Daily CSR https://www.dailycsr.com/ us 2026-06-13T05:08:51+02:00 tag:https://www.dailycsr.com,2026:rss-92672223 How COP30 Can Turn Climate Ambition Into Real, System-Wide Action Wed, 19 Nov 2025 12:55:00 +0100 us Debashish Mukherjee How COP30 Can Turn Climate Ambition Into Real, System-Wide Action
A decade after the Paris Agreement, the global trajectory has unmistakably shifted. Paris was a diplomatic breakthrough that reshaped markets, set new expectations, and accelerated the shift toward clean energy. It mobilized investors, businesses, and civil-society organizations around a shared direction of travel. But changing direction is only the first step; the challenge now is delivering results at scale. The coming decade must be about turning intention into implementation.

As COP30 convenes in Belém, global attention rightly centers on the Amazon and the broader bioeconomy. Protecting and restoring forests remains one of the most effective and affordable ways to curb short-term warming. Yet safeguarding the Amazon requires more than political commitments. It demands market systems that make forest outcomes verifiable, investable, and rewarding—while ensuring that Indigenous peoples and local communities are at the heart of the transition.

The progress made since Paris is real and visible. Renewable-energy deployment and electrification have expanded at unprecedented pace. Solar and wind additions have repeatedly broken records, electric-vehicle adoption is accelerating a shift away from oil, and annual clean-energy investment has leapt from billions to trillions. These advances have slowed emissions growth and confirmed that the right policy signals can trigger rapid technological change. Still, these achievements fall short of the deep, economy-wide transformation required to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.

The gap remains significant. UNEP’s Emissions Gap reports make this plain: current policies and voluntary commitments are far from sufficient, and staying aligned with 1.5°C requires far deeper cuts by 2030 than are currently planned. We possess the essential components—technology, finance, and policy tools—but lack a unified delivery model capable of scaling them globally and rapidly.

This is where business and technology must step up. Turning climate ambition into measurable outcomes is fundamentally a data and systems challenge. Carbon figures trapped in isolated spreadsheets, decarbonization plans that never influence purchasing decisions, and year-end compliance rushes all represent structural weaknesses. The solution is not merely better dashboards; it is embedding carbon data into the financial and operational systems that guide everyday decisions—treating emissions as auditable, financially material information that shapes procurement, product design, and capital allocation in real time.

Regulation is accelerating this shift. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) now requires companies to verify that commodities such as soy, beef, coffee, and timber are fully traceable and not linked to deforestation. Beyond compliance, this marks a broader transition: supply chains must now demonstrate environmental integrity, not just operational efficiency. SAP’s sustainability tools enable organizations to integrate environmental data, automate due diligence, and maintain transparent custody across complex supply networks, helping turn regulatory pressure into competitive advantage.

Two SAP customer examples show this transformation in action. In the Brazilian Amazon, Fundação Amazônia Sustentável (FAS) uses SAP Sustainability Control Tower to unify ESG information from field projects and community programs. Faster, audit-ready data strengthens confidence in landscape-level finance and helps align conservation incentives with tangible local benefits.

Facchini—a leading manufacturer of transport equipment—illustrates the industrial perspective. By modernizing its ERP environment and embedding sustainability data into day-to-day operations, the company is using efficiency improvements, material circularity, and energy choices to boost resilience and protect margins. These operational changes are the ones that can genuinely bend emissions curves.

Financial trends add further reason for cautious optimism. Developed countries surpassed the long-promised US$100 billion in annual climate finance in 2022, and carbon pricing now applies to a growing share of worldwide emissions. These evolving market signals adjust business incentives and open new opportunities for companies that embed sustainability directly into strategic and financial decision-making.

What does this mean for business leaders preparing for the years ahead?
  • Treat carbon like financial data: integrate emissions and nature impacts into core financial systems so pricing, procurement, and investment decisions reflect true operational costs.
  • Build resilience: adaptation is a business imperative, expressed today in supply-chain stability and balance-sheet protection.
  • Use trustworthy AI on robust, governed data: AI can unlock rapid insights, but only when supported by high-quality, auditable datasets.
  • Scale partnerships: connect local stewards—especially in critical ecosystems—to global markets through measurable, verifiable outcomes.
The Paris Agreement provided the map, and the last decade proved that coordinated action can shift markets and technologies faster than expected. COP30 must now turn directional progress into durable, system-level implementation: raising 2030 ambition, targeting finance where it reduces risk most effectively, and strengthening the market infrastructure needed to measure and manage emissions and nature impacts across value chains.

