing together inherently complex issues like climate change, we will improve on the detail. But the contention that humans are inducing climate change to a degree which warrants immediate attention and action simply wasn’t a matter for debate.
On the other hand, there was a lack of consensus on the speed and scale of change that’s needed to prevent the most adverse consequences predicted.
There were widely differing opinions on appropriate responses in regulation, innovation and allowing the market to adapt. Incremental energy efficiency improvements were universally accepted as a good thing. But a stand-off emerged between those taking the position that markets will adapt and sort it out andothers who advocate a complete revolution in the way we do business and conduct our lives.
The challenge in my eyes is scaling up our responses; viewing climate change as an opportunity to reconsider how we do things, how businesses and governments measure and deliver value. Change has to be sold as an opportunity to revalue our economic system. We must value the changes we want to see and account for this in all business transactions. Concerns about the dangers of taking unilateral action need turning on their head. A cultural change of some magnitude is required.
Business, policy makers and individuals can rise to the challenge if measures of success are aligned to decarbonising our economy – and if business sees this as an opportunity.
Tags: climate change, dave knight, sustainability
it is very evident that climate change is already taking effect in this decade;,.
Climate Change is really scary, now we have super typhoons and a lot of flooding going on some countries..`*,
Nice to see all the toadies telling each other the “science is settled” – same thing that the flat earthers tell each other or the “creationists”.
Really sad to see AGW adherents behaving like religious zealots….
We are still in the very early days of taking action to reduce climate change. Many of the actions we need to take will question our current way of doing things and I doubt this will occur without a push from the general population. The top down approach we have at the moment will only be part of the solution.