Sustainability commitments are getting stronger globally. Despite the economic, political and environmental disruption of 2022, the business community is more engaged than ever in the race to net zero. While this heightened ambition is encouraging, the key question now is how businesses will achieve their net zero targets.  At the current pace of emissions reduction, it is clear that a steep acceleration is required to collectively hit net zero by 2050 and avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Setting net zero targets alone is necessary but not sufficient. Companies will need to define and execute comprehensive decarbonisation strategies and clear transition plans, setting intermediate goals and building more sophisticated metrics to help reduce energy use, for instance, and more complex mechanisms, such as internal carbon pricing. They will need to become carbon intelligent, integrating carbon, energy and emissions data and insights into core business decision making.  And they will need to collaborate with companies across and beyond their own sectors to accelerate the deployment of advanced technologies that will help transition to a net zero economy.  Reaching net zero will require businesses to undergo urgent and profound transformations, as it is about embedding sustainability into everything organisations do. As such, it is a CEO-led transformation agenda.

The Financial Times, in partnership with Accenture, hosted this insightful panel to explore progress and pitfalls companies are experiencing, and the opportunities they are unlocking on their journeys to net zero. We heard from industry leaders and sustainability experts on best practices in setting and delivering net zero strategies, and the multiple decarbonisation levers companies can lean on to reach their goal faster, and with higher impact.

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