The continued drive for corporate decarbonization is imperative

Looking back at 2023, the signs of climate change were all around. The State of Global Climate report from the World Meteorological Organization states that 2023 was the hottest year on record by “a clear margin,” while records were broken around ocean heat, sea level rise and glacier retreat. On an average day last year, nearly a third of the global ocean was in a state of marine heatwave – wreaking havoc on everything from marine life to weather patterns.

The impact of climate change has been seen in terms of human deaths, floods, heatwaves, wildfires and rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones. Up to half a million indigenous people were affected as waterways on the Amazon river dried up, leaving communities stranded without access to fuel, food and drinking water. Scientists have said the 2023 summer floods in the Mediterranean which fell so badly on Greece, Türkiye and Libya, were made up to 50 times more likely by climate change.

The changes are no temporary aberration, as it has been the warmest ten-year period on record. In fact, the UN has warned that the world is now more likely than not to breach the 1.5°C limit by 2027. We must now fight harder than ever to keep the 1.5°C ambition alive.

Against this backdrop it can be a struggle to stay optimistic and proactive. However, if we are to be able to sleep at night when we think about the world we will pass on to our children, it is more important than ever that we retain our agency, and pursue radical change in thought and deed.

There are green shoots of promise, from the COP28 deal making an unprecedented call to “transition away” from fossil fuels, to the UN’s adoption of the world’s first treaty to protect the high seas and preserve marine biodiversity.

The SBTi’s own efforts, highlighted in our Monitoring Report 2023, have also meant that more corporations, financial institutions and SMEs than ever before have set science-based targets.

It is imperative that we continue this work to drive corporate decarbonization, with drive, perseverance, and most of all, optimism.

By placing our faith in science we can make a measurable difference, harnessing innovation to drive change.

Find out how you can be a part of that change today.