Singapore Mandates Corporate Climate Risk Disclosure to Mobilize Private Climate Finance
In Singapore, the government recognizes climate change as an existential threat and has established innovative measures for progressing toward the country’s 2050 net-zero target. This case study explores means by which Singapore has mandated corporate climate risk disclosures to drive net-zero-aligned finance and investment decisions. By requiring companies to measure and disclose the climate-related risks to which their businesses are subject, Singapore is working to ensure that businesses, including listed financial institutions, are making decisions that propel – rather than hinder – progress toward a net-zero economy.
In 2016, in view of international advancements in sustainability reporting and the many benefits that sustainability reporting brings to both investors and issuers, Singapore’s national stock exchange, the Singapore Exchange (SGX), introduced requirements for every issuer listed in the Exchange to issue an annual sustainability report for financial years beginning in 2017 according to an interview with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)The reports are to include five primary components on a ‘comply or explain’ basis:
- An overview of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors across the business and value chain related to the business’ product or service
- Policies and practices companies are already undertaking, and performance in the context of previously disclosed targets
- Future sustainability targets
- A sustainability reporting framework
- A board statement that affirms that the company has considered sustainability issues as part of its strategic formulation, determined the material ESG factors, and overseen the management and monitoring of these factors
Following a public consultation in 2021 on proposed enhancements to its sustainability reporting regime which received broad support from stakeholder groups, SGX introduced a phased approach to mandatory climate-related disclosures (CRD) based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Industries identified by the TCFD as most affected by climate change and the transition to a lower carbon-economy were prioritized to provide mandatory climate-related disclosures progressively from FY2023.
As part of the Government’s efforts to help companies strengthen capabilities in sustainability, Singapore also announced in February 2024 that it will introduce mandatory CRD aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards in a phased approach. This is in line with the recommendations from the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee (SRAC), after a public consultation exercise in 2023. This phased approach will be implemented as follows:
- From FY2025, all listed issuers in Singapore will be required to report and file annual CRD using requirements aligned with the ISSB standards. SGX is currently consulting on amendments to its listing rules to implement these requirements. Listed issuers will be required to disclose their Scope 3 GHG emissions from FY2026.
- From FY2027, large non-listed companies (defined as those with annual revenue of at least $1 billion and total assets of at least $500 million) will be required to do the same, apart from disclosures of Scope 3 GHG emissions. Singapore’s Accounting Corporate and Regulatory Authority will consult on the necessary legislative amendments to implement this in due course and review the experience of listed issuers and large non-listed companies before introducing reporting requirements for other companies.
For financial institutions, in 2020, MAS consulted on and issued guidelines on environmental risk management for asset managers, banks and insurers to enhance these financial institutions’ environmental risk management practices. Environmental risk is increasingly recognized as a key global risk, with climate change at the forefront of these concerns. These risks not only give rise to reputational concerns but also bear a financial impact on such institutions and the assets they manage on behalf of their customers.
The guidelines are a call to action for financial institutions to enhance their resilience to and management of environmental risks by through the integration of environmental risk considerations into asset managers’, banks’, and insurers’ financing and investment decisions, and supporting a gradual and smooth transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy through channeling capital through their green financing and investment activities. Critically, the guidelines were co-created with representatives from the banking, insurance and asset management sectors.
According to the guidelines, which came out in 2022, disclosures must be made in accordance with internationally recognized frameworks, such as the TCFD recommendations. MAS expects financial institutions’ approaches for managing and disclosing environmental risk to mature as methodologies for assessing, monitoring and reporting this risk evolve. As a result, MAS will update the guidelines it has issued as appropriate to reflect the evolving nature and maturity of risk management practices.
Ultimately, Singapore’s climate risk disclosures push companies, investors, banks insurers, and others to rigorously assess the climate-related risks they face. In so doing, financial actors across the economy can more accurately identify and manage the real risks they face from climate impacts, ideally steering them away from decisions likely to maintain an orderly transition to net zero. In the years ahead, it will be critical to monitor how Singapore’s mandatory climate risk disclosure framework has driven companies, investors and others across the economy to plan for and mitigate climate-induced threats and pivot to seizing the many opportunities a green transition brings.
