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‘Rank deception’ UN chief slams corporate greenwashing at Cop27

With immediate looming headlines around COP27 such as ‘World is on ‘highway to climate hell’, UN chief warns at Cop27 summit’, and growing disillusionment at the UNFCCC process itself, which teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg recently described as a “scam”, it can be hard to find stories about positive change and technological advances and breakthrough.

Leaders from almost 200 nations will gather in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh from Nov 6 to 18 to hammer out details of how countries can take climate action under the Paris Agreement.

Identifying where actionable, sustainable improvements can be made in business is a challenge, says Rio’s Dan Botterill. (Photo by Thibault Renard via iStock)

 Zero Emissions Day has been designed to give the world a break from fossil fuels and to raise awareness about the harm caused by carbon emissions. The goal is to engage people towards more climate-friendly choices in their personal life.

GHG Protocol basics: Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting

If you are based in the UK, SECR, which stands for Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting, will be an acronym that you see included in the plethora of sustainability frameworks and terms. With SECR compliance, businesses must annually report and disclose their energy and carbon information.

CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) is known as the gold standard for environmental disclosure and runs the largest environmental reporting system globally. Over 590 investors with over US$110 trillion in assets specifically request companies to disclose through the CDP framework. The CDP framework is used by investors, companies, government bodies, cities, states and regions across the world.

What is GRESB?

The Global ESG Benchmark for Real Assets, known as GRESB, is an investor-led organisation that assesses and benchmarks the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of real estate and infrastructure entities. 

What are science-based targets?

The term science-based targets most commonly refers to goals that organisations develop for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.