IMHO: The climate transition is inevitable – and directors play a key role in ambition, accountability and transparency

Despite economic headwinds and geopolitical noise, the global shift to a low-emissions economy isn’t slowing down, it’s accelerating. Markets are moving, technologies are scaling and costs are falling.

Five technologies – solar PV, wind power, batteries, heat pumps, EVs – are now taking out the majority of global emissions growth. They’ve passed the tipping point where economics, not just policy, are driving adoption. In 2024, renewables made up 92% of new global power capacity. China alone has installed twice as much solar than the rest of the world combined, accounting for nearly 70% of global additions to solar capacity. This isn’t abstract theory; it’s reshaping supply chains, investment flows and where competitive advantage will sit for the next decade and beyond.

According to the WBCSD 2025 Business Breakthrough Barometer, 91% of leaders globally say their organisations have maintained or increased investment in the net-zero transition compared to a year ago. And research published in Nature Climate Change this year found that 89% of people around the world want more to be done to protect the climate, but mistakenly assume others don’t share that view.

When I meet people around the motu, I see and hear the progress that our businesses and communities are making. One example is Enagain in Canterbury, which took an idea for a PhD thesis to operating prototype with the goal of turning landfill gas into reliable, economically viable biomethane. This project took place with the help of council, academic and industry working together to turn a waste problem into a clean energy opportunity for communities, businesses and industry. Another example is the work the MacDiarmid Institute is putting into its clean tech research, which covers everything from increasing solar panels efficiency to making ammonia at enough scale for marine fuel.  

And yet, there’s a gap between news headlines and what the data and evidence show us about action. That gap breeds hesitation and inertia. In New Zealand, we often hear that we’re too small to matter, that our emissions are just a drop in the bucket. But that misses the point. What we do here affects our ability to sell to the world, to attract capital and to hold our place as a trusted, credible trading partner.

Our exporters are already under pressure to show low-emissions credentials, and buyers are demanding cleaner supply chains. Our isolation means we have to work harder to prove we can deliver, or risk being left behind.

For directors, this is about strategy, risk and reputation. Volatility is real and margins are tight, which makes clear governance and long-term thinking more important, not less. Ask yourself:

• Are we investing enough to stay competitive as customers, investors and regulators start to move faster than we are?
• Do we have a credible path to keep access to key markets?
• Are we protecting our licence to operate in a world where trust and transparency are business currency?

Every tonne of emissions cut, and fraction of a degree of warming we avoid, means fewer droughts, floods and climate losses to manage and reduces physical risk to assets, supply chains and communities. Giving up on mitigation isn’t resilience; it’s resignation. The choice isn’t between spending or saving. It’s whether we spend now in ways that pay back or spend later on problems we could have avoided.

If you want some real-world examples, look at the wildfires in Spain and Portugal this year, which saw record-breaking burns across an estimated 1% of the Iberian Peninsula. Our World in Data showed that prior to 5 August, Spain was actually below average for its year in wildfires. Just two weeks later, a massive outbreak pushed it past anything we have seen in the past decade. That kind of volatility is what climate change means in practice. It’s not steady, predictable change – it’s shocks that catch communities off guard.

The pessimistic rhetoric that says the damage is done, and it’s too late to act, is a false choice. Every fraction of a degree in avoided warming matters. And every step we take towards lowering emissions now, makes adaptation easier and less costly in the face of an increasingly volatile climate.

This approach is not about fatalism or wishful thinking. It’s about pragmatic perseverance. As directors, you are the stewards of long-term strategy. You set the tone for ambition, accountability and transparency. As leaders, it’s your role to make climate progress impossible to ignore. The economics have shifted. The opportunities and risks are real. What matters now is whether your governance is keeping pace.