We Mean Business Coalition

🌍 This month’s #SignalsOfChange brings you stories of business and policy action towards a just transition from fossil fuels to clean solutions including Malaysia’s #LCAW2024 announcement on retiring all coal-fired power plants. Southern California’s new law mandating the electrification of industrial heating processes, and delivery firm Evri’s plans to triple its e-cargo bike capacity and almost double its electric vehicle fleet over the coming year. Plus, developments in land and nature, global supply chains – and a closer look at what elections across Europe and the launch of the EU’s Strategic Agenda mean for corporate climate action.    👇 Swipe the images below to see more of the stories covered in this month's edition or read now: https://lnkd.in/eaCVk4Zq #ClimateNews

📊 The European Union’s recent adoption of the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD) is a game-changer. This directive, accompanied by its underlying European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), will revolutionize the way businesses report their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. And while reporting against these standards won’t begin until the 2024 reporting cycle, starting from early 2025, the winds of change are already blowing.      From the reporting year 2023, we have begun to see early adopters, who have voluntarily chosen to publish fully or partially in accordance with the CSRD. Even companies slated for compliance after 2024 have eagerly embraced the directive, recognizing the value in adhering to these emerging norms and regulations. ❓ But what exactly does this mean for businesses? How are they navigating this uncharted territory, and what lessons can be gleaned from their experiences? 💡 In our latest report, led by Director of Net Zero Finance, Jane Thostrup Jagd, we highlight 75 innovative solutions from 30 early adopter companies. 🔗 Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eb3j3cAn  #CSRD  

🆕 As a partner of the Science Based Targets Network, we're pleased to announce the release of new and updated guidance for companies to set science-based targets for nature, informed by SBTN’s cohort of pilot companies.    This guidance enhances the feasibility and practicality of SBTN’s methods while maintaining ambition and scientific rigor. It also reinforces that SBTN is closing a critical gap in corporate sustainability    New resources to improve accessibility and drive action have also been introduced, including a comprehensive corporate manual that serves as an entry-point into the technical guidance.    SBTN’s target validation pilot has highlighted key benefits of target-setting, including:    ✅ Increasing ambition and drives science-based action on nature   🤝 Providing credibility and a common language to advance engagement with stakeholders   🧭 Acting as a trusted compass for companies to get to the right solutions    🔗 Explore the latest updates and resources: https://lnkd.in/e_Ezj4BX  #ScienceBasedTargets #NaturePositive 

🆕 The SME Climate Hub, an initiative of the We Mean Business Coalition, co-founded and operated in partnership with the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, has launched their Nordics campaign to help unlock greater opportunities for climate action amongst the region’s 2 million small to medium-sized enterprises.    The campaign strives to empower SMEs with tailored support through the SME Climate Hub’s free tools and resources alongside partnerships with a wide range of businesses, banks, and organizations, including Nordea, Ericsson, Telia, Icebug AB, GoClimate and We Don't Have Time. Together, they will promote the SME Climate Hub among their networks to help accelerate meaningful action and establish the region as a leader in SME climate action.     🔗 Find out more here (available in English and Swedish): https://lnkd.in/dP-KBxgS    #SME #ClimateAction 

The Sustainable Views podcast is back! Returning for a third series, Sustainable Views editor Philippa Nuttall sat down with Sir Ian Cheshire, chair of the We Mean Business Coalition, Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, and María Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition. The group discusses how business climate action has evolved and how companies can step up their actions to reduce emissions. "There's an economic opportunity because this is a new model for how business is going to work [...] The ones that get it right will make more money than the ones that don't," says Cheshire. The latest series of the Sustainable Views podcast is in partnership with the We Mean Business Coalition and available to listen on Acast, Spotify or the SV website! #climateaction #sustainablebusiness #greenwashing https://lnkd.in/eTzD4E2r

We Mean Business Coalition welcomes new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and emphasises the urgent need for the new UK government to begin immediate delivery of a meaningful response to the climate and nature crises, as an integral part of its economic and social plan for the country. Representing 16,000 businesses globally across the Coalition, we know large and small businesses in the UK stand ready to support the new government in driving renewable energy deployment, energy efficiency and working towards a managed phase out of fossil fuels – the principal cause of climate change. UK leadership on climate action has lacked coherence in recent years. The new government has a deep understanding of what is at stake, the scale of the emergency and the economic opportunities that decisive action can bring. The UK is in prime position to regain its place at the forefront of the energy transition.

