a new era for corporate leadership

A NEW ERA FOR CORPORATE

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Andrew Steer, President & CEO, World Resources Institute

MindShare 2017—16 May, Washington, DC

•Source: WEF 2017

Source: WEF 2017

GLOBAL RISKS LANDSCAPE

THE GLOBAL RISKS OF HIGHEST CONCERN

Source: WEF 2017

1,000 COMPANIES AND INVESTORS LOBBIED

WHITE HOUSE TO STAY IN PARIS

SO DID MAJOR MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

“U.S. business interests are best served by a stable and practical framework facilitating an effective and balanced

global response. We believe the Paris Agreement provides such a framework.”

AppleBHP BillitonBPDuPont

General MillsGoogleIntelMicrosoft

National GridNovartis Corp.PG&ERio Tinto

Schneider ElectricShellUnileverWalmart

CEOS TAKE OUT WALL STREET JOURNAL AD

May 10th, Wall Street Journal

“Our business interests are best served by a stable and practical

framework facilitating an effective and balanced response to

reducing global GHG emissions. The Paris Agreement gives us that

flexible framework to manage climate change while providing a smooth transition for business.”

“…full compliance with the agreement could ultimately shrink America’s GDP by $2.5 trillion over a 10-year period.”

—100th Day RallyHarrisburg, Pennsylvania

Future cost of wind energy

Future cost of solar energy

Lower cost of action Higher cost of action

WILL IT COST MORE TO DO IT RIGHT?

PHOTO: FLICKER/PICUTRES OF MONEY

• Economic growth and climate

action are tradeoffs

• Economic growth can be

consistent with climate action

• Economic growth over time is

only possible with climate action

Photo: C40 Cities/Flickr

SMART ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND

SMART GROWTH POLICIES ARE THE SAME

1. Improve Resource Productivity

2. Accelerate Technological Advance

3. Give Investors Predictable Policies

Source: WRI chart using OECDstat data, 2013

Pa

ten

ts a

pp

lic

ati

on

s

ind

exe

d to

20

00

le

ve

ls

Total renewable &

non-fossil technologies

Solar PV

Wind

Solar thermal

Hydro (excluding

conventional)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

All Patents

ACCELERATING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE

Innovation happens in

the low-carbon

economy

SOLAR ENERGY TIPPING POINT CROSSED

*Source: Earth Policy Institute/Bloomberg

Source: New Climate Economy, adapted from CDP, 2014.

SUSTAINABLE COMPANIES PERFORM BETTER

The Battle

Short term profit versus long term yield

LEADERSHIP FROM PRIVATE SECTOR ACROSS

THE GLOBE

• 78 commit to carbon pricing

• 90 commit to 100% renewable energy

• 264 commit to Science-Based Targets

• 750 commit to deforestation-free supply chains

Photo: iStock

264 COMPANIES COMMITTED TO SCIENCE BASED TARGETS

Source: http://sciencebasedtargets.org/

100+ increasefrom last year

Companies Set Science-based Targets for Land

& Water?

• 71 Fortune 100 companies

have renewable goals

• 22 Fortune 500 companies are

committed to 100% renewables

Photo: Flickr/Walmart

U.S. COMPANIES DEMAND MORE RENEWABLE

ENERGY

$5TRILLION IN MARKET CAP48

MILLION MWH OF DEMAND FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY65 COMPANIES

PUSHING STATES AND UTILITIES TO EMBRACE

RENEWABLES

PUSHING STATES AND UTILITIES TO EMBRACE

RENEWABLES

?

President Trump’s First 100 Days:

A Sledgehammer to Climate Action

EPA REMOVES CLIMATE SCIENCE FROM

WEBSITE

“the website…is

undergoing changes

that reflect the agency’s

new direction under

President Donald Trump

and Administrator Scott

Pruitt.”

Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/signpost/cc.html

THE IMPACTS?

