New research by Supercritica has released new data from a survey of 2,000 UK employees which shows that COP27 matters to the workforce, and could increase the pressure on businesses to take meaningful climate action.
It found that 60 percent of UK employees care about COP27 and its outputs, but only 15 percent believe that their company feels the same
It also found that 70 percent of employees think their company should follow the goals and commitments laid out at COP27.
Research conducted in October also found that 35 percent of employees are willing to quit their job if their employer does too little on climate (53% amongst Gen Z employees)
Even in a recession, a third (32%) of UK employees would not be comfortable with their company cutting its sustainability programme to save money.
Michelle You, co-founder and CEO of Supercritical, said:
“COP27 should be a wake-up call for businesses that have buried their heads in the sand for too long. Not only are their employees willing to quit over inadequate climate action, but a majority want to see their company taking the conference seriously and doing something about its output. It’s time for businesses to get on the same page as their employees on climate, or they could be in for a real shock.
“UN scientists now believe it may be too late to keep global warming below the key threshold of 1.5C, so there’s no time left for greenwashing and meaningless avoidance offsets that do nothing to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
“The IPCC report that followed COP26 confirmed that carbon removal will be critical to stabilizing the climate, and many long-term carbon removal skeptics have now turned their back on dated concerns that this could detract attention from emissions reduction. The reality is that time has run out. Companies, governments and individuals must embrace both – reduction and removal – as it’s too late for anything else.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
