Climate change will be the defining test of our time. It could also be the opportunity of a lifetime. Across every sector, businesses are already finding new ways to innovate, invest and transform industries. With the right global policy support, businesses can continue to leverage their entrepreneurialism, innovation and capital to scale up even greater solutions to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In the past decade, extreme weather has cost the global economy over US$2 trillion – threatening lives, livelihoods and the stability of business and economies everywhere. The scale of the challenge is significant. Entire industries, supply chains and energy systems will require major investment, bold innovation and real collaboration.
But the smartest companies aren’t waiting. They’re leading the change. Turning risk into resilience and challenge into growth. Driving innovation, creating jobs, safeguarding the economy and the environment.
Now could be the opportunity of a lifetime for business to deliver for the climate but we can’t act alone.
As the official voice of business at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Chamber of Commerce is committed to working with all parties, from government to academia, to ensure businesses can seize the opportunity and help to deliver on the US$1.3 trillion climate finance goal agreed at COP29.
Representing over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries, and committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement, we are mobilising thousands of businesses and chambers of commerce who understand that climate action isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
The greatest challenge of our time is a chance to create the opportunity of a lifetime.
Policy recommendations: Making the opportunity happen
Business has the innovation, capital and drive to help deliver the US$1.3 trillion climate finance goal agreed at COP29. But unlocking investment at scale requires an enabling policy environment. In other words, governments need to reduce barriers and create incentives that give business the clarity and confidence to act.
The decisions we make until 2030 will determine all of our futures. Now is the moment for global leaders to look forward, not back: to help ensure the clean transition is a business opportunity not a business barrier. To unlock a new era of low-carbon technologies, innovation and investment that will deliver a more stable, secure and equitable future.
These are the policy actions that our members and the business community are calling for.
Provide clarity, certainty and transparency around NDCs to enable businesses to accelerate targets and investment
Nationally determined contribution (NDCs) are critical to provide the certainty and clarity businesses need to accelerate their net-zero targets and investment. But businesses can only support NDCs if these goals and plans are clear, transparent and actionable.
To plan effectively, businesses need detailed information beyond mere mitigation targets. That means greater clarity on planned legislation, regulation, use of mitigation policies (such as carbon pricing), financial measures and planned investments. Governments must also demonstrate how they intend to couple legislation with employment and social planning to ensure a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent green jobs.
Introduce targeted adjustments in key financial regulations to quadruple international climate finance going to emerging markets.
Emerging and developing economies receive just 14% of international climate finance, yet need an additional US$450 to US$550 billion a year to stay on a net-zero path.
Under the current macroprudential framework, such as Basel III, banks are disincentivised from financing climate projects in emerging and developing markets.
Targeted adjustments – such as better recognition of development bank guarantees and other risk mitigation tools – could quadruple the bank capital available for climate projects in emerging markets without compromising global financial stability.
Remove barriers preventing the scaling of private sector adaptation investment from closing the global adaptation funding gap.
Climate-related events are intensifying, making adaptation critical for resilience. Yet, global efforts remain fragmented and underfunded – especially in developing countries, where vulnerability is highest and financial capacity is lowest.
Scaling private capital for adaptation requires targeted reforms in three areas: data collection (ensuring access to high-quality, open climate risk data, enabling better risk assessments and adaptation planning); governance (supporting better engagement of business in domestic climate/adaptation planning); and finance (creating financial incentives for adaptation and spaces/sandboxes for testing promising solutions, i.e. insurance-linked instruments, blended finance tools for adaption).
End the patchwork of global climate-trade policies and ensure measures support, rather than undermine, equitable trade in sustainable goods and services.
Climate and trade policies are becoming increasingly interconnected and misaligned. Trade-related climate measures, particularly carbon border levies (also known as CBAMs or BCAs), risk disproportionately disadvantaging developing countries and creating barriers to market access.
Trade-related environmental measures should enhance, not restrict, markets for sustainable goods and services. The current patchwork of conflicting global rules needs to end. Climate and trade ministers must come together and create new principles to ensure trade and climate policies are better aligned and mutually reinforcing.
Get involved!
Tackling climate change demands more than ambition – it requires action. Join us on the Road to Belém to ensure that your solutions are seen, supported and scaled. Help us show global leaders what’s possible when business and policy align – and why their decisions at COP30 must support the conditions for climate action at scale.
