Stocktake: Cop26: Companies under pressure for action

Global politicians paraded their climate credentials at the Cop26 summit last week, but the burden of implementing change is about to shift to corporations.

That's according to a Deutsche Bank report which notes companies are growing increasingly concerned by climate risks, with mentions of the words "ESG" and "cost" in corporate documents jumping in the last two quarters.

Corporate concern is rational, because companies are “massive polluters” – the top 40 polluters in Europe (and also in America) emit roughly the same amount of carbon as all of Africa, and about a third more than all the countries in South America combined.

Pushing corporate responsibility for the environment is also popular with voters. Surveys show people feel large companies are not “pulling their weight”, while consumers are “increasingly happy” to boycott company products if they see bad press regarding their environmental behaviour.

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In reality, “positive first steps” have already been taken. A 2021 report showed 337 large companies globally reduced emissions by a quarter between 2015 and 2019, while the median European company has decarbonised operations by almost half since the financial crisis.

More change is coming. “Post-Cop,” says Deutsche Bank, “firms will be pushed via policy or social pressure to spend more to mitigate climate change.”