Climate change and inequality are two of the biggest challenges of our time. Tackling one without the other is increasingly seen as not an option, including for business. The Business and Climate Justice Framework helps businesses identify both the opportunities of putting people at the centre of their climate ambitions and the risks of inaction.
Climate change and inequality are two of the biggest challenges of our time. Tackling one without the other is increasingly seen as not an option, including for business. The Business and Climate Justice Framework helps businesses identify both the opportunities of putting people at the centre of their climate ambitions and the risks of inaction.
Speaking ahead of last year's COP26 UN Special Envoy Mark Carney stated that “Achieving net zero emissions will require a whole economy transition – every company, every bank, every insurer and investor will have to adjust their business models”.
There is no doubt that businesses increasingly recognise that a failure to adapt to climate change means they will fail to exist. More and more companies are joining the Race to Zero and the Science Based Targets Initiative and are striving to lower their emissions, but, to quote Dr Tara Shine, “there is a danger that by only thinking in terms of gases and science we fail to recognise that climate change is fundamentally about people”.
People have caused climate change, and people need to find urgent solutions to fix climate change. Climate change’s impact on people is also unfair and unjust. The latest UN climate change report made clear that 40% of the world’s population is currently ‘highly vulnerable’ to climate change impacts - and most of them live in places least responsible for causing climate change. The recent floods in Pakistan for example, affected 60-80% of one cotton growing area, destroying the livelihoods of the many thousands of farmers that depend on the crop, and threatening global supply chains.
Climate change and inequality are two of the biggest challenges of our time. Tackling one without the other is increasingly seen as not an option, including for business. As Lisa Manley from Mars has written ‘As we progress our Net Zero Commitment and our Cocoa for Generations plan it is becoming clear that the two issues are inextricably linked’.
However, few resources currently exist to help companies identify and measure the social impacts of their climate commitments. This is why Business Fights Poverty, Change By Degrees and the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School have collaborated to develop further our Business and Climate Justice Framework, first published in March 2021. We have drawn from the experience shared by the Business Fights Poverty community at a series of events at COP26 and beyond. The Framework aims to help businesses identify both the opportunities of putting people at the centre of their climate ambitions and the risks of inaction.
If any of the following questions resonate this tool could help you:
And if none of the above resonates, fear not; the tool will help identify where climate and social issues intersect – because they always will. In our experience of using the tool with companies, it has helped uncover previously undiscovered opportunities to collaborate across environmental and social teams and beyond.
The framework can be visualised as a 3x7 axis. On one axis sit the three spheres of influence a business can use, a framework developed by Jane Nelson at Harvard Kennedy School: core business (including operations and supply chains), philanthropy (including community investments), and policy influence. On the other axis sit the 7 main principles of climate justice, which are based on the Mary Robinson Foundation principles but have been adapted for a business audience. Unpacking the concept in this way has helped companies understand the term and how it is applicable across the business. And, by taking a comprehensive look across the business it can help identify where and why climate justice is of material importance to a company.
The seven principles include the following and are illustrated with different examples:
By assessing themselves against the framework, a company can better understand what they are and are not doing on climate justice and where they can add real value. No one principle is inherently ‘better’ than another, and a company is not expected to be undertaking actions against each principle. Rather, it is the combination of activity and the intent behind it that determines whether, as the accompanying diagnostic tool shows, you are a Beginner, Learner or Leader. As yet, despite a lot of encouraging progress by companies including through initiatives that focus on integrating a social element, such as ‘Transform to Net Zero’, we are unaware of any ‘leaders’.
Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before initiatives like the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures integrate social dimensions. And as analysts have noted, more regulated and consistent ESG reporting is accelerating globally. By applying the Climate Justice Framework, companies will be on the front foot when agreed metrics become a reality.
If you’d like to find out more about Business and Climate Justice, I invite you to join the Business Fights Poverty community at a series of interactive hybrid workshops during COP27. Our Climate Justice Summit, 9-10 November 2022, is broadcasting live from Sharm-El-Sheikh and Cairo. We’ll explore what more we can do to drive partnerships and solutions for climate justice: how we can apply a social equity lens to climate thinking and action. We’ll be bringing together experts and practitioners from business, government and civil society to share the latest thinking on what’s working, and what’s not, and to make important new connections to drive action. Register to join us online, and apply for a place to join us in person.
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