NOTe have a wealth of data showing the reality of climate change caused by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels. Dramatic measures are therefore needed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions now.
Surprisingly, very little data exists on the exact amount of emissions for which companies are responsible. It is therefore difficult to identify those who are turning to cleaner energies or who take climate risks into account in their activities.
Yet it is a key to the fight against climate change. Without this data, there is no way for individuals to hold companies to account, for investors to direct capital to sustainable investing, or for policy makers to design informed and effective green planning.
An open platform
As we know, companies are suspected of empty rhetoric and “greenwashing” when they announce audacious environmental objectives without being transparent about how they are going to achieve them. To remove doubts and allow us to move forward effectively, collectively, we must go beyond criticism and create the conditions for companies to communicate the data that will allow their actions to be measured. Easier said than done.
While more than five hundred financial companies representing 40% of global assets under management have committed to reducing net emissions from investment portfolios to zero through the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the lack of data needed to do so is a challenge.
Indeed, if a bank finances a power station, a car factory or a chain of supermarkets, it contributes to finance the emissions generated by each company and their supply chains. But at present, the amount of emissions generated by each of these companies is not known, and so this bank has little leverage to incentivize companies to reduce them. She also does not know if these companies have plans to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels or to tackle the risks linked to climate change.
To remedy this situation and encourage economic and political actors to walk the talk and eliminate excuses for inaction, we propose to create an open platform to collect and standardize corporate climate data. This one-stop shop will allow investors and insurers – or anyone else – to find reliable data on a company’s emissions and how it is or is not reducing them. This transparent data portal will make it possible to compare companies, a very difficult task today, and to help assess the climate risks that these companies face.
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