By MSL U.S. Sustainability and Social Impact team
New York City became THE place to be for people in the sustainability field from Sept. 23-26. Climate Week offered over 900 events for businesses, NGOs, policy makers and more to share, collaborate and inspire sustainability solutions.
This year’s theme “It’s Time” centered on the urgency needed to speed up climate action. The planet needs help, and everyone can play a role.
The MSL U.S. Sustainability and Social Impact team was busy attending panels, luncheons, networking events and much more. Here’s what we learned:
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Waiting game for solidified guidelines: Companies are hungry for a pragmatic set of rules that can standardize and facilitate progress toward their 2030 and 2050 sustainability targets. The lack of accounting standards from Science Based Targets Initiative and lack of clarity on the role of the Voluntary Carbon Markets (some consider this a crucial way to address unavoidable emissions) have left businesses with more questions than answers.
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Redirecting the focus to scaling solutions: Sustainability news can often focus on the future with dark predictions, instead, a focus on what is happening today – the progress – can move the industry toward scaling the promising opportunities that can change the course of environmental impact and earn stakeholder trust.
- Tech and valuable partnerships are critical: The creation of scalable solutions was discussed in two ways: 1) Partnership opportunities, among corporations and supply chains, with tech partners and NGOs and with key groups like Indigenous communities, and 2) Technological innovation, like AI. Despite healthy debates around how to abate the emissions coming from these training models, there is a positive outlook on how tech can help sustainability, alongside the continuous hunt for the coalitions that will change how things are made.
- Sustainability is intersectional: Typically, energy and carbon take center stage, but this year found increased conversation on nature, biodiversity, food systems, health and climate. Intersectional collaboration – beyond corporations and partners, with Indigenous communities, policymakers, NGOs and the tech community – has become instrumental to creating the inclusivity that leads to sustainable results benefitting people, nature and the climate.
Our team is excited to bring these insights and more into our corporate and brand communications work.
Until next year, Climate Week.
If you're interested in learning more, please contact Anna Andreis, EVP, Sustainability and Social Impact at anna.andreis@mslgroup.com.