From pledges to performance: Strengthening corporate climate pledges

To understand how regulators are developing systematic frameworks to make climate pledges investible, robust, and actionable, MIT Science Policy Review spoke with Catherine McKenna, founder and principal of Climate and Nature Solutions, former chair of the United Nations High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments for Non-State Entities, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister of Infrastructure, and negotiator of the Paris Agreement at COP21. Ms. McKenna has led discussions on global carbon markets, directed Canada’s landmark national climate plan, and oversaw the development of Canada’s first National Infrastructure Assessment to encourage net-zero emissions by 2050 in Canada. Through our conversation, we discuss the global economic and regulatory shifts required to create ethical and actionable pledges–specifically the need to regulate, set net zero targets, limit use of voluntary credits, align advocacy with action, include people and nature in a just transition, and increase accountability.