Climate emergency roundtable fosters business action

UTS Business school recently hosted the Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA) ‘Climate Emergency’ roundtable, to foster ambitious action from the business sector that meaningfully combats the growing climate emergency.

Leading climate scientist, Distinguished Professor Michael E. Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Centre at Pennsylvania State University, addressed the roundtable, noting that Australia’s horrific bushfires could be a psychological tipping point to climate action.

“Australia is clearly on the frontline of dealing with the impacts of climate change, but it is also on the frontlines of dealing with climate change denial and delay,” said Professor Mann, highlighting the role of some sections of the media in stymying climate action and misrepresenting the science.

Former NSW premier and foreign minister of Australia, UTS Industry Professor of Business and Climate Change Bob Carr, also spoke at the roundtable, noting that after a summer of mega-fires, there had been a dramatic shift in thinking about climate change, particularly from business.

“No business can now treat climate as a problem for the next generation of directors, decades off. The mega-fires confirm global warming is smack on the agenda, for currently serving directors and chief executives,” he recently wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Professor Carr provided insights on the challenge of helping communities embrace the transition to zero-carbon, including the need to highlight opportunities that arise from diversification, as well as the importance of policy and regulatory developments to aid transition.

Other roundtable attendees included senior corporate executives and members of the GCNA from a range of sectors including banking and finance, retail, mining, agriculture, manufacturing and transport.

The discussion focused on business and investor support for actions to address the climate emergency such as the Sustainable Finance Initiative, and the growing reach of the G20 founded Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

UTS Business School lecturer Dr Rosemary Sainty said the TCFD was helping businesses crystallise the impacts and opportunities, including the challenge of accounting for emissions in a deep supply chain.

She said the roundtable also canvassed the need for greater incentives for renewables, and a price on carbon, and they discussed independent MP Zali Steggall’s Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020, which aims to break the government’s climate policy deadlock.

“Although individual action is important, the main focus must be on systemic change. Transition plans need to include both effective offsetting and de-carbonising strategies,” Dr Sainty said.

“With much of the discussion focusing on the marketisation of issues, a final question was also asked: will we have a conversation about the failure of morals, not just markets?” she said.

The Roundtable follows UTS's formal participation in the UN Global Compact – the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, and the Climate Emergency Declaration.

These initiatives are supported by the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion and align with the UTS commitment to sustainability and social impact through its 2027 Strategy, Social Impact Framework and membership of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.