The road to COP28
WBA at COP28
The UAE is hosting the annual UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, from 30 November – 12 December in Dubai, where world governments and civil society will come together to coordinate global action on climate and assess where urgent actions are needed to drive progress. This years meetings marks the end of the Global Stocktake (GST), marking a pivotal moment where countries progress in achieving the Paris Agreement goals will be assessed.
Driving corporate accountability is crucial to accomplishing the agenda of COP and effective corporate accountability would make the Paris Agreement consequential to the success of companies. The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) will join forces with Allies and other stakeholders to oversee businesses transition pathways and progress. At COP28, WBA will highlight the results of newly launched benchmarks from the highest emitting sectors and host several crosscutting multistakeholder conversations on just and low-carbon transition, nature-based solutions and sustainable food systems.
WBA COP28 events and activities
WBA along with our Allies and partners will host a variety of side events at COP28. We will also have WBA experts as featured speakers at various events in the Blue and Green Zones. We invite you to engage with us on our COP28 agenda to drive corporate accountability on achieving global climate transformation goals. Please continue to check this page for updates as more event details are added to the agenda.
List of events
Saturday, 2 December 2023
Closing the corporate accountability gap in pursuit of climate goals
15:30 – 17:00 PM GST, Blue Zone, Benelux Pavilion
We will bring together leaders across government, business, civil society and more, to better understand each of our roles in closing the corporate accountability gap, so that companies feel both included and obligated to meet the climate goals. The discussion will look at the current gaps, and then opportunities to strengthen processes to ensure the Paris Agreement is systemically relevant and consequential to the private sector going forward.
Event link here
Sunday, 3 December 2023
Driving company and sectoral just transition plans: insights from an EU perspective
14:00 – 15:00 GST, Blue Zone, ILO-EU Pavilion
The side-event will showcase the state of play of company just transition plans across multiple economic sectors. The event will be an opportunity to present latest research findings from WBA, LSE Grantham, and the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. The event will reveal examples of good company practices, how companies can implement just transition across their value chain and show which enabling policies (with a regional focus on the EU) can support corporate just transition action.
Event link here
Sunday, 3 December 2023
Transition Plans: Using frameworks and indices to assess and incentivise credible decarbonisation
15:45 – 17:00 GST, Bloomberg Business Forum at COP28, Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel
Since 2021, the concept of company transition plans has rapidly become a critical topic to drive real economy decarbonisation. Well-crafted transition plans acknowledge and are shaped by both physical and transition risk and will help companies respond to increased impacts from climate change and increasing regulatory/policy pressure to transition.
So how do we collectively pave the way for ambitious and credible companies transition plans, which in turn could support the navigation of physical and transition risks? In this roundtable, we will discuss a WBA initiative which aims to develop a framework for assessing transition plan credibility. Additionally, considering how financial benchmarks, which play a significant role in asset allocation, can be designed to incentivise firms to contribute to the transition in a credible way.
Event link here
Monday, 4 December 2023
Decarbonising the built environment: New solutions and implementation mechanisms
9:30-10:30 GST, Blue Zone, Buildings Pavilion
This session encompasses a look at built environment decarbonisation commitments and what can be done to unlock their implementation with specific mechanisms. The session will address the following key questions:
- What does decarbonization accountability look like for the built environment (at building level / city level)?
- How do we remove barriers to unlock the implementation of decarbonization commitments in the built environment?
- What existing mechanisms exist to achieve these commitments now?
- How do you create a positive legacy to accelerate the transition?
Event link here
Tuesday, 5 December 2023
The transition of the electricity sector and the role of electricity to reach net zero
9:30-11:00 GST, Blue Zone, French Pavilion
This roundtable will address the role of the electricity sector in the Net Zero Emission scenario recently updated by the IEA, in terms of the decarbonisation of the electricity system and the transition plans of companies in the sector. We will discussion the findings of the recently launched Electric Utilities Benchmark which assesses 79 companies using the ACT Electricity methodology.
Event link here
Saturday, 9 December 2023
Integrity Matters: Boosting non-State climate action credibility to step-up accountability
16:45 – 18:00 GST, Blue Zone, SE Room 4 (125 pax)
The side-event will wrap up one year of engagement between WBA-Climate Chance-Climate Action Network and will discuss the following question and themes; How to support the UNFCCC Secretariat efforts to implement a Non-State actor Accountability framework using tangible data and national perspectives? Transparency, transition plan credibility and impact monitoring as well as tools proposed to feed the GST from a Non-State approach.
Sunday, 10 December 2023
Corporate climate gaps and solutions in food and agriculture
12:30 – 13:30 PM GST, Blue Zone, UK Pavilion
The session will highlight actions taken by businesses in collaboration with civil society and investors to reach Net Zero by 2050, as well as recognize existing gaps and the solutions required building on the World Benchmarking Alliance’s assessment of the 350 most influential food and agriculture companies on sustainability.
Event Link here