Realizing Net-Zero Emissions: Good Practices in Countries
This case study is part of a working paper outlining a "Framework for Net-Zero Climate Action," emphasizing outcomes, enabling action areas and actions crucial for achieving net-zero emissions. It showcases real-world examples of countries implementing these strategies, offering valuable insights for others.
Read More Net-Zero Case Studies in this Series:
- Sweden’s Early Action to Legally Enshrine its Net-zero Target May Bolster Against Political Shifts
- Uruguay’s Wind Development Program Attracted Private Investment to Transform the Power Sector
- Canada Develops Legal Framework to Prioritize Net-Zero Implementation
- The Kingdom of Tonga Developed its LT-LEDS Through a Consensus-Based Stakeholder Engagement Process
- Costa Rica’s Pioneering Net-zero Implementation Plan Attracts Investment, Withstands Political Changes
- Chile’s New Governance Structures Are Streamlining Net-zero Implementation
- South Africa Establishes an Inclusive Process Toward a Just Transition, with Broad Stakeholder Engagement
- A Sustained Portfolio of Policies Have Transformed Denmark’s Power Sector
- France Shapes Budget to Increase Net-zero-aligned Public Finance
Empowering Residents Helped Buenos Aires Transform Rodrigo Bueno Into a Climate-Resilient Community
On the eastern edge of Buenos Aires, residents of the Rodrigo Bueno neighborhood take a break from pick-up soccer games and stretch out on grassy knolls. Further down the road, a kitchen buzzes with locals testing new recipes to feature at the neighborhood food hall. New housing blocks, featuring solar heating, frame older homes and border the shared civic space. But the people who lived in Rodrigo Bueno did not always enjoy this gentle cadence of life.
Rodrigo Bueno emerged in the early 1980s as a villa of informal, self-built homes on precarious reclaimed river land. The neighborhood did not have access to basic services such as clean water, sewers or electricity, or to schools, healthcare and other government services. As is often the case with informal settlements, Rodrigo Bueno was exposed to more significant climatic risks due to its high density and lack of ventilation, and in this case, dangerous proximity to a flood-prone canal.
Residents enjoy pick-up games of soccer on a newly constructed football pitch in Rodrigo Bueno. Photo by WRI.For more than 10 years, the city tried to evict residents and remove their homes. But residents found ways to delay and block eviction, demonstrating a high degree of self-organization and self-efficacy. Meanwhile, creeping climate change sent floods lapping at their doors with poorly built homes risking collapse into the canal.
But in 2016, a new city administration dropped the legal battles over eviction and adopted a new strategy to address Rodrigo Bueno’s challenges, one that included collaboration and shared decision-making with the residents. The results would prove transformative.
A Collaborative Approach to Housing ImprovementsThe overall goals of the Rodrigo Bueno neighborhood upgrade project were multi-faceted and included an integrated approach that changed the focus from the government imposing changes to an inclusive process concentrated on housing integration, urban connectivity and socio-economic opportunities.
Changes to the neighborhood came from the work of Buenos Aires’ Housing Institute, which appointed a “Territorial Team” comprised of social workers, anthropologists and architects who spent time in Rodrigo Bueno meeting directly with residents every day. The team got to know every resident and learn their personal stories, whether it was celebrating new jobs and birthdays, listening to the struggles of immigrants starting a new life, or of children having difficulty getting to school. This slow, consistent and ongoing engagement over 8 years has fostered a strong sense of trust, enabling the neighbors and the Housing Institute to co-create neighborhood amenities and policies tailored to residents’ needs.
Catalina Chiavassa (center), a member of the Housing Institute’s Territorial Team, helps residents advocate for their needs, such as a health center and access to vaccinations. Photo by WRI.One of the first changes came in 2017, when the Territorial Team played a crucial role in shaping and passing a new law that formally recognized Rodrigo Bueno residents' land and home ownership. Historically, residents of informal villas do not legally own the land where they’ve built their homes, living in constant fear of eviction and cutting them out of many municipal services and job opportunities.
