Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), launched their new collective action campaign: Accelerate, The Business Pact for Climate and Nature.

This new Pact urges businesses to take action to address the interconnected climate and nature crises. It is clear time is running out as the impact of climate change and loss of biodiversity is stark. 

Within Accelerate, The Business Pact for Climate and Nature, businesses are asked to set an ambitious net-zero target by 2050 if not earlier (approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)) and to develop a Climate Transition Plan to guide and track implementation.  This Pact is building on the success of BITCI’s Low Carbon Pledge which commenced in 2018 and ends this year. The Low Carbon Pledge required signatories to set science-based targets by the end of 2024. In partnership with PwC, an annual report was produced to monitor progress.   

The closing report found in total 62 large companies across multiple sectors stayed the course over the lifetime of the Pledge and of these companies 81% have now fully set science-based targets, are waiting approval or have formally made the commitment to the SBTi process.   

Accelerate, The Business Pact for Climate and Nature is innovative, unique and robust. It will adopt a wider lens by focusing on action in nine Accelerator Areas:

• Nature

• Scope 3

• Just Transition

• Decarbonisation

• Targets

• Finance

• Advocacy

• Risk and Governance

Being a cross-sectoral network, BITCI is uniquely placed to facilitate a community of practice and build a Centre of Excellence to share challenges, solutions, and best practices among the businesses participating. 

Pact signatories will benefit from access to world-class guidance on developing robust Climate Transition Plans as well as the opportunity to benchmark against peers on the nine Accelerator Areas. An annually co-created Insights Paper will serve to address national blockages to decarbonisation and amplify pathways for action as well as best-practice examples. 

Being accountable and open about their progress to net zero as well as regularly reviewing their plan will improve their effectiveness and efficacy in achieving their targets.   

For more information:

• Visit Accelerate, The Business Pact for Climate and Nature webpage

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