home
frankly speaking podcast

#37 Maria Mendiluce: An Inside View of COP28 - What Are the Implications for Business?

Listen to Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition and one 2023 world’s top 100 Climate leaders.

The We Mean Business Coalition brings together a group of nonprofit organisations collaborating to accelerate an inclusive transition to a net zero economy.

With their ‘Fossil to Clean’ campaign, they called all Parties at COP28 "to transform the global energy system towards a full phase-out of unabated fossil fuels and halve emissions this decade." Although the outcome of this year’s COP was not what was hoped for, “for the first time we have a global agreement to transition away from all fossil fuels in line with science.”

In this episode, you’ll hear more about: 

  • Maria’s overall feeling about what happened in Dubai, 
  • Whether or not international pledges are still relevant and authentic
  • If Carbon Capture and Storage is the solution for a net-zero economy
  • How business can play a role in shifting narratives towards progress and sustainability
  • Her advice to companies on climate and sustainability reporting

“We knew that what we needed was not about the thousands of companies taking voluntary commitments. It is about the millions that need to be affected by regulations. This is what we're seeing now with the CSRD and CSDDD. That's going to be fantastic because anything that is into law is then implemented because it's legal. If you are doing it well, customers and investors will want to do business with you. If you're not doing it well, you will see it too. And then you will do everything you can to do it right. Because that's what businesses do. They compete. They love to be the best. So there is a race to the top and this is what transparency creates.”

Maria Mendiluce in Frankly Speaking

You may also like these episodes

33:58

#45 Sarah Dadush: Can Contracts Support Promoting Responsible Business?

Listen to Sarah Dadush, founder of the Responsible Contracting Project, writer and professor in business and human rights at Rutgers Law School

42:18

#44 Filip Gregor: How Should Companies Undertake a Materiality Assessment?

Listen to Filip Gregor, Head of Frank Bold’s Responsible Companies section and member of EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board

33:33

#43 Tracey Rembert & Alex Wright-Gladstein - New U.S. SEC Climate Disclosure Rules Explained

Listen to Tracey Rembert, Associate Director, Climate Change and Environmental Justice at ICCR, and Alexandra Wright-Gladstein, founder and CEO of the climate-friendly investment fund Sphere.