Coalition formally launches to mark six month countdown to crucial COP26 Climate Summit
A number of the UK's leading green business groups will today announce the official launch of a new coalition designed to help accelerate the transition to a net zero emission economy.
The UK Business Group Alliance for Net Zero (BGA) brings together the Corporate Leaders Group, the Aldersgate Group, Business in the Community, the CBI, CDP, the International Investors Group on Climate Change, the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the UK Green Building Council.
It will formally launch today to mark the start of the six month countdown to the scheduled start of the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November and will work to "increase ambition to achieve a net zero UK by 2050 at the latest".
The move was welcomed by Andrew Griffith MP, the UK's Net Zero Business Champion, who said the launch was particularly timely given there is just six months to COP26. "With its influential membership, the Alliance will play a vital role in raising ambitions and persuading more British businesses to take part in the Race to Zero by setting science based targets," he said.
The BGA has worked informally to help co-ordinate campaigns from the UK's leading green business groups since 2019, but the hope is that putting it on a formal footing can help further expand the community of businesses signed up to credible net zero emissions goals.
The launch comes as the Corporate Leaders Groups, Business in the Community,and the UK Green Building Council announced they had been appointed as 'accelerators' for the Race to Zero campaign and as such will actively work to expand the number of businesses signing up to the UN-backed initiative ahead of COP26.
Meanwhile, CDP confirmed the UK is the first country to have more than 100 businesses now signed up to Race to Zero through the SBTi Business Ambition for 1.5 campaign. With an estimated market cap value of £760bn, the 100 businesses include Kingfisher, Johnson Matthey, Drax, and Compass Group UK & Ireland who are all announcing their Race to Zero commitment.
Signatories to the Race to Zero campaign are required to set a net zero target for 2050 at the latest, set a science-based interim target for the next decade, explain how they intend to meet the targets and start taking immediate action to deliver on them, and promise to report at least annually on their progress.
"It is more vital than ever for businesses to take a pivotal role in the challenge of tackling climate change," said Beverley Cornaby, chair of the BGA and senior programme manager at CLG. "In this milestone year for action on committing to and delivering net zero, it is great to formally launch the UK Business Group Alliance for Net Zero and confirm the CLG is helping to accelerate the Race to Zero. This group of willing and progressive business groups understands the threat climate change poses to the UK economy and will continue working with their business members towards a net zero transition."
Nigel Topping, UN High Level Climate Champion for COP26, urged more businesses to come forward with credible net zero strategies or risk being left behind by their competition. "With over 30 per cent of the FTSE100 in the Race to Zero, credible climate commitments are fast becoming the new normal in the UK," he said. "Companies that have so far failed to engage with climate change should take note - if they don't join soon, they risk falling behind the curve."
His comments were echoed by Peter Simpson, co-chair of the CLG and CEO of Anglian Water, who stressed that there was now "a tangible sense of progress being made as we head towards COP26 in November, with new international targets being set at government level, and at an industry level, more and more companies signing up to the Race to Zero".
"Through the UK Business Group Alliance for Net Zero we want to build on that momentum, using the power of collective action to drive forward the UK business sector's response to climate change," he added.