Submission: Voluntary action alone is not enough to drive business climate action
Submission to Climate ActIVE Program Direction Consultation
Climate Integrity welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Climate Active Program Direction Consultation 2023.
Submission Summary
Voluntary action alone is not enough to drive business climate action at the speed required to align with the science of 1.5 degrees. Since the Paris agreement there has been a groundswell of voluntary commitments by nations and non-state actors and voluntary pledges now cover over 90% of the global economy. However, most of the voluntary commitments made by businesses fall short of emerging global best practice, such as the standards recommended by the UN High Level Expert Group Integrity Matters Report.
Climate Active, as a voluntary program for business climate action, has been a stepping stone in the path to increased business action on climate Australia. In its current form it sets a benchmark for climate action that is too low, out of step with global best practice, and not aligned with the latest science. When fossil fuel companies have a social license to publish a net zero pledge, and become Climate Active certified, while expanding coal oil and gas, we know the system is failing.
As a priority, Australia must implement mandatory transition planning to ensure it can meet its decarbonisation goals. We need clear, science based standards and mandatory transition plans and reporting to drive business climate action at the pace needed to do our fair share by 2030, a position supported by the UN High Level Expert Group and the business sector. Mandatory transition planning must be supported by robust reporting, transparent sharing of information, and well resourced regulators and verification mechanisms to ensure it is delivering on the intended outcome of driving business climate action in line with the science.
As we shift towards mandatory disclosures, and mandatory transition planning in Australia, we must clearly define the purpose of a voluntary certification program within this ecosystem. In reforming Climate Active, the Australian Government should set its overarching objective as an ambition-raising program where gold-standard credible transition planning is defined and build a platform for leadership to accelerate business climate action, beyond a mandatory baseline.
Recommendations
Climate Integrity’s response to the consultation draws on the recommendations set out in the Integrity Matters report, which sets the standard for what credible and transparent net zero business action looks like, and we believe the following principles should apply when reviewing the role of Climate Active in the business transition landscape:
Commitment to science should be at the forefront of any government climate policy, ensuring business action is of a high standard, aligned with global best practice, and the science of 1.5 degrees.
Driving effective action means moving beyond transition plans that are marketing exercises to ones that drive real change and deep emission cuts. Voluntary action alone is insufficient to achieve this and mandatory transition plans must be part of the ecosystem.
Credibility of participants. Under no circumstances should fossil fuel companies be able to seek Climate Active certification.
Transparency must be at the heart of the program with business documentation provided for certification made publicly available.
