Let’s make 2023 the year of innovation for climate, people and nature
Guido Alfani, General Manager / Carbonsink & Head of Southern Europe, Climate Solutions / South Pole
2022 saw a marked increase in awareness of the urgency of climate action, with net-zero commitments now covering over 90% of global GDP. Whilst more and more companies are setting emission reduction targets and including decarbonisation plans in their short- and long-term strategies, governments are also creating a more favourable legislative space to support net zero targets. The expansion and regulation of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) is expression of this growing search for tools that enable us to take action today to avoid a systemic climate crisis in the future.
However, progress is too slow. Geopolitical instability and the real possibility of a long-term economic stagnation mark this time in history, making climate action more complex to achieve, and shifting the focus to shorter-term and less ambitious climate targets than those needed to align with the Paris goals, as our Net Zero Readiness Index shows. This tension, however, should not make us lose sight of the importance of a dialogue between the two perspectives: acting today through a drastic reduction in emissions must necessarily sit within a broader vision, in order to gain solidity and strategic relevance in a rapidly changing global framework. More needs to be done and we need do to it, necessarily, all together.
In this context, Carbonsink and South Pole look forward to 2023 as a time to accelerate climate action on all fronts, under their joint motto – True climate impact for all. By innovating climate consultancy and facilitating access to climate action for all businesses, we will focus on achieving tangible impact for climate, biodiversity and the sustainable development of communities that are most vulnerable to the climate crisis, through our mitigation projects supported by VCM climate finance.
Throughout this year and the years to come, we will strive to support private sector climate action, minimising climate change risks and turning them into new business opportunities. We will continue to guide companies in defining sound, science-based, long-term climate strategies to reduce emissions along and beyond the supply chain, and offset residual emissions appropriately, through the use of certified carbon credits – a solution within reach for companies wanting to take action today, towards tomorrow’s net zero.
The climate finance opportunity represented by the voluntary carbon markets is enormous. Carbon credits sold through these markets have already channelled billions of dollars in funding to promote verifiable climate change mitigation, often ahead of government regulation. This is where climate action meets development: if done right, the VCM can provide significant financing, technical capacity and sustainable development benefits, helping support the global transition to a low-emissions future, in line with climate science and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
We will increasingly focus on new technologies, both by investing in the development of high-tech mitigation projects, and by developing digital solutions to give all businesses access to climate action. The recent launch of our Digital Climate Solutions is just the beginning of a journey that over the next few years will see more innovation as added value to our strategic advisory services, and the involvement of large and small private sector companies that want to make a difference for climate.
True climate impact for all means this – a change we are achieving all together, and we are achieving now, for climate, people and nature.
Contact us to start your climate journey and join us for a tangible climate impact.
