Climate change is a global emergency. Our response to the challenge will impact the stability of financial markets and economies and requires collaboration between the public, private and financial sectors. Business has a crucial role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. However, an uneven level of knowledge about the topic at board level weakens their ability to adequately address it. Enabling board members with tools to effectively address corporate governance-related climate issues is essential to ensure an equitable and effective transition that achieves the goals of the Paris Accord.
The World Economic Forum launched the Principles for Effective Climate Governance at Davos in 2019. Since launching the Principles, the Initiative has been working with national Institutes of Directors and/or individual Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) in countries to set up national Chapters of the Climate Governance Initiative.
There are currently fourteen Chapters, in Brazil, Brussels, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Nordics, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, in the U.K. and USA. The CGI Chapters and other members of the CGI Community commit to working with each other within their respective countries as well as across borders to share knowledge. They develop climate governance-related content and host expert-led, or NED/Chair-led sessions to inform, share experiences and facilitate co-operation.
The core mission of the CGI Chapters is to promote the implementation of the CGI Principles, by mobilizing NEDs who either are locally based or serve on the boards of locally based companies and provide a range of engagement opportunities aimed at enhancing their skills in this area.
The Climate Governance Initiative provides the unique opportunity to mobilize NEDs in tackling the climate crisis and fill a void in addressing climate change effectively.