How do we get more business across the planet to support the Global Climate Strike like Atlassian?

[Dr Ian McGregor]

Global Greenhouse Gas emissions have risen by over 50% since countries signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and which was ratified and came into force in 1993, more than 25 years ago.

Since then we have had under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Copenhagen Accord and most recently in 2015 the Paris Agreement. 

Despite this, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, deforestation rates are increasing and we are rapidly reaching a level of dangerous climate change. 

How can global business put more pressure of global political leaders to finally, effectively address this global challenge?

Dr Ian McGregor

Global Climate Change Expert

University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

ian.m.mcgregor@uts.edu.au

[Kat Warner]

I am not sure how many decision makers for global businesses are spending time in the Atlassian Community.

The C-suite get paid the $$ and need to use their voices/profiles/positions that this money is compensating them for.

[Dr Ian McGregor]

Yes, however, you have much better contacts with the C-suite in your organizations than I do!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The main question here is "How can global business put more pressure of global political leaders to finally, effectively address this global challenge?"

This is the wrong question.  Most global businesses are diametrically opposed to doing anything about climate change, because the money is in doing things that cause it.  The world's biggest companies are mostly financial constructions, but they make their money out of financing others that can broadly be classified as

• agricultural - the main force behind deforestation and carbon intensive foodstuffs
• energy - companies like Shell, BP, EDF, Gazprom, Centrica, and a massive load of others.  Essentially burning dead dinosaur trees for energy and CO2
• transport - I live in a country which has a long-running argument about expanding our largest airport, and, less in the public eye, several of our sea ports.  If the companies running these ports cared about the environment instead of their profits, they would be talking about removing runways and docks, not creating more.
• I am sure there are more examples

The question should be "how do we get corporations to start doing something about their environmental impact" (instead of "greenwashing"), not "how do we get corporations to put pressure on governments", because their current pressure on government is "let us pollute so we can make more money to bribe you with"

I suspect there's actually a really simple answer for about 75% of the problem - a proper tax on emissions.

[Dr Ian McGregor]

We have been trying for about 20 years to get a proper tax on emissions, the Emission Trading Scheme in the EU was starting up around then.

But I agree vested interests and profits from expanding business as usual is a huge problem.