Reflections from Climate Week NYC: Climate ambition is now a growth strategy, not a cost

As reflected on Climate Week NYC, one thing is clear: despite political headwinds, climate ambition is now a growth strategy, not a cost.

Decarbonisation drives competitiveness:

Companies continue to see decarbonisation not as a cost, but as a pathway to growth, resilience, and long-term competitiveness. The cost of inaction is far higher than the cost of addressing climate risks head-on. A recent MSCI study shows over 60% of listed companies now have climate commitments—many backed by science-based targets.

Bridging the financing gap ahead of COP30:

Looking ahead, the real question for the upcoming COP30 is: how do we effectively fund the solutions we already have? Dr. Daniel Klier (CEO, South Pole) joined the Reuters Live panel in New York with Damilola Ogunbiyi and Avinash Persaud to discuss exactly this. Today, a vast percentage of climate finance goes into renewables and EVs, while hydrogen, steel, cement, and other hard-to-abate sectors remain underfunded. Worse still, less than 3% flows to the world’s least developed areas like Africa, with more than three-quarters of finance still coming from overstretched public sources. Private capital must step in and carbon markets are one of the most powerful tools to make that happen.

Unlocking private capital through carbon markets:

Carbon markets are set to become a major channel for directing investment into climate action, particularly in emerging economies. Encouragingly, momentum is building: more than three-quarters of countries that updated their NDCs this month included international cooperation on carbon markets. As we take a brief pause ahead of Belém, let’s keep this front of mind. The test at COP30 will be simple: Can we unlock the capital needed to turn this momentum into social and economic transformations where they are needed the most?

Watch more: https://www.youtube.com/live/bl3_Ln9zi8A?t=2415s

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