The headlines from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, published on August 9th, have provided for sombre reading. The study is being described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “code red for humanity”.
The IPCC 6th Assessment Report provides the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, and is based on an assessment of over 14,000 scientific publications. It confirms scientists' previous findings about climate change and provides new estimates of the chances of exceeding 1.5°C of global warming in the coming decades.
The science is clear – we must accelerate action to ensure we stay within the 1.5°C target set out in the Paris Agreement. ERM believes business has an important role to play and we will continue our leadership in the transition to a low carbon future.
ERM is taking a leadership position through:
- Investing in building capability and capacity to support our clients in their energy transitions. This year we have acquired leading companies including Element Energy, E4Tech, RCG, Sustainalize and Arcus with expertise in renewables, low carbon technology solutions and a broad range of climate advisory services;
- Committing to net zero across all of our operations by 2025;
- Adopting a strengthened science based target (SBT) in line with the 1.5 degree trajectory;
- Publishing our Promise to Action series of reports accompanied by webinars through the SustainAbility Institute by ERM. Please join us for our next webinar on 16 September on ‘Translating net zero commitments into the systems change needed to tackle climate change’;
- Participating in the Climate Pledge; Race to Zero; Business Ambition to a 1.5 degree future and other leading industry organizations;
- Taking an active role at COP26 in Glasgow in November; and
- Providing expertise through secondments, research and other engagements to industry and business organizations to build momentum around business action.
We encourage our clients, peers and industry leaders to respond to the urgent need for action and commit to collaborating with key stakeholders across the world.
