Corporate leaders of more than 50 of the world’s largest corporations have committed bringing their own, and their industry associations’, policy engagement in line with the Paris Agreement.

Signatories of the Action Declaration will help stop the “say–do” gap on emissions reductions and policy-blocking tactics employed by some companies and industry associations in the face of active lobbying by powerful industry associations that has decelerated or inhibited the advancement of Paris-aligned policies.

Corporate Knights and the Global 100 Council announced a joint Action Declaration on Climate Policy Engagement at COP27, in an initiative that includes more than 50 global companies committed to ensuring that their climate policy engagement, and that of their industry associations, helps address climate change, not stall it.

The companies, whose almost $900bn in annual revenues account for 1 per cent of global GDP, represent every major industry from mining and finance to healthcare and tech, including companies as diverse as BT Group PLC, Commerzbank AG, Engie, H&M Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ingka Group (IKEA),Ørsted A/S, Unilever PLC and WSP.

“Pressure on the entire corporate sector to fully support governments globally in efforts to devise and implement meaningful climate policy is growing – from investors, the media, civil society and, increasingly, from parts of the corporate sector who want and need government policy to realise their climate transition plans,” explains Dylan Tanner, executive director at InfluenceMap, the initiative’s data intelligence partner. “The initial signatories of the Action Declaration on Climate Policy Engagement represent climate policy leaders and a hugely important force in the reforming of the many powerful trade groups globally delaying climate action. It is clear others will join as this trend mainstreams.”

Signatories will be required to publicly disclose their policy engagement activities by the end of 2023 but will choose their own monitoring and disclosure methods. By taking this approach, Corporate Knights intends for the Action Declaration to be as much about progress as it is about sharing learnings and new practices.

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