{"id":8826,"date":"2021-11-02T07:00:30","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T07:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=8826"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:49:21","slug":"kpmg-on-how-uk-china-businesses-can-combat-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/kpmg-on-how-uk-china-businesses-can-combat-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"COP26: How UK-China businesses can combat climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second of our COP26 series, KPMG examines the increasing need for international cooperation to support Chinese companies\u2019 business transformation to fit the future low-carbon economy and achieve sustainable growth. There are opportunities for China and the UK to work together across aspects of policy, infrastructure, technology, financing and best practice sharing<\/h2>\n

As the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) approaches, the signs of climate change are ever more visible around us. July 2021 was the hottest single month the world has ever experienced; while record heatwaves hit Canada and North West America in June, wildfires have raged as far apart as California, the Mediterranean and Siberia, and severe flooding has hit many parts of the world.<\/p>\n

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Amidst a gathering sense of emergency, the report in August from the United Nation\u2019s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned starkly that the situation has become \u201ccode red for humanity\u201d. Its assessment concluded that some effects of climate change such as continued sea level rise are irreversible at least for centuries \u2013 but that, if the world can reach Net Zero by the middle of the century, it is not too late to avoid the worst impacts of climate breakdown.<\/p>\n

It is clear that the entire global community must pull together and every nation must stretch itself to make the biggest contribution it can. That being the case, what are the particular challenges and opportunities in front of the UK and China \u2013 and what potential is there for the two nations\u2019 business communities to support and invest in each other as part of the effort?<\/p>\n

The two countries are in quite different positions as they each face up to the challenges ahead. KPMG\u2019s Net Zero Readiness Index, published in October and comparing the likelihood of 32 major economies reaching Net Zero by 2050, places the UK at number two while China is further back at number 20. This is because the two economies are at different stages of development, with China having to accelerate its industrialisation phase and at huge scale. See our separate box-out section for a fuller analysis of the Index findings.<\/p>\n