SW News 14

The race is on

Over the last 18 months there has been a massive acceleration in the pace of change on the sustainability agenda across governments, businesses and the financial sector. This last month in particular, it’s felt as if someone pressed the turbo-boost button and put things into overdrive.

Take the following few days as a snapshot:

15 April: The Irish government launched a €10 million Climate Enterprise Action Fund for businesses and a Circular Economy Innovation Grant Scheme to support circular economy projects;

20 April: The UK government announced a target to reduce its emissions by 78% by 2035, including emissions from international shipping and aviation (which had been omitted from previous targets);

21 April: The EU unveiled the first batch of rules under its new Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, which could divert hundreds of billions of euros into economic activities that align with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C;

22 April: At his virtual Climate Summit on Earth Day, President Joe Biden pledged to slash US emissions by 50% by the end of this decade. 

The great reset our society needs demands this rapid pace of change. So while it would be nice to pause and take a rest, we’ve got to maintain top speed. We were late getting out of the starting blocks but finally momentum is building driven by more decisive policy, more committed businesses, and more concerned and activated citizens. 

This is a race that is only going to get faster. So take a deep breath and GO!

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