Neighbors often watched over each other’s homes, but this precarity can have long-term economic and social consequences. “Initially, you had to sneak in and out [to work],” says Pedro Antonio Candia, a resident of 19 years. “Someone had to stay at home, or else someone might intrude. We would take turns, or a neighbor would watch the house.”
Following the new law, a series of physical changes began. A new street system was installed. Residents received home addresses and could receive mail and register for city services. Businesses could appear on maps. Emergency services could reach residents.
On this new street grid, 611 new energy-efficient, multi-family housing units, with solar-powered water heating systems, were constructed and offered to residents. Mortgage prices for new homes were determined by income, and the value of residents’ old self-built homes was discounted from the total cost.
Critically, residents had the option of staying in their own homes if they were not in immediate danger of collapse. Existing homes received structural, aesthetic and infrastructure upgrades. The choice to move or stay ensures that residents maintain autonomy and control throughout the neighborhood integration process. Those whose homes were too close to the canal edge were given the choice to swap with another resident who elected to move into a new building.
Creating Jobs Through Resilience and SustainabilityResilience and environmental protection were also key elements to improving the Rodrigo Bueno community. In 2022, the Housing Institute began remediation work of the canal that forms one of the borders of the neighborhood.
So far, the canal has been cleaned up, a stormwater control system has been installed and a retaining wall was built to reduce flooding. When it’s completed, a “coastal edge” will support a promenade behind it, offering more public space to residents.
As seen from above, the Rodrigo Bueno neighborhood's historic area lies on the left, bordered by the fortified canal edge. Newer buildings are seen on the right, adjacent to the Costanera Sur wetland reserve. Photo by WRI.The Housing Institute also led various skills and training workshops for residents, including a three-month workshop on gardening and agriculture, which led to the creation of the La Vivera Organica plant nursery in 2019. Setup by 14 local women, the nursery cultivates native species found at the adjacent Costanera Sur wetland reserve and serves as a source of fresh local produce.
As COVID-19 lockdowns began, La Vivera Organica provided fresh local food to the community and donated produce to the most vulnerable residents. The business has helped the neighborhood connect with the broader city as well. In 2021, a gastronomic patio was opened to serve both residents and visitors to the ecological preserve and the Hilton Buenos Aires committed to purchasing 100% of its organic produce from La Vivera.
Elizabeth Cuenca, a resident of Rodrigo Bueno and commercial manager at La Vivera, believes the new relationship between city government and residents has been instrumental to the success of the housing project. “With the neighbors’ participation as a priority, the results were better,” she says. “The [Housing Institute] knows what people need, but we knew exactly what we needed here.”
Upward Mobility and a Return to RootsThe Housing Institute’s gradual, participatory and holistic approach to improving the neighborhood is a critical lesson for many cities around the world. There are an estimated 1.2 billion urban dwellers who lack access to secure and affordable housing.
Linking social, economic and housing interventions is a combination that the Housing Institute is employing across other informal settlements in Buenos Aires, benefiting more than 70,000 residents. Each neighborhood has its own nuances and priorities, such as schools, healthcare centers or green spaces.
The Blanca Brizuela Duarte prepares and sells her native dishes from Paraguay at the “Gastronomic Patio,” an outdoor food hall in an ecological preserve. Photo by WRIFor Rodrigo Bueno, the results have gone beyond just material benefits. Blanca Brizuela Duarte, a resident since 1998 and owner of a stand in the neighborhood food hall, takes pride in sharing her traditional dishes from Paraguay. “This was part of the project, us being cooks who struggle to maintain our grandmothers’ old recipes,” she says. “I have customers from the neighborhood and from everywhere else – from the city, from San Telmo, from La Boca – they come to try our dishes, and they leave happily. That’s what this food court is about: It’s about love, about love for what we have.”