The opportunity is here. Businesses are already delivering.
Transitioning to a low carbon economy isn’t a pipe dream. Across every sector, businesses are innovating, investing and leveraging emerging opportunities – creating value for business, economies and the planet. Early movers aren’t just keeping up – they’re gaining a competitive edge in this new economy. For them, a clean transition is a strategic investment in growth, innovation, talent and long-term resilience. Are you making the most of the opportunity yet?
The construction sector accounts for 34% of global CO₂ emissions, yet remains fragmented and inefficient. Diana Carolina Flores de Casal, Chief Sustainability Officer at Grupo Avintia explains how industrialised construction can change this, combining automation, vertical integration and sustainable design. The results are lower emissions, waste and costs, faster delivery and …
Shanta Holdings is redefining Bangladesh’s skyline with climate-smart, profitable urban development. By embedding green technologies and resource-conscious designs, Shanta has reduced energy and water costs in a resource-constrained environment, while enhancing long-term asset value. Its pioneering projects demonstrate that sustainability is not just a responsibility, it is an opportunity…
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy and indispensable to meeting the goals of the climate transition. Yet their voices remain under-represented in global negotiations. In this guest blog, Rachel Dignam from Sage explores how, in partnership with ICC, Sage has worked to ensure SMEs are heard at the climate table – from COP26 in Glasgow to COP30 in Belém.
Understanding complex environment and sustainability rules can mean the difference between being locked out of markets and being part of the climate transition. In this guest blog, Niki Lewis, Chief Sustainability Officer at Bext360, shows how their new AI tool can turn dense regulations into simple, mobile-first tasks, giving smallholders and cooperatives the opportunity to stay connected to global markets…
The International Chamber of Commerce explores key climate and sustainability policy challenges – from scaling private finance in emerging markets to accelerating circular economy solutions. This includes commissioning in-depth analysis from leading organisations, offering data-driven insights for policymakers and business leaders.
Trade finance underpins 80% to 90% of global trade, making it one of the most influential financial instruments in the world. Yet to date, it remains largely untapped as a tool for climate action. ICC, Boston Consulting Group and leading trade banks have developed the most comprehensive approach yet to assessing sustainability across the entire trade journey, paving the way for a new tool that could unlock trillions of dollars in climate finance.
Private finance for adaptation is lagging, with just 8% coming from business in 2022. The right policies can close this gap. At COP30, governments should make climate risk data open, weave private roles into National Adaptation Plans, and use procurement, regulation and innovative finance to reward resilience. Done well, adaptation will not be philanthropy but strategy – protecting economies and giving early movers an opportunity to shape markets.
Sage Foundation is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime. In partnership with Village Capital, it welcomes 165 purpose-driven startups across Europe, the UK and the US, to shape a more sustainable, green and inclusive future.
As the frequency and severity of climate-related events escalate, there is a growing consensus that mitigation alone is insufficient. Adaptation must play a central role in securing resilience. To support this shift, the new ICC-commissioned Oxera report assesses how the private sector’s role in climate adaptation can be strengthened and scaled. The report is intended to inform ICC’s advocacy as the official UNFCCC Focal Point for Business and Industry in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém.
Targeted clarifications and reforms to the Basel Framework could unlock significant volumes of private investment in high-impact, climate-aligned projects in emerging markets and developing economies, while ensuring the continued soundness of the global financial system.
Since 2021, ICC has drawn on the experience of its global members to develop core principles and guidance for the effective design of carbon pricing instruments. In this third report, building on our past work, ICC provides guidance to governments and policymakers to address carbon leakage, promote linkage for greater international cooperation and make carbon pricing systems more efficient.
The stakes are once again high at the UN climate change conference COP29 happening in a year of record-breaking temperatures. Our eyes set on this year’s renewed focus on financing climate action, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) highlights key elements for establishing an ambitious, actionable and comprehensive New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance.
A new report, commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce, estimates that climate-related extreme weather events have cost the global economy more than $2 trillion over the past decade.
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Stay up-to-date with the latest news, tools and insights at the intersection of business and the environment, including climate action, the circular economy, trade and environment, energy policy and sustainability.
