Davos: French bosses on climate front
This Monday, January 16, the World Economic Forum opens in Davos, bringing together hundreds of governments, economic leaders and major companies. This year, the geopolitical context and the energy crisis should be at the top of the discussion, followed by issues of vigilance and ecological transition as a common theme. And in this matter, the French bosses are ahead of the whole world. This was revealed in PwC’s 26th annual survey of business leaders.
Globally, 4,410 business people surveyed (from 105 countries in North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific) ranked global warming as the sixth most important threat to their business over the next twelve months, after inflation. volatility”, geopolitical conflicts, cyber security risks and health risks. At the age of five, this threat gains only one place, to the fifth position. French leaders are more exposed to climate risks. For the first time, they see global warming as a threat as big as cyber risk. In a five-year perspective, 40% consider themselves highly exposed to cyber risk and 39% to climate risk.
Regulatory context and leading companies
Awareness, which can be explained specifically by the French regulatory context, analyzes Sylvain Lambert, Sustainable Development partner of PwC France and the Maghreb: “For more than 20 years now, companies have been aware of CSR.” In 2001, France became the first country to register its commitment report additional funding for social and environmental impact for the largest listed companies. Since then, French texts often preempt more ambitious or European legislation, including an energy-climate law that particularly strengthens obligations related to investments. As a result, Sylvain Lambert notes that “leaders, including ETI, are also informed by their investors”.
“This state-of-the-art regulatory context goes hand in hand with a political discourse that reflects a strong sensitivity to environmental issues, analyzing the partner. COP21, a benchmark in terms of climate, also took place in France. emanating from the leading French companies that speak and manage the rest of the ecosystem.” For example, Danone, the first large French group to approve a B Corp, or Kering, the first company to create an environmental income statement to measure and allocate funding to its impacts.
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But Sylvain Lambert also sees a result of the economic situation in this increased awareness. The energy tensions have rattled the French, who have been accustomed to cheap and plentiful electricity until now. Not to mention the shock of the last two summers, marked by heat waves, fires and drought on an unprecedented scale.
French companies are taking more action against global warming than any other
Conclusion: French bosses are also the ones who take the most action against climate change. In particular, 49% of them have already implemented initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 37% at the global level and 32% at the European level. 31% said that they took measures in the implementation process. Overall, 80% of French managers say they are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint. They are also 72% developing new products that are more respectful of the planet, and 73% are strategically integrating this fight against global warming.
On the other hand, there are still too few to predict the consequences of the inevitable warming in the activities of French companies. Only 38% of managers say they are taking action to “protect physical assets and/or personnel” from the effects of climate change. Sylvain Lambert warns: “The weak relationship remains adaptation. Globally, we are moving away from the goal of 1.5 or 2°C warming. Agri-food companies will no longer be able to produce the same things in the same places, the construction will necessarily have to review their buildings.. “Companies must take immediate action to physically adapt their production models.”