The 2023-2024 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities celebrates projects and initiatives building momentum for climate-ready communities. From five finalists, one grand prize winner will be announced Sept. 25.
rodrigo-bueno-buenos-aires.jpg Cities Argentina WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities Urban Development Climate Resilience housing Urban Transformations Type Vignette Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects Authors Jen Shin Anna KustarRELEASE: World Resources Institute Welcomes Clara Barby to Global Board of Directors
WASHINGTON (August 15, 2024) — World Resources Institute (WRI) is pleased to announce that Clara Barby has joined its Global Board of Directors. Barby is Senior Partner at Just Climate, a climate-led investing firm, and a leader in private sector climate finance and sustainability standards.
“We are delighted to welcome Clara to our Global Board,” said Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, WRI. “Clara has a wealth of experience developing standards and navigating capital markets across several of WRI’s geographies – including Colombia, Kenya, India, Southeast Asia and Brazil. Her deep professional interest in getting private capital flowing to the Global South is already a key part of WRI’s strategy. She will be an excellent partner in WRI’s efforts to enable broader system change in the global financial architecture."
Barby was previously Chief Executive of the Impact Management Project (IMP) and led a project with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation to establish the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB’s sustainability disclosure standards bring consistency and transparency to global capital markets, providing companies with an incentive to embrace sustainable business models. She also previously led the sustainable and impact strategies for Bridges Fund Management and worked for Acumen’s Capital Markets team, investing in India and East Africa.
Alongside her current role at Just Climate, Barby serves on expert advisory groups for the Transition Finance Market Review, the Transition Plan Taskforce, the ISSB, and the Impact Investing Institute.
“I’m looking forward to working across WRI’s network to help finance and scale the investments needed to reduce carbon emissions, protect nature and improve people’s lives,” said Barby. “By convening diverse groups of stakeholders and lowering structural barriers for sustainable investments, we can help the capital markets enable the achievement of development objectives and contribute to equitable change for communities worldwide.”
Clara holds an MBA from the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) as well as a bachelor’s degree in Greats from the University of Oxford. She was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to International Sustainability Standards in the 2023 King’s New Year Honors List. She is based in the United Kingdom.
About World Resources Institute
WRI is a trusted partner for change. Using research-based approaches, we work globally and in focus countries to meet people’s essential needs; to protect and restore nature; and to stabilize the climate and build resilient communities. We aim to fundamentally transform the way the world produces and uses food and energy and designs its cities to create a better future for all. Founded in 1982, WRI has nearly 2,000 staff around the world, with country offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States and regional offices in Africa and Europe. More information at www.wri.org or on Twitter @WorldResources.
What 2024’s Historic Elections Could Mean for the Climate
This is the biggest year in modern history for elections around the globe. Citizens of at least 64 countries — collectively home to about half of the world’s population — have, or will, cast votes for national leaders in 2024. The implications of these elections for the climate and our shared future cannot be overstated.
In late July, the world experienced its hottest day ever recorded, after more than a year of consecutive monthly record-high temperatures. Relentless regional heatwaves, devastating wildfires and dire water shortages abound. The world’s most vulnerable people and communities, most of whom bear the least responsibility for climate change, are feeling its impacts most acutely.
4 Climate Stories That Define 2024
In a rapidly changing world with new events unfolding daily, global elections are shaping this year's biggest climate stories. Learn more:
Global leaders will play a critical role in addressing these interconnected crises and ensuring a livable future for everyone. In the latter half of this pivotal decade for climate action, the world needs leaders who will work to rapidly slash greenhouse gas emissions, shift their economies away from fossil fuels, protect and restore their lands, and invest in building communities’ resilience to climate shocks.
With some key races already decided, and as the main issue framing WRI’s 2024 Stories to Watch (the biggest issues of the year impacting people, climate and nature), here’s what WRI country and policy experts are saying about the world’s most consequential elections for climate so far:
IndonesiaIndonesia boasts some of the world’s most abundant natural resources, the management of which is inextricably tied to the archipelagic country’s presidential policies. Following its February election, former army general and current defense minister Prabowo Subianto is set to assume office on October 20. The widely-held expectation is that his administration — which includes the current president’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as vice president-elect — will continue to advance the previous administration’s policies, although whether the new administration will also continue outgoing President Joko Widodo’s climate commitments, remains to be seen.
Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister, speaks at a campaign event. After winning the February 2024 election, the former army general will become Indonesia's next president on October 20. Photo by SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo.“Economic development will still be the priority for the next five years, and there are wide opportunities for the country supported by businesses and other non-state actors to strengthen climate resilient, low carbon, and socially inclusive development,” says Arief Wijaya, managing director of WRI Indonesia.
The president-elect has already promised to secure national food sovereignty through the country’s food estate program, which will be expanded to more than 40 million hectares of degraded lands and forests in the country. This strategy will help reduce the pressure solely on Indonesia’s forests and encourage a mosaic landscape approach to restoration.
As the world’s leading exporter of palm oil, Indonesia plans to expand its production as part of a larger focus on biofuels. But to do so, it should encourage a sustainable palm oil certification.
"... there are wide opportunities for the country supported by businesses and other non-state actors to strengthen climate resilient, low carbon, and socially inclusive development."
— Arief Wijaya, WRI Indonesia
Lastly, as the incoming administration looks toward energy sovereignty, it hopes to expand mining of its vast resources of nickel, a critical mineral for electric vehicle batteries and other clean technologies. To reduce environmental impacts, the incoming administration will need to follow the existing plan created by Indonesia’s Ministry of Planning.
Because Indonesia’s incoming parliament will be a coalition of different political parties, the opposition will relatively lack the ability to challenge any potentially harmful policies. “The hope is to have the role of civil society organizations and non-state actors, including private sectors, to be more prominent for checks and balances of the government policies for the next administration,” Wijaya explains.
IndiaIn India, more than 640 million citizens made their way to the polls amid scorching heat between April and June, marking the largest election the world has ever seen. Though climate change was not always highlighted as an electoral issue in the candidates’ campaigns, major party manifestoes included chapters on climate and addressed concerns about rural livelihoods and water, which are often exacerbated by climate extremes.
At a campaign rally before the elections, Prime Minister Narenda Modi waves to the crowd. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party secured a third term in conjunction with two other parties. Photo by ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo.On June 4, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party secured a third term in conjunction with other parties, including regional leaders from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh — states that are highly vulnerable to floods and cyclones, respectively. This could mean that the national agenda might possibly see more mainstreaming of regional needs for climate resilience and a “just transition,” that ensures workers and communities aren’t left behind as the country moves toward a low-carbon future.
The country’s recent elections may not have significant climate implications on the international stage and there are likely to be a continuation of the country’s climate commitments aimed at expanding renewable energy to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.
South AfricaThirty years after South Africa’s first free and fair elections, voters this May sent the country into a coalition-led government called the Government of National Unity (GNU). The African National Congress (ANC), the dominant political party in the country since Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, dropped its share of votes from 58% in 2019 to a little over 40% in 2024.
Increasing levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality, in addition to corruption at all levels of government and persistent electricity shortages and mismanagement, have been among the reasons cited for the drop in confidence in the ANC.
Following a deal to create the Government of National Unity, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will serve a second term. Photo by Xinhua / Alamy Stock Photo.After brokering a deal to create the GNU, which currently encompasses 10 political parties, President Cyril Ramaphosa will serve a second term. Ramaphosa has historically been a strong proponent of climate action and, specifically, a just transition. For example, he advocated for South Africa’s entrance into a Just Energy Transition Partnership in 2021, through which the U.S., EU and other countries have committed billions to support an equitable transition from coal reliance to clean energy in the country.
This climate ambition is expected to continue through Ramaphosa’s second term, including with Ramaphosa signing the long-awaited Climate Change Bill, providing the first legal basis in the country for acting on climate change. However, implementing costly and complex climate solutions could prove more challenging amid South Africa’s social and economic atmosphere.
