China’s climate commitments mark a historic precedent

The announcement at the UN General Assembly by Chinese President Xi Jinping that China would commit to become carbon neutral by 2060 and ensure its greenhouse gas emissions would peak by 2030, marks a historic precedent. Read WBCSD President & CEO Peter Bakker’s insights on the significance of this announcement but also the road ahead to achieve net-zero.

Building forward better: Accelerating business momentum toward a net-zero future

With a just over a year to COP26, business and governments are under increasing pressure to pair our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with breakthrough actions to achieve net-zero emissions. Companies united as members of WBCSD will be supported in this critical agenda by Claire O’Neill, who has been appointed WBCSD’s Managing Director for Climate & Energy.

Climate and nature: key pillars for a just recovery from COVID-19

WBCSD Managing Directors Diane Holdorf and Claire O’Neill delve into the reasons why the climate and nature crises are inextricably linked. Business and governments must commit actions that build resilience and ensure the people and planet on which business depends can thrive.

Keeping the energy transition on track: What’s next for power purchase agreements and business leadership in renewable energy?

To overcome COVID-19 setbacks, we need to double down on accelerating the renewable energy transition. Economic stimulus packages announced by countries around the globe will provide much needed investment but can only go so far. Our colleague Lucy Hunt looks at the role renewable power purchase agreements must play in our recovery and can keep the energy transition on track.

Building long term business resilience: Learning lessons from COVID-19

WBCSD has released an issue brief exploring early business responses to COVID-19, making recommendations on how companies can build greater long-term resilience through improved approaches to corporate risk management, human & social capital, and ESG information.

Our COVID-19 response can make our cities more resilient to heat waves

By including urban environments into resilience strategies, we could react to multiple threats simultaneously, argue Mattias Goldmann, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sweco, and Roland Hunziker, WBCSD’s Director of Sustainable Buildings and Cities.

New policy framework drives commitment to sustainable natural rubber production, sourcing

Members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) approved a members’ sustainability policy framework and the creation of a new membership category for smallholder producers of natural rubber. The newly approved policy framework will help GPSNR member companies, who account for almost 50% of global natural rubber volume, to establish or update strong supply chain sustainability commitments through their natural rubber purchasing policies, on all aspects of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social.

WBCSD supports the development of landmark SDG report focused on US Agriculture

U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action, together with WBCSD, published a new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Roadmap report to providing an initial mapping of U.S. agriculture’s performance against the SDGs and identifies how the U.S. agriculture sector can continue to build greater resiliency while delivering business value through addressing risks and opening up new growth markets. This long-term vision is even more necessary to address the enduring impacts from COVID-19 and social disruption related to inequity and inequality.

Wastewater Zero: A call to action for business to raise ambition for SDG 6.3

Industrial wastewater pollution is a key water risk for businesses and its operations. The cost of ‘business as usual’ far outweighs the cost of action to fix the problems linked to industrial wastewater pollution and misses opportunities for business to make progress on biodiversity, climate change and water security to achieve the SDGs. This new WBCSD report provides a six-point action framework for businesses to address the problem of industrial wastewater pollution.

COVID-19 outlook for electric vehicles in India

Like many other markets, the electric vehicle market in India has been hit hard by the pandemic. While managing the immediate effects of the crisis, companies and governments also need to build resilience to upcoming shocks. This article takes stock of the recent market developments and proposes a trajectory for building forward better.

Advancing electrification of ride-hailing in India

WBCSD has launched a new report documenting the electric vehicle (EV) deployment experience of India’s first all-electric car ride-hailing company – BluSmart. The report highlights key learnings and practical steps for businesses to adopt and scale electric fleets. By outlining the business case for EV adoption in the ride-hailing market, this resource is an important tool for building capacity in the early phase of India’s clean mobility transition.