For those of us designing enterprise systems, this means equipping organizations to run their businesses with sustainability embedded in the core—not as a separate report, but as the operating model, the processes, and the incentives that turn environmental commitments into concrete outcomes.

]]> https://www.dailycsr.com/photo/art/imagette/92672223-64919534.jpg https://www.dailycsr.com/How-COP30-Can-Turn-Climate-Ambition-Into-Real-System-Wide-Action_a5294.html tag:https://www.dailycsr.com,2026:rss-73682168 Exploring India's Energy Transition: A Future-focused Analysis of 12 Key Energy Services Sat, 24 Jun 2023 11:17:00 +0200 us Debashish Mukherjee Exploring India's Energy Transition: A Future-focused Analysis of 12 Key Energy Services
A fresh approach to the Energy Transition
 
The issue of climate change has reached unprecedented levels of concern. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its 6th Assessment Report in 2022, following a previous report in 2014.

The release of the first part of the report in the summer of 2021 prompted United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to label it a "Code Red for Humanity." Scientific evidence has unequivocally demonstrated that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is crucial to mitigating severe adverse effects on our way of life. However, achieving such a goal requires a complete paradigm shift, as greenhouse gas emissions must decline by 30-50% by 2030 and reach net-zero by mid-century. Unfortunately, progress in this regard has been slow.

On a global scale, the carbon intensity of energy use has remained stagnant across most sectors over the past two decades, with the exception of the power generation sector, which experienced a 15% reduction. Consequently, a monumental energy transition lies ahead of us.
 
Nonetheless, not all regions will face the same challenges during this transition. For instance, a rapidly developing economy like India must simultaneously pursue rapid economic growth, which necessitates secure and affordable energy, while transitioning away from fossil fuels. The manner in which India tackles this dual challenge will significantly shape its future energy system.

Furthermore, India is poised to become one of the dominant global economies in the 21st century, presenting astounding potential for development. Consequently, the decisions made today regarding the Indian energy system will not only impact India but will also reverberate throughout the world. In other words, due to the size of the Indian economy, every choice the country makes now will profoundly influence how some of the most urgent global challenges, particularly climate change, are resolved in the future.
 
However, there is a silver lining to this argument—the choices are yet to be made, and a "window of opportunity" exists. The purpose of this report is to make a positive contribution to the ongoing discussion. It diverges from other similar analyses in two significant ways.
 
Firstly, this report takes a long-term perspective by examining the evolution of the energy system from 2000 to 2070. Secondly, it places emphasis on energy services or energy demand. An energy system encompasses more than just the stocks and flows of energy, as commonly depicted; it represents the intricate network of various energy services, uses, and practices that impact a multitude of socio-technical systems.

These services are influenced by a range of environmental, economic, technological, institutional, and cultural factors. Importantly, these services are not necessarily directly tied to energy but are the outcomes of how we utilize energy—such as the operation of machines and appliances, the heating systems we employ, and the vehicles we drive.

While some of these energy services exist today, they can be significantly improved or transformed by modern technologies, and they will continue to evolve with technological advancements. Moreover, new energy services may emerge as a result of changes in the technological, economic, institutional, and cultural landscapes. Ultimately, fostering a transition from the current energy system to a new one necessitates a greater focus on these services. This entails understanding their inevitable development and assessing their potential contribution to achieving a secure, affordable, and net-zero energy system.
 
In this report, we delve into the detailed exploration of 12 such energy services and model their impact within India's future energy system.

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With tax credits forming part of the new law, when seen in combination with funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it indicates that hydrogen is finally catching on.

Naturally none of this happened overnight. National Grid has advanced this technology for years through more than two dozen research projects with academic and industry partners since it believes that this is the fuel that will keep the Earth from getting warmer.


About NATIONAL GRID

National Grid is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company which serves more than 20 million people through its networks in Massachusetts and New York.

The company is focused on building a path to a more reliable, affordable, clean energy future through its fossil-free vision.

National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

]]> https://www.dailycsr.com/photo/art/imagette/66837417-47399516.jpg https://www.dailycsr.com/Hydrogen-will-play-key-role-in-energy-mix-National-Grid_a2034.html tag:https://www.dailycsr.com,2026:rss-65826871 Cisco Foundations continues to fund promising projects that mitigate the effects of climate change Mon, 04 Jul 2022 13:21:00 +0200 us Debashish Mukherjee Cisco Foundations continues to fund promising projects that mitigate the effects of climate change
Scientific research continues to show that we humans have induced global warming leading to species extinction, and habitat loss, causing widespread disruption affecting billions of people across the globe.