MexicoMexico City made headlines in early 2024 amid speculation that the city’s taps could run dry in mere months. Fortunately, this “Day Zero” didn’t come to pass. But it highlighted Mexico’s wider water crisis: As of May, more than two-thirds of the country was experiencing moderate to severe drought. And water shortages are just one of the many growing threats facing Mexico as climate change intensifies.
"Both the cabinet announcements and the work priorities outlined by the president-elect send a positive signal regarding the importance that the climate and environmental agenda will have in the new administration."
— Avelina Ruiz, WRI México
But the country’s next administration could be uniquely positioned to address these challenges. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who won on June 2 in a surprise landslide, is not only the country’s first female president, but has a PhD in Environmental Engineering with a strong track record of impact. As Mexico City’s mayor, Sheinbaum worked to expand public transit and deploy one of the world’s largest solar plants. As one of the authors of the preeminent international report on climate change, she’s helped raise awareness about the urgency of the issue and drive action on the global stage.
Avelina Ruiz, climate change manager at WRI México, highlighted the appointment of Alicia Bárcena as secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, who has an extensive track record in promoting the sustainable development agenda in Mexico and at the regional level as executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Both the cabinet announcements and the work priorities outlined by the president-elect send a positive signal regarding the importance that the climate and environmental agenda will have in the new administration,” Ruiz said.
Claudia Sheinbaum was elected Mexico’s president in June 2024. Photo by Luis E Salgado / Alamy.After taking office on October 1, Sheinbaum will likely continue her efforts to expand mass transit and public mobility, alongside working to bolster food security through sustainable agriculture, conserve biodiversity and improve water management. She also campaigned on boosting renewable energy investment and promoting rapid decarbonization — although the current administration under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, with whom Sheinbaum is closely aligned, has been criticized for backing domestic oil production and continuing the country’s economic reliance on oil production.
The country is expected to resume its role of international leadership by submitting its 2025 national climate commitment that will showcase how Mexico will achieve a just, resilient and low-emission economy.
European UnionVoters across 27 countries in Europe headed to the polls in June to participate in the European Parliament elections, which take place every five years. The center-right European People’s Party held onto its position as the biggest parliamentary group, but it will need to collaborate with the Social-Democratic Party (the second biggest group), the economic-liberal Renew party and left-wing Green group to achieve a centrist majority. The right-wing protest vote, for which immigration is a central issue, made notable gains, forming a new parliamentary group — called Patriots for Europe — that now constitutes the third largest group in the European Parliament.
The European Union’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040 remains a priority for the Commission, but Stientje van Veldhoven of WRI Europe, says the Commission will have to navigate a challenging political situation in several individual countries.
Ursula von der Leyen won a second mandate as European Commission president and, together with European Council President António Costa and Kaja Kallas leading foreign affairs, will chart the block’s next course on climate and sustainable development.
“These three will have to make sure that they address some of the main concerns that the European voters have voiced, which center around the cost of living, defense and competitiveness,” says Stientje van Veldhoven, vice president and regional director for WRI Europe.
Van Veldhoven also notes that, concerningly, climate did not rank among those top three issue areas. Although, she says, while it's less visible, Green Deal proposals do fall under the banner of “industrial competitiveness.” These include a continued focus on energy transition, electricity grids and minerals.
Ursula von der Leyen, who won a second mandate as European Commission president for the European Union, speaks at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Xinhua / Alamy Stock Photo.The EU must also shift its agricultural policies to help protect landscapes and adapt food production to a changing climate, but this stands to be contentious, as farmers throughout Europe have taken to the streets in recent years to protest environmental legislation. Efforts on nature restoration could face similar challenges.
The EU’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040 remains a priority for the Commission, but van Veldhoven says she expects the Commission will have to navigate a challenging political situation in several individual countries.
