The company facing the challenge of climate change

The active involvement of the business world plays a crucial role in protecting the environment, facing major challenges such as the fight against climate change, the protection of biodiversity and respect for the environment and the management of waste through the promotion of the circular economy.

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For years, we have been talking about the importance of the role of companies in the fight to curb climate change and the negative impact that we generate as a society on the environment. But it hasn't been until recent years, driven by the pandemic, scientific consensus and financial analysts, that companies haven't become aware of the real risk that climate poses to their business models.  

The 2015 Paris Agreement marked an indisputable milestone in this direction, further reinforced by COP26, and the institutions committed themselves to curb the rise in global temperature below 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

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Objectives to 2030 to curb climate change

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Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030, and be net zero by 2050. In this direction, the European Union has made an ambitious commitment with the objective of bringing the continent to carbon neutrality by 2050 with the European Green Deal.

In this context, companies have a limited time to act. All sectors in all markets must be transformed.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030, and be net zero by 2050

There are different international climate action initiatives that are setting the pace to support companies on their path to net zero. Among them, the initiative stands out Science Based Targets, which makes it possible to determine how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change by setting short-term to net-zero objectives.

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Scope 3 emissions, the big obstacle 

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A path, without a doubt, not without difficulty. Achieving net zero does not only mean acting on scope 1 and 2 of A company's emissions, but also about its scope 3, those emissions that come from a company's supply chain and, therefore, over which it has indirect control.

Scope 3 emissions are those that come from the supply chain and, therefore, over which the company has indirect control

For this, not only will adequate supply chain management be necessary, but a profound economic transformation is necessary throughout the business sector. This will be driven by technological advances and the redefinition of the energy sector worldwide, which will increase the maturity of the integration of sustainability in companies of all sizes.

The process of transformation in which the business sector finds itself is unstoppable. Many large companies have already started to Lead the way and the risk of inaction can even have an impact on their survival.

However, it's not just large companies that need to be transformed. It is also necessary to adopt urgent measures by SMEs that, due to their own operating context, are facing an unquestionable challenge that they will have to solve in the coming years.