INTEGRITY MATTERS: NET ZERO COMMITMENTS BY BUSINESSES, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, CITIES AND REGIONS

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Context: Non-state actors investing in new fossil fuel supply or engaging in deforestation and other environmentally destructive activities cannot claim to be net zero, according to a new report launched at Sharm El-Sheikh.

Details:

• The document, launched by a High-level Expert Group at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27)to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, lists 10 recommendations for non-state actors.
• These actors include businesses, financial institutions, cities and regions. The recommendations can help bring integrity, transparency and accountability to such actors’ net zero ambitions, according to the document titled Integrity Matters: Net Zero Commitments By Businesses, Financial Institutions, Cities and Regions.
• UN President had established the High-level Expert Group at COP26 in Glasgowlast year to address credibility issues with net zero pledges and commitments from these entities.

Recommendations:

• The path towards net zero by non-state actors should align with science
• Small and medium enterprises(SME) provide 50 per cent of employment. It is risky if SMEs do not have the financing and technical ability to reduce emissions
• It is also critical to include a just transition plan in the path towards net zero.
• Indigenous people are not included in conversations on net zero. Just transition is intertwined in serval different recommendations provided in the report
• Non-state actors must also make their progress public with verified information. This should be compared with other counterparts to ensure the climate accounting is honest and transparent.
• Non-state actors purchasing cheap credits rather than immediately cutting their own emissions across their value chain is a red flag.
• By 2025, businesses, financial institutions, cities and regions must ensure that their operations and supply chains don’t contribute to deforestation, peatland loss and the destruction of the remaining natural ecosystems
• Entities should not lobby to undermine ambitious government climate policies directly or through trade associations or other bodies.
• The report called for a task force on net zero regulations on the net zero path.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/cop27-non-state-actors-can-t-destroy-the-environment-yet-claim-to-be-net-zero-says-report-85854