Tokyo, 3 November 2022 – At the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) annual Council Meeting, that took place in Tokyo last week, two partnerships to mobilize business leadership and collaboration on climate action for systems transformation were announced.
As announced by State Minister Mr Nakatani Shinichi, the Japanese Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will leverage the business guidance on avoided emissions developed by WBCSD and its member companies, due for release early next year, ahead of the G7 meeting hosted by Japan. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3) remains the top priority for business in line with net-zero targets. However, avoided emissions – emissions savings that occur outside a company's value chain – offer an additional means to accelerate decarbonization through the development of products and services in line with a 1.5°C pathway.
State Minister Mr Nakatani Shinichi, METI, states: “It is critical to accelerate innovation and to promote finance for climate positive action. We believe that avoided emissions will be a key driver in doing so. In this way, we can scale the incentive for companies to offer products and services in this direction and expand their avoided emissions with global mitigation as a result. Releasing guidance on avoided emissions will ensure the credibility of this concept. Through the partnership with WBCSD, we can get a critical mass of ambitious businesses involved now, and in the future, to ensure true progress and impact towards a net-zero society.”
Additionally, Hana Al Hashimi from the Office of the Climate Envoy for Climate Change addressed the Council Meeting participants about the importance of climate action by business leaders towards COP27 in Egypt in November 2022 and COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2023.
Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General COP28 UAE, has formally welcomed WBCSD to host its annual Council Meeting in the UAE next year, in conjunction with COP28 UAE. In this way, WBCSD will mobilize the voice of progressive business and ensure the important stocktaking COP of next year will be supported by business leadership and action.
Peter Bakker, President and CEO, WBCSD, states: “While the urgency for action was clear already, the latest science by scientists like Dr Johan Rockström confirmed that 4 of the 15 tipping points will be irreversible at 1.5°C, meaning that we have less than eight years to make system wide transformation happen. The announcements of today underline the importance of collaboration – not just among business but throughout value chains and with all stakeholders including governments – to get systems transformation done.”
“Just like climate action needs all attention to be able to survive in the coming eight years, so do nature and equity action. WBCSD at the Council Meeting highlighted the need to move business leaders from commitments to accountability. Soon, we will announce more business progress on this, following the success of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures initiative that, driven by Japanese leadership, is showing that transparency and accountability can move beyond borders and sectors, to navigate global change.”
During WBCSD’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), that also took place in Tokyo this week, WBCSD’s new composition for its 2023-2024 Executive Committee (ExCo) got announced, uniting 21 of the most progressive business leaders to help WBCSD member companies and businesses and stakeholders around the world in navigating through the systems transformation.
Ilham Kadri, CEO, Solvay & Chair of WBCSD’s ExCo; Alan Jope, CEO, Unilever & Vice Chair of WBCSD’s ExCo; Peter Oosterveer, CEO, Arcadis; Catharine MacGregor, CEO, ENGIE; Nadir Godrej, Managing Director, Godrej Industries; Jan Jenisch, CEO, Holcim; Florent Menegaux, CEO, Michelin; Liu Hongbin, Vice President, Sinopec; and Shigeru Hayakawa, Vice Chair, Toyota, will continue their terms.
Four ExCo members got re-appointed for another 2-year term: Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Group; Geraldine Matchett, Co-CEO & CFO and Member of the Managing Board, DSM; Takahito Tokita, CEO Fujitsu; and Annica Bresky, President and CEO, Stora Enso.
And eight new members will join the ExCo: Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO, Arçelik; Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, CEO, CMPC; Michele Parmelee, Deputy Global CEO, Deloitte; Michael Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO, EDP; Laurent Freixe, CEO Latin America, Nestlé; Tengku Taufik, CEO, PETRONAS; Stefaan Decraene, (incoming) CEO, Rabobank; and Sinead Gorman, CFO, Shell plc.