Countries around the world are affected by severe storms, floods, wildfires, drought, food scarcity among other crises.

There is a growing number of people across the world who are increasingly becoming concerned the existential threats of the human species and are looking for ways to increase awareness and take decisive action.

A recent survey by the United Nations states 1.2 million people across 50 countries, equivalent to 64% of the global population are significantly affected by climate change. It is clear that we as a society must do more to reverse the effects of climate change, and slash human activities which are not in synch with the ecosystem which supports our very lives.

Currently, less than 2% of philanthropic investments are directed at addressing climate change. Investments in innovative solutions which could reduce carbon emissions is also inadequate.

Case in point: a report from the Climate Policy Initiative states there needs to be a hike of at least 590% in annual climate financing, which comes to around $4.35 trillion to meet internationally agreed climate objectives by 2030 and avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

According to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, recent investments to mitigate the effects of climate change requires at least five-fold increase in Southeast Asia, seven-fold in Africa and 12-fold in the Middle East, by 2030; If this is done, it will hold global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.

The Cisco Foundation  aims to play a role in filling this funding gap. In April 2021, its board committed to granting and investing $100 million over ten years to this end.

Cisco Foundation’s core strategy revolves around the following:
  1. Emphasize on early-stage solutions – A report from the Stanford Social Innovation Review found that capital flowing to early-stage climate solutions is surprisingly low, despite the critical role that these investments play in mitigating the effects of climate change. Financiers may be reluctant to invest in early-stage solutions for a variety of reasons which includes long term technical development timelines or costly testing. The Cisco Foundation is willing to take the risk on solutions which have the potential to significantly reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The foundation believes that investing in early stage climate solutions will allows it to help spark innovation or foster collaboration among organizations. By providing “patient capital” for innovative ideas, Cisco Foundation hopes to deliver solutions that are both inclusive and sustainable. 
  2. Customized financing. Since different climate solutions require different types of capital across early stages of growth, climate commitment financing consists of grants and an impact investing portfolio. This blended financing approach helps Cisco Foundation to comprehensively fill critical climate financing gaps and catalyze impact.
 Case in point – While grants to non-profit organizations support community climate           education and engagement, help in the building of markets, or develop proof of concepts, impact investments on the other hand provides critical growth capital to organizations that helps to scale innovation even further.

To this end, over the last 20 years, Cisco Foundation has built a model for giving grants called “venture philanthropy”, which is its climate portfolio. To this, it has added impact investing capital as well. Its emphasis on earliest stage solutions in this space is one of our key differentiators.
  1. Respect for natural systems with an emphasis on regeneration. With our ecosystems being interconnected to one another, climate is intrinsically linked to communities. To reverse the impacts of climate change and build an inclusive future for communities, holistic solutions that acknowledge the complex relationship between humanity and nature is required.
Efforts should be made to reconnect between these systems and integrate social equity and economic opportunity into climate solutions. Centuries of tribal and indigenous knowledge along with modern science and technology can help co-create solutions that anticipate, prepare, and respond to climate-related events, in an effort support a dynamic balance.

What have we funded
In April 2021, within 20 minutes of announcing our $100 million commitment, we received a request through LinkedIn. Since then, we have held hundreds of meetings with organizations led by amazing people who are devoting all of their attention to the climate change, and who are coming up with truly impressive regenerative solutions.

While our team dives into extensive due diligence on grants and investments, we strive to invest in climate solutions along the entire “innovation continuum,” from conceptual ideas to solutions that are ready for commercial deployment and widespread impact.

