UN to push business and investors to ‘walk the talk’ on net-zero pledges by launching Expert Group

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has launched an Expert Group to develop stronger and clearer standards for net-zero emissions pledges by non-State entities – including businesses, investors, cities and regions – and speed up their implementation.

The launch of the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities comes amid a worsening climate crisis and growing urgency for all commitments to be transparent, credible, backed by robust implementation plans, and converted into real emissions cuts as rapidly as possible.

António Guterres, UN Secretary-Genera, said “Despite growing pledges of climate action, global emissions are at an all-time high. They continue to rise. The latest science shows that climate disruption is causing havoc in every region -- right now. We are in a race against time to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees. And we are losing,”

The Expert Group’s recommendations for higher ambition and environmental integrity will address four areas:

• Current standards and definitions for setting net-zero targets
• Credibility criteria used to assess the objectives, measurement and reporting of netzero pledges
• Processes for verification and accounting of progress towards net-zero commitments and reported decarbonization plans
• A roadmap to translate standards and criteria into international and national level regulations.

At the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), the Secretary-General flagged a clear need for more credible and robust standards and criteria for measuring, analyzing and reporting net-zero emissions pledges by non-State entities. Today’s launch is a key step towards meeting that need.

The Expert Group will be gender-balanced and will consist of respected and independent experts, drawn from a diverse group of countries and regions. They will work in their personal capacity.

The Expert Group will make recommendations before the end of the year.

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