Supported by our partners, We Mean Business Coalition has contributed to a global movement pushing listed companies to make their decarbonization process more transparent to shareholders. The ‘Say On Climate’ initiative encourages companies to disclose emissions, present a detailed climate transition action plan, and hold an annual mandatory shareholder vote on those plans. It targets companies, asset owners, asset managers, proxy advisors and regulators.

When building a team, good statistics and a deep bench of talented players are essential. That’s true for climate leadership, too. We are amplifying the work of companies that role model excellence on climate action, so that they can be role models to others.

By working with these companies, we aim to provide consistent and transparent data to determine the winning combinations of climate action that set companies up for success. Looking forward, we want to work with partners to revisit our criteria for climate leadership and agree on a common accountability framework.

In May this year, the Coalition wrote an open letter to the EFRAG, GRI, SEC, and ISSB on behalf of the 7,000 businesses we work with, calling on them to converge their respective corporate sustainability reporting initiatives.

To deliver on the Paris Agreement, The Glasgow Climate Pact and our commitment to 1.5ºC, we need a new global baseline reporting standard on sustainability disclosures. Transparent and consistent reporting will be critical for businesses demonstrating their emissions progress and minimising greenwashing; for responsible investors to know where to direct their capital and for society to keep track of how fast businesses are moving.

Even small misalignments around terminology, definitions, and concepts in the draft versions of the standards and legislation risks undermining their collective impact. Companies and their investors should be able to access the most efficient solutions, without any additional reporting catering to a multitude of standards. Getting everyone on the same page is both vital and possible.

The Coalition strongly supports the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) decision to establish a working group seeking to enhance compatibility and interoperability between the global baseline and jurisdictional initiatives. We urge the ISSB and its members – including the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the European Commission, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, the Japanese Financial Services Authority, the Sustainability Standards Board of Japan Preparation Committee, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority and the US Securities and Exchange Commission – to find constructive ways of ensuring that the ISSB’s standards are established and adopted as the common global baseline for sustainability-related financial disclosures.

The Global Stocktake is a mechanism developed by the UNFCCC for measuring governments’ and businesses’ reduction of GHG emissions and determining whether countries are delivering on their climate pledges. This will accurately inform the next round of national climate targets and is therefore a critical tool for driving further action.

The Global Stocktake must include all climate action from governments and business, and be an evidence-based process placing data at its core. For leading businesses aligning their emissions reductions with the 1.5ºC trajectory, this clarity and certainty is vital. It will allow them to invest and scale up climate solutions at the required pace, and work more effectively with governments to address decarbonization barriers.

We must establish The Global Stocktake as a key moment for raising climate ambition and ensuring that we remain on track to halve emissions by 2030.