A groundswell of action and awareness in support of corporate sustainability has rippled through the business community since last fall’s UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) and the resulting Glasgow Climate Pact.
Yet, while progress has been made, there’s much more ground to cover in areas like public data disclosures, renewable energy sources, financing commitments and emerging technologies to support global decarbonization.
Here are the top five sustainability trends in business to watch in 2022, with added insight from JPMorgan Chase experts.
1. Carbon Capture
What’s the story? Reducing emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere are central to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees (ideally, 1.5 degrees) Celsius over pre-industrial levels. In addition to implementing efficiency practices, harnessing renewable energy and supporting nature-based solutions, much of the world is increasingly turning to an emerging class of emission-abatement technologies that facilitate carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). These CCUS technologies:
- Capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere (Direct Air Capture, DAC) or from sources through which CO2 is released into the atmosphere (Point Source Carbon Capture)
- Enable CO2 to be reused at the site or compressed and transported
- Allow CO2 to be stored permanently (often deep underground)
Impact stat: CO2 emissions have increased by about 90% since 1970, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.