Is corporate climate action a good thing?

Climate change, an issue once preoccupying primarily policymakers and campaigners, is now high on the agenda for corporate executives. With pressure from customers, employees and investors rising, the corporate climate movement is gathering pace. As such, leading companies have made net-zero pledges and strategic investments in green technology.

As a deeply systemic issue, tackling climate change calls for collective action. Thus, an arguably more influential role for industry leaders is to help create a policy environment conducive to unified actions through climate lobbying.

Examples such as the public support for the European Green New Deal and tougher EU climate norms from 185 European Chief Executives or the UK Electric Fleets Coalition which aims to create a policy environment conducive to 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030, have suggested that such policy engagement can help to level the playing field, and provide clarity at a policy level, reassuring businesses to make long-term climate commitments.

In light of this increased corporate political engagement on climate change, commentators argue it is imperative that advocating firms practice what they preach. Dissonance between words and action risk undermining credibility among policymakers and the public, next to harming the prospect of facilitating progressive policies. This extends to companies’ own policies as well as the trade associations they belong to, a point captured in Principle 3 (Consistency) of the responsible lobbying framework.

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