Dr Pooja Khosla, Vice President Client Development at Entelligent, responds to the Committee for Climate Change’s annual progress report to Parliament, released today.
“The Progress report published by the Committee for Climate Change today is a highly constructive development, but it also highlights the gap between the UK government’s current efforts, the level of risk faced, and the level of adaptation underway. Like rest of the world, the UK is behind the pace with the worsening reality of climate change risk, and enshrining the policies that can tackle it.
“Climate change is always presented as a tomorrow’s problem from a risk perspective, and it’s no different in this report – we see the same, long-term risk evaluations, commitments and planning. Instead of what should be done tomorrow, we want to see low hanging fruits that can drive the transition today on a green recovery after Covid-19. Immediate opportunities and actions are missing from this report. It is now time see climate opportunity reports, instead of risk and progress reports. This way we can build a roadmap of actions that would successfully facilitate Net Zero transitions.
“For this, work is needed on clarifying definitions, measurements and standardisations. This process call for the involvement of all stakeholders. It is encouraging to see regulators like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) showing real leadership on climate reporting and disclosures. But we also require the contribution of companies, investors, consumers, and scientific communities. It is very important that these definitions of ‘green sustainability’ build up a just and inclusive pathway towards a green recovery across the business and policy ecosystem. Such transitions are expensive, but collaboration can drive down this ‘Green Premium’. We need reports focused on addressing how this Green Premium can be minimised to attract further impactful investment towards equitable climate transitions.”