From Win-Win to Net Zero: Would The Real Sustainability Please Now Stand Up? – Both Brains Required

Four decades after sustainability first emerged as a concept, we are witnessing a profoundly important ‘net zero moment’. First gradually, and now suddenly, countries and companies are making ‘net zero’ pledges to reduce carbon emissions in line with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. This represents a substantial and welcome upgrade of national and corporate ambitions regarding climate change but poses the obvious challenge. In March, a survey by Standard Chartered found that 64 percent of senior corporate executives do not believe that net zero commitments are commercially viable, contradicting the longstanding ESG narrative that ecological sustainability is a ‘win-win’ – good for profit and planet.

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• Ben James