At the COP27 meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, climate negotiators laid out a plan to implement the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The private sector must play a role in meeting climate targets and can build on that momentum. With this statement, Asian business leaders have committed to taking climate action and to safeguarding and managing nature sustainably.

The Council also conducted a survey (see box on the left below) to understand what drives corporate climate action in Asia, and what policies could accelerate decarbonization. See below for more on the key policy drivers we identified, and why we believe climate change should be a core part of the region’s economic growth strategy.

Climate change will have material impacts for corporations, particularly in Asia where physical and transition risks are significant. Accordingly, Asian companies have acknowledged the importance of sustainability and are now making commitments to reach net-zero carbon emissions within set timeframes.

But how are these commitments affecting their business strategies and changing their operations? And which policies could support an acceleration of their climate action?

To answer these questions, the Asia Business Council surveyed its members ahead of the COP27 conference. For the first time in 2022, a separate section was added to the Council’s Annual Survey with climate-related questions.

The survey results highlight the main drivers of Council members’ climate action and the strategies they prioritize for reaching net zero carbon emissions. It also reveals the key challenges they see for decarbonization and, crucially, the government policies that would help accelerate their climate action.

As Asian economies face recession worries, many are putting climate action on the back burner – but climate resilience goes hand in hand with economic stability.