United KingdomIn a landslide early-July victory, the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, won the country’s general election, marking the first shift in party rule since 2010. The change has brought with it a significant majority in the UK Parliament that supports climate action. “I think there's a real sense of excitement that the new government will be a strong force on climate, development and nature, both in terms of domestic implementation and also on the global stage,” says Edward Davey, head of WRI Europe’s UK office. He adds, however, that the country first needs to make meaningful progress at home in order to successfully resume a leadership position at the international level.
In a landslide, UK's Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, won the elections in July. It was the first party shift in the UK since 2010. Photo by Alan Keith Beastall / Alamy Stock Photo.That’s now a real possibility, given the range of climate policy priorities the Labour Party outlined in its manifesto and which it has already begun to deliver. Among them, the UK aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, a goal that will require planning system reform and a renewed focus on the just transition.
"I think there's a real sense of excitement that the new government will be a strong force on climate, development and nature, both in terms of domestic implementation and also on the global stage."
— Edward Davey, WRI Europe UK
Other significant climate priorities include a new 8.3 billion pound ($10.6 billion) institution to invest in leading energy technologies and support local energy production; the creation of a new national energy system operator; decisions about the future of nuclear power, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen; and new commitments on fresh water, sustainable land use, and biodiversity protection. In its first days in power, Labour already showed its commitment to advancing climate action by ending the previous administration’s block on onshore wind development.
Davey concludes that we will likely see action that centers on “making fast progress on net-zero implementation at home, coupled with a renewed focus on diplomacy and partnership with other countries. How strong that international leadership proves to be will also depend on whether the UK joins and drives high ambition climate alliances, as well as the pace and nature of its return to the UN’s goal for developed countries to spend 0.7% of their gross national income on international climate, nature and development finance.
FranceAfter a second round of voting in France’s Parliamentary elections in early July, no one group won an absolute majority. A loose coalition of left-wing and environmental parties, the New Popular Front (NFP), won the largest number of seats in the National Assembly by a slim margin. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party and the far-right party led by Marine Le Pen came in close behind.
French election posters displayed in Moyaux, France. While no one party won an absolute majority in France’s recent parliamentary elections, the New Popular Front won the largest number seats in the National Assembly by a slim margin. Photo by Julian Eales / Alamy.Climate change was not at the forefront of these elections, overshadowed by issues like retirement and immigration policy. The country’s main green party saw its share of votes fall from 13% to just 5%, while it’s far-right party — which has opposed phasing down fossil fuels and other climate actions — saw its share rise to more than 30%.
NFP, which won the largest share of Parliamentary seats, specifically references the threat of climate change in its manifesto. It also promotes increasing renewable energy and expanding domestic production of clean technologies, among other climate-related priorities. Macron, who was first elected in 2017, has yet to appoint a new prime minister whose task will be to deal with the fragmented parliament (an unusual situation for France but common in other European Countries). At the moment of writing, the future figurehead of France’s political leadership, and the country’s trajectory on climate action, remain uncertain.
Looking AheadWith a few more months left in the year, many elections that will impact how the world responds to climate change are still to take place — including in the United States, the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and a central player in driving levels of climate finance.
To chart a more resilient future around the globe, it will be imperative for leaders and governments elected in 2024 to work together to raise their collective ambition — and climate finance to support that — at international settings like the UN’s 29th annual climate conference (COP29) in November. And they must work to rapidly accelerate action on the ground, starting by submitting stronger national climate commitments when they come due in early 2025.
The decisions and actions leaders take today — and public pressure and support for these — will impact the planet’s trajectory for generations to come.
As part of WRI’s Stories to Watch, WRI climate, country and policy experts have been following the 2024 elections and their potential impact on climate policies throughout the year. WRI expert contributors to this article include: Varun Agarwal, Edward Davey, Mani Bhushan Jha, Katie Ross, Avelina Ruiz, Stientje van Veldhoven, Tjokorda Nirarta "Koni" Samadhi, David Waskow and Arief Wijaya. This article was written by WRI editors Nicole Greenfield and Maggie Overholt.
mexico-elections-2024.jpg Climate Climate climate finance COP29 international climate policy climate policy Type Commentary Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects Authors WRI Staff