In July 2020, Transform to Net Zero launched as a cross-sector initiative to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy, and inspire other global
leaders to do the same. What does progress looks like one year on, and what happens next in the lead-up to COP 26?
Transform to Net
Zero
(TONZ) is made up of consumer goods companies that are climate leaders in
their industries – Danone, Maersk, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft,
Natura & Co, Nike Inc., Starbucks,
Unilever and Wipro — plus
Environmental Defense Fund, and BSR as Secretariat. This collective
experience, scale and reach across sectors and value chains uniquely positions
the coalition to drive large-scale change.
Transform to Net Zero’s vision is to enable an inclusive net-zero economy no
later than
2050,
which the IPCC has concluded is needed to limit
global warming to 1.5°C. The coalition’s focus is not on new commitments —
rather, fast action to demonstrate the transformation of their own businesses
and inspire that of their peers.
By 2025, TONZ aims for all Fortune Global 1000 companies to have targets backed
up by science-based plans to achieve net zero no later than 2050.
The initiative has set itself a finite timescale, announcing from the start that
work will sunset after the 2025 UN Climate Conference. This is when governments
will set climate targets for 2035 — and the Paris Agreement will be held within
reach, or not.
With no time to waste, this first year has seen the start of multiple projects
focusing on business transformation, collective net-zero action and systems
change.
Business transformation
TONZ’s definition of business transformation is reshaping key business functions,
models, products and services to build inclusive, net-zero value chains. Unlike
decarbonizing a company’s own greenhouse gas footprint via reducing scope 1 and
2 emissions (which are within the operations of the company), building a
net-zero value chain has much broader implications to a company’s growth
strategy and operating model.
For example, in net-zero value chains, procurement teams choose lower-carbon
suppliers and products; finance
departments
establish low-carbon, climate-risk-based
criteria
for the deployment of capital; and marketing campaigns show consumers how to
live net-zero
lives.
To unlock business transformation by the Fortune 1000, all business functions
must be engaged in the service of net zero goals. That’s why in 2021, TONZ
defined its position on net-zero goals and their
implementation,
planned executive-level engagement, and will be demonstrating business
transformation to other companies.
Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director at Wipro Limited, said: “The
Transform to Net Zero coalition has enabled businesses like ours to take
decisive action on climate change. We recognize that it is our individual
contributions that will define how we impact this journey to net zero. That is
why Wipro is committing to net-zero GHG emissions across our business by 2040,
with an intermediate reduction of 55 percent by 2030. We are using our past
experiences, expertise and advanced technological levers to reach these targets,
and remain committed to sharing our learnings with others so they can reach
their own decarbonization goals.”
Collective net-zero action
Transform to Net Zero aims to unlock collective action to build net-zero value
chains by inspiring suppliers to decarbonize their supply
chains,
and demonstrating how far emissions across entire value chains can be reduced.
Markus Schäfer — Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and
Mercedes-Benz AG, responsible for Daimler Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars
COO — said: “When it comes to CO2 neutrality, we’re not only looking at our
products, but at our entire value chain. We asked our suppliers to join us in
pursuing our goal of a CO2-neutral passenger car fleet by 2039. Our suppliers,
accounting more than 85 percent of our annual purchasing value have already
signed the ‘Ambition letter’ and have agreed to supply us with CO2-neutral
products by 2039 at the latest. This significantly increases the sustainability
of our supply chains. We really appreciate that our partners are just as eager
to tackle climate change as we are.”
In 2021, TONZ has investigated end-to-end supply chain decarbonization in the
dairy and plastics commodity value
chains.
Work has started to identify barriers, solutions and decarbonization levers to
provide TONZ members, and other actors, with a view to collective action across
these specific value chains.
Transform to Net Zero also seeks to ensure that company action achieves a just and inclusive
net-zero transformation, through its exploration of climate justice
issues.
Systems change
Transform to Net Zero was an advocate in calling for the United States to set
ambitious 2030 climate targets in advance of the Leaders’ Climate
Summit in April 2021. Because
ambitious public policy is needed for businesses to accelerate their transition
to net zero, TONZ will advocate for specific policies to enable business
transformation.
Further systems change is needed — including adequate regulatory frameworks in
some key economies, sharing the costs of zero-carbon innovation across the value
chain, and combining efforts of an increasingly complex landscape of
initiatives.
BSR president and CEO Aron Cramer said: "Achieving the goal of a net-zero
economy relies on collaboration and the power of many. It requires changes not
only within businesses, but within the systems in which businesses operate.
Transform to Net Zero members have already started dialogues with banking and
financial organizations to discuss how they can support and benefit from
net-zero business models. As we approach COP 26, we
recommend a concerted effort to promote public policy frameworks that enable the
achievement of inclusive net-zero goals.”
Transform to Net Zero will be sharing more progress and guidance on how
businesses can transform to net zero during Climate Week
NYC and COP 26.
Published Jul 15, 2021 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST