Ambition to action: our FT series finale
After months of build up, the United Nation’s climate conference COP26 starts next week. The conference is the most significant international climate event since the Paris Agreement was agreed in December 2015, and its outcome will impact business – and our planet – for years to come.
This year, in the countdown to COP, we’ve been collaborating with leading businesses to shine a light on the board’s role in ensuring every business has a net zero plan. Our series of full-page adverts has been running in the print version of the Financial Times, and features some of the UK’s most recognisable businesses from a range of sectors.
There has been an expectation that companies should announce a net zero commitment before COP. The next question for these companies will be how they can translate those ambitions into action, and develop a plan that will help to make net zero a reality.
Moving from ambition to action
Our advert series has culminated in one last message ahead of COP26, printed in today’s FT. That message is:
Our final advert
Every company must take ambitious steps to tackle climate change. Boards are vital to ensuring their companies have a roust net zero plan - and that they put that plan into action.
The advert spaces have been donated by the Financial Times as part of a New Agenda Partnership, following the launch of their Climate Capital Hub.
What’s next?
Throughout this campaign we have been putting a spotlight on the role of the board in the climate conversation. As the series has progressed our membership has increased 33%, showing just how important this conversation is for boardrooms at the moment.
Boards and their businesses are facing many uncertainties and complex challenges. But as they take on these challenges, learn, innovate and collaborate, the clearer the path to net zero will be.
At Chapter Zero we’re committed to helping our non-executive director members discuss the risks and opportunities of climate change in the boardroom and help to progress net zero plans with their businesses. Do join us – you can sign up here.
The full series
Our series has highlighted the breadth of companies that now have a net zero plan and showcased their commitment to achieving them.
Take a lookRelated Content
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Chapter Zero has partnered with Freshfields and the Centre for Climate Engagement to explore climate-related legal questions with non-executive directors from across the UK. The series began in September 2023 with a session providing an overview of the interaction between climate change, legal issues and business, and then focusing on legacy risks to companies, including litigation, and how they can be mitigated. Below is a summary of the second session which explored the landscape of legal issues that organisations face in daily operations and when implementing climate strategy, identifying key legal considerations at the forefront of transition planning.
Moving boards to action
In 2023, Chapter Zero partnered with McKinsey for a three-part event series that explored the impact non-executive directors (NEDs) can have in the boardroom to help their organisations achieve net zero. The second session, held on 21 September, explored how non-executive directors can navigate the net zero transition to shape and implement credible climate strategies. We have summarised below the key takeaways of this event.
Mary Ethna Black: Inspiration and the power of positive stories
In the third blog of her seven-part series on being a climate-active non-executive director, Chapter Zero Fellow Dr Mary Ethna Black looks at inspiration and the power of positive stories.