Source: Rhodium Group

Image: Angela Radulescu/Flickr

CITIES AND BUSINESS DETERMINED TO MEET PLEDGES,

WITH OR WITHOUT US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

“Washington will not have the last word on the

fate of the Paris agreement in the U.S.—

mayors will, together with business leaders

and citizens.”

Michael R. Bloomberg

Source: CAIT/WRI

195signed

COMMITMENTS TO PARIS AGREEMENT

145joined

83%Global emissions

Chinese President Xi Jinping vows to uphold the

Paris Agreement on curbing climate change

Xi Jinping, President, China

$360 billioninvestment in

renewables through

2020

2017: CHINA’S AMBITIOUS PLANS

104 coal plant

projects

cancelled

Photo: Rose Robinson/Flickr

China’s Coal in Decline?

Will China’s National Carbon Market Take Off?

13%of global GHG

emissions covered by

carbon pricing

Will China’s National Carbon Market Take Off?

25%of global GHG

emissions covered by

carbon pricing

The Paradox of Less and More Investment

INDIA REAFFIRMS PARIS CLIMATE COMMITMENTS

“The road from Paris to

today has been somewhat

bumpy. We will have to

sort that out. But I’d like to

reassure each one of you

here today that India

stands committed to its

commitments made at

Paris irrespective of what

happens in the rest of the

world.”

Piyush Goyal , Indian Energy Minister

Notes: FY = All years in chart are fiscal years from April 1 to March 31; GW = 1,000 MW.

Sources: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF); The Economic Times.

INDIA’S TARGETS TO REACH 100GW SOLAR BY 2022

Notes: FY = All years in chart are fiscal years from April 1 to March 31; GW = 1,000 MW.

Sources: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF); The Economic Times.

INDIA’S TARGETS TO REACH 100GW SOLAR BY 2022

THE COMPETITION IS HEATING UP…

November 2016: India

648 Megawatts

January 2017: China

850 Megawatts

Photo: Flickr/Motorito

2015: EMERGING COUNTRIES JOIN THE RACE

• South Africa increased 329% ($4.5 billion)

• Chile increased 157% ($3.5 billion)

• India increased 23% ($10.9 billion)

• Mexico increased 114% ($4.2 billion)

FRANCE’S PRESIDENT ELECT ADDRESSES AMERICAN

CLIMATE SCIENTISTS

Emmanuel Macron,

President-Elect, France

Australia Honduras Pakistan

Bangladesh Indonesia Panama

Brazil Italy Peru

Burundi Japan Saint Lucia

Canada Jordan Sao Tome and Principe

Chile Kyrgyz Republic Seychelles

Colombia Maldives Somalia

Costa Rica Mali South Africa

Cote d’Ivoire Marshall Islands Spain

Denmark Mexico Sweden

DRC Mongolia Tunisia

El Salvador Morocco Uganda

European Commission Mozambique UK

France Namibia USA

Georgia Netherlands Vanuatu

Germany New Zealand Vietnam

Ghana Norway Zambia

Guatemala Zimbabwe

HOW WE’RE ORGANIZEDClimate Energy Food Forests Water Cities &

Transport

Business

Governance

Economics

Finance

20x50x4%

NEW INFRASTRUCTURE 2015-2030

GREATER THAN TOTAL TODAY

THIS…?

Image: Flikr/Andreas

$1 trillion Urban sprawl costs the United States alone per year

Image: Flikr/Andreas

OR THIS?

BRINGING ON THE REVOLUTION

FIVE BIG SYSTEM-WIDE SHIFTS

• Decarbonized Energy Systems

• Cities & Transportation

• A New Rural Economy

• Tomorrow’s Production Systems

• Sustainable Consumption

TIPPING POINTS -- THEY DO HAPPEN

• Radical economic reforms (1985-2000)

• Environmental Legislation (1968-1973)

• Decline in maternal mortality (1995-2010)

• Marriage equality in the US (2004-2015)

Total head count: 673

WRI BRAZIL

WRI CHINA

WRI INDIA

WRI INDONESIA

WRI MEXICO

WRI AFRICA

THANK YOU!