As daily headlines underscore, the climate crisis is a key complicating factor on the geopolitical, societal and business agenda. The outcomes from the U.N. Climate Conference (COP27) in November and dialogue at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting last month reinforced the urgent call to accelerate action. We break down progress to date and the priorities ahead in the fourth and final installment of the Purpose Decoded Forecast video series, “2023 Climate Action Roadmap”.

The next U.N. Climate Conference (COP28) in late 2023 will focus on the “global stocktake”, a process by which countries take stock of their implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. The stocktake will show how far the world is off track in meeting collective goals. To understand where we are at the start of 2023, we spoke to the experts. The “2023 Climate Action Roadmap” video provides perspective on the business transformation opportunity and the broader innovation imperative to achieve a net-zero future and protect vital natural capital in the era of climate change.

Mindy Lubber, CEO and President at Ceres, believes no company can sit on the sidelines of the climate crisis and that “every company needs to put in place a climate action plan that has short-, medium- and long-term goals.”

David Wei, Managing Director at BSR, stresses that the opportunity is about business model transformation. He points out that “if you want to build a net-zero value chain, you will need every function in the company acting together.”

Sasha Mackler, Executive Director of the Energy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center, agrees, but also seeks to enable new policy solutions. Further, he stresses that “we are going to need a lot more science and technology innovation to be successful in the energy transition.”

Amy Hepburn, CEO at Investor Leadership Network, sees an imperative for CEO leadership on climate solutions “not tomorrow, not five years from now, but today.”