📃 My new blog on Responsible Policy Engagement (RPE) and the wider corporate climate advocacy landscape. One year on from the launch of the Responsible Policy Engagement Framework, it’s a good time to ask: how has the wider landscape on corporate climate advocacy changed, and what else is needed to help more companies seize the opportunities of climate-positive policy engagement? The RPE Framework has been successful in building awareness and providing tools to companies to improve both the substance and the process of how they advocate, but there is potential to go much further. The We Mean Business Coalition and our partners have a number of relevant RPE workstreams underway to build on the existing framework. These new workstreams are set to raise the bar on how companies advocate, the internal processes they have to do so, and how they report on their activities.  In developing these workstreams, we as a group of organizations have taken on board what we’ve heard from partners and companies working in this space. Namely, the need for alignment and clarity. We aim to avoid competition and confusion, ensuring that our collective work builds on each other’s strengths and amplifies our impact. In this spirit, the blog includes is a summary of the relevant workstreams from WMBC and our partners, and how companies can engage. https://lnkd.in/e-a5D3Sb 🙏 Thanks for your input Tessa Vincent Todd Miller Anne L. Kelly Elisa Leimer Ewan Livingston-Docwra Amy Meyer Clare Everett Amir Sokolowski Jane Thostrup Jagd Mary Whittaker

🆕 Read the latest climate action by businesses and policymakers in this month's #SignalsOfChange 👇 Highlights include: 🌏 Energy Malaysia plans to retire all coal-fired power plants by 2044, one year earlier than projected. 🚚 Transport Evri is investing £19 million to expand its EV fleet by trebling its e-cargo bike capacity and nearly doubling its EV vehicles. 🏗️ Industry Heidelberg issued a green bond as part of its Green Finance Framework. Projects set to be financed by the bond include the modernization of plants to use alternative fuels and expansion of carbon capture technologies. 🏢 Built Environment Bosch is investing €100 million to ramp up the development and production capacity for heat pumps at its Portuguese manufacturing facility by 2026. 🌿 Protecting and Restoring Nature Announced at #LCAW2024, more than 200 investors have joined PRI’s Spring Initiative to start talks with 60 companies over biodiversity, focusing on those active in countries with ecosystems at risk of forest loss and land degradation. 🔗 Discover our monthly in-depth insights and updates by subscribing today: https://lnkd.in/ga3Y8ftd #WMBC

What's the one topic I've noticed has been front and centre at London Climate Action Week? Small and medium sized businesses - from how they access financing to the support they need within large corporate supply chains. When the We Mean Business Coalition initiative, SME Climate Hub, surveyed its community of committed businesses earlier this year, 63% reported they had not been asked by any stakeholder to reduce emissions. There is a real opportunity for stakeholders, including large corporates, financial institutions and all organisations working with SMEs, to mobilize the SMEs in their value chains and networks. To help with this, we’ve released two new resources on the SME Climate Hub: - Mobilize your SMEs – guidance and ideas on how to mobilize SMEs in your value chains and networks through the SME Climate Hub https://lnkd.in/es2WdqbV - Our SMEs – where any stakeholder can easily track the progress of our SME commitments and reporting https://lnkd.in/ePNnP64g Check out the new tools today! #WMBC #LCAW

📢 Now in its sixth year, London Climate Action Week 2024 marks the midpoint in the global climate calendar. With this in mind, the We Mean Business Coalition team engaged in a dynamic discussion on how to catalyze change both immediately and in the future across multiple areas:      With #SMEs front and center in discussions, Lydia Elliott joined in discussions at "Financing corporate transitions: increase access to climate finance through supply chains" at PwC. Large corporates, financial institutions and NGOs discussed the best ways to connect SMEs in supply chain up to different types of financing to enable climate action. Noting in the most recent SME Climate Hub survey 73% of SMEs need funds to start or accelerate their emissions reductions.      🗣️ Meanwhile, Dominic Gogol joined Aligning Associations with Climate Ambition where a key topic of discussion was how to equip businesses with clear guidance on engaging their business associations on positive climate policy engagement. We worked with High-Level Climate Champions #RaceToZero, Exponential Roadmap Initiative and a range of partners to develop and launch the ‘Business Associations Climate Action Guide’ for the purpose of raising awareness on the role of business associations in shaping climate policy (🔗 https://lnkd.in/ewCvf8e2).     On Wednesday, we hosted our flagship event, bringing together leaders from the business, climate, and philanthropy sectors to exchange solutions and address challenging issues. With thanks to Maria Netto, Jeremy Oppenheim, Shelley Lawson, Thomas Lingard, Celine Herweijer, Eliot Whittington and many others for sharing their insights during our roundtable discissions.      🤝 Our CEO, María Mendiluce, joined the “Turning COP28 commitments into action” panel with Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29 Nigar Arpadarai, H.E. Ambassador Majid Al-Suwaidi and Sir Jim Skea at the Climate Action | Innovation Forum 2024. María said “80% of people want their politicians to act on climate. This is clearly not the time to stall on transitioning away from #fossilfuels in a just and orderly manner”.       Callie Stinson, joined discussions on overcoming hesitation about investing in nature-based carbon credits at the Nature4Climate Positive Hub with partners.      💡 As we head towards #ClimateWeekNYC and #COP29, we will keep building on the momentum to accelerate the transition from #FossilToClean, guide both multinationals and SMEs to overcome barriers to action, advocate for investments in nature and collaborate to decarbonize supply chains. #LCAW2024 #WMBC