Oxford Net Zero researchers have contributed several sections and a full chapter to a new report, The Pivot Point, drafted by experts from 40 organisations convened by the UN Climate Change High Level Champions
Professor Thomas Hale, Kaya Axelsson, Alexis McGivern and Saskia Straub were part of an expert team that lent their expertise to the report, which was coordinated by UNFCCC Climate Champions.
The Pivot Point identifies the types of rules and standards needed to shift from voluntary climate action to standardised and regulated action to enable committed companies to deliver net zero, faster.
Professor Hale, part of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, argues that progress towards climate-positive regulation is already underway. Jurisdictions which together account for nearly half of global GDP (47.9% of 2021 GDP) and global emissions (46.6% of 2019 emissions) already have or are planning for climate- or sustainability-related risk disclosure of some kind. This progress must exponentially accelerate so that we win the ‘race to regulation’ by 2030.
In the third chapter, ‘Governing Net Zero: The Conveyor Belt’, Prof Hale introduces an influential model for global net zero governance, drawing on the Blavatnik School Policy Memo ‘Governing Net Zero: the Conveyor Belt’ (November 2021). In this new phase of climate action, voluntary action continues to have a key role, but as part of a broader and stronger ‘conveyor belt’ system.
Alexis McGivern, Net Zero Standards Manager at Oxford Net Zero and Chapter 1 contributing author, said: “This analysis will help net zero committers understand the current expectations across the voluntary landscape. It will also help policymakers identify emerging best practices to form the basis of potential regulation. Our research has shown there is high convergence among well-trusted and high-quality independent initiatives on a number of key issues relating to net zero targets, which we outline in our contribution to this report.”
Find out more about global progress to net zero.
Other highlights from the report include:
- An overview of the current landscape across the voluntary climate leadership initiatives, emerging standards and regulations.
- A ‘call to action’ for all non-state actors to join the Race to Zero; and further help inform, shape and drive the standards, policies and regulations needed to align with 1.5C.
