Climate Strategy

The “best practices” for CO₂ management are not delivering results.

Companies using them are

Missing targets
Wasting resources
And failing to take more meaningful action on climate change

Companies take step back from making climate target promises Hundreds failed to lay out goals aligned with Paris agreement to limit warming to 1.5C “In 2024, hundreds of companies including Microsoft, Unilever and JBS had their ‘1.5 degree aligned’ status removed.” Source: Financial Times

Many companies are failing to meet their targets.

Integrity of corporate climate strategies

High

Reasonable

Moderate

12%

Low

40%

Very low

44%

Source: NewClimate Institute, Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor

Of the major corporate climate strategies assessed, not one was rated high integrity.

Annual global CO₂ emissions

196019902024

Half of historical CO₂ emissions have occurred in the 30 years since companies began taking organized climate action.

You're going to need a real strategy.

A strong climate strategy should answer three questions

Most organizations have carbon-reduction plans and they assume that these serve as good climate action strategies. That is a mistake. Carbon reduction matters, but a company also needs to understand where it has influence, what it is willing to do and how climate change will affect its community.

What's the most we can do in the fight against climate change?

Your own footprint may not be your biggest lever. Your influence over your community, your suppliers, and public policy may matter more.

What are we willing to do to speed up the energy transition?

Leadership needs to decide what the company is prepared to do. A target should reflect that decision, not substitute for it.

What will our business look like in a world affected by climate change?

How will climate change and the energy transition affect the way you compete, earn revenue and remain relevant?

Develop a strategy that is practical, makes sense, and positions you to have a real impact

Phase 1

Your power to create change

Key question: What is our biggest lever on climate change?

Analyze the climate risks, the low-carbon economy and your competitive position
Connect climate with business strategy using familiar tools such as PESTLE, SWOT and Five Forces
Ask leadership to decide how ambitious the company is prepared to be

The result is a clear level of ambition and a specific outcome for the company to pursue.

Phase 2

Your objective

Key question: What is blocking decarbonization of our sector?

Map the politics and economics of the transition across your value chain
Identify the blockers, including the inconvenient ones
Find the points where a focused intervention could remove a barrier or accelerate wider change

The result is a practical view of what is slowing progress and where your company has enough influence to help.

Phase 3

Your plan

Key question: What are the safe, smart, logical steps to change that?

Build a theory of change that connects each action to the objective
Test it against several plausible scenarios
Bring the work together in a transition plan that guides implementation and supports disclosure

The result is a clear explanation of how the actions should create change, a sequenced plan and a transition plan suitable for disclosure.

What the difference looks like in practice

Without a strategy

A transport company wants to electrify its fleet but cannot because there is no charging infrastructure. It buys two electric vehicles as a pilot, reports the purchase and waits.

With a strategy

The same company buys the electric vehicles. It also works with the officials responsible for charging infrastructure, sponsors a study on charging-point locations and withdraws from a trade association that is lobbying against electric vehicles. Instead of waiting, it works directly on the barrier holding back wider adoption.

Someone benefits from the current high-emissions status quo, and they are not waiting politely. Neither should you.

We already have a climate strategy.

If it is a list of reduction tactics with a target on top, you have a CO₂ plan. That may be useful, but it is not a strategy. We build on what you have already done and connect it to the broader business and energy transition.

We need a transition plan for CSRD or another reporting requirement.

The final output can follow the applicable requirements. More importantly, it will be based on actions the company has decided to carry out, which makes the disclosure more credible.

Is this just more sustainability spending with no return?

The work starts with how the company competes and earns money. We do not recommend an action unless it has a credible climate benefit and a clear business reason behind it.

Start with one call

In a 30-minute call, we can normally tell whether you need a broader climate strategy or a well-run carbon-management plan. We will also tell you clearly if we do not think our involvement would add enough value.

Our services are offered as a subscription that you can cancel at any time. Every client we have worked with has returned for more work.

Book an intro call →