The following are some of the projects that we have funded that are a prime example of where we have invested our capital.
  • Nia Tero  is a nonprofit grantee that aims to ensure that Indigenous peoples have the economic power and cultural independence to steward and protect their livelihoods and the territories they call home. To this end, we partnered to fund Kara Solar - a community initiative that trains Indigenous community members as technicians to build, operate and maintain solar electric shuttle boats in rainforest communities. Not only do these boats reduce deforestation by eliminating the need for roads they also support communities by linking them across various Indigenous territories, while at the same time they create economic opportunity for community members. In its current phase of deployment it encompasses 70 villages. During the first 6 months of our grant partnership, Kara Solar trained 13 Achuar technicians in the Ecuadorian Amazon and 13 Tumucumaque technicians in the Brazilian Amazon.
Cisco’s support enabled Nia Tero, Conservation Strategy Fund, and Kara Solar to conduct an analysis on the impact of electric river transportation on the incursion of new roads and deforestation.
  • Project Vesta,  a hybrid nonprofit/public–benefit enterprise which aims to capture carbon from the atmosphere and support coastal resilience by using the mineral olivine.
The carbon-capture properties and safety of olivine have been proven in lab settings. Our grant was instrumental in enabling Project Vesta to test it in the real world to further assess olivine’s effects on wildlife and ecosystems and quantify the rate at which sequesters carbon grow. Factors like strength of wave action, temperature of the water and sand, and how the mineral dissolves all affect the growth rate at which olivine absorbs carbon. With our support, Project Vesta is able find the best conditions for optimal sequestration and advance the technology, which will help them create a new carbon credit opportunity for $35/tonne of carbon removed at full scale.
  • Vibrant Planet  & VP Data Commons, a for–profit/non-profit hybrid organization, aims to address the growing problem of wildfires and sustainable land management. In 2020, wildfires in California released 110 million tonnes of carbon, which is around 40% more than the state’s entire annual emissions. Vibrant Planet has developed a data-driven tech platform that supports better decision making on issues like forest restoration, wildfire risk mitigation, land use planning, insurance, and utility solutions. Using satellite data and a remote sensing method called light detection and ranging (LIDAR), a system was built to create maps that will allow planning data to be available to decisionmakers in minutes, and not years. For example, Land Tender, an app developed by them, was designed to help speed ecological forest restoration and wildfire risk mitigation to communities. The platform can be used by power companies, insurance companies, landowners, and governments to better manage resources, make critical land management decisions, and prevent wildfires. 
  • Azolla Ventures. A $5M investment was made in the second fund created by Prime Coalition, which will build a portfolio of 20 to 25 otherwise neglected climate startups from across the spectrum of industries, each with the potential of reducing for gigatons of greenhouse gas emission.
In addition to meeting the threshold for high–impact potential, all companies in Azolla’s portfolio must also be a fit for Prime’s test of additionality, which means was it not for Azolla’s support, they would not be in a position to scale their solution and achieve their climate impact goals.

Azolla is focused on ventures that tend to have long time horizons, are capital intensive, and carry outsized risk for first time investors.

Azolla Ventures is a $200 million fund that uses both charitable capital and traditional investments in a structure that allows it to catalyze transformative climate ventures at the early stage and keep them on track for impact through exit.

This is just a few case in points for some of the projects that have been funded by us. More such projects will be shares as and when they are completed. Please revisit to stay informed of innovations that could help society persevere against climate change as we build the climate future that we all want.

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Dailycsr.com - 15 January 2021 - Taking climate risk related actions has become more imperative now than ever before amid the COVID-19 pandemic upsetting global functions. Progress made in the line of emissions reductions over the "past few decades" in order to curb global warming haven't been enough. However, the temporary "emission reduction due to the COVID-19 lockdown" is not a significant one to affect the emissions trajectory in a significant manner. According to  Schneider Electric:
"It is estimated that we are well on our way to a globe that will be over 3 degrees Celsius hotter, which means irreversible and catastrophic damage to our planet and living."

However, we can be hopeful for 2021 not only in terms of conquering the battle against the pandemic with vaccine but also for the opportunities present for recovering "stronger" by taking lessons from pandemic experience besides drawing the courage to "envision a future". A future where we build "our crisis-response capacities" towards a "decarbonized future". This optimism is fueled by the "multi-billion funds" that have been dedicated towards "green recovery" as well as to accelerate "climate actions" especially on the part of "corporations" and "investors". Furthermore, the next COP26 meet is also scheduled to be held in 2021, which brings us to speculate that:
"will it (2021) finally be the year of climate action breakthrough?"

The question to companies can "get ahead" still remains to be answered. It is to seek the answers to these questions and to explore further in this line that Schneider Electric is organising a webinar on Thursday, January 28, 2021 from "10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST". The webinar is titled "Climate Action in 2021: The Year Of Breakthroughs?"

Those who are interested can join the webinar by clicking on the link mentioned here to register for the event:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4122559886222756110?source=ESS-social

Giving a preview of the areas that will be covered in the above mentioned event, Schneider Electric added:
"During this session, we’ll discuss how companies have successfully taken leadership on climate action. Walk away with clear, actionable steps to help you speed up on your climate journey and build resilience within your organization."



Reference:
3blmedia.com

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