“ 2023 , I think , will be a year of net zero and transition plans . We have got guidance out for consultation , and all listed companies in the UK are going to have to publish their net-zero plans . We ' ve done some initial benchmarking against plans that have been published , and they ' re well short of what needs to be published under the TPT guidance . So I think 2023 is going to be a busy year for lots of organisations to get those plans up and running .”
Doepel senses a certain urgency among EY ’ s clients , who all accurately sense that the time to tackle the problems implicit in sustainability is today . He notes this : “ What hasn ’ t surprised me is that this topic is urgent and important for literally every client I talk to .”
To end on a note of optimism , what does seem significant is that a certain sense of competition has either been dulled or sharpened , depending on how you look at it . “ All clients are desperate to understand and learn from what others are doing . In our role of convening clients and organisations , one thing that comes out is that they ’ re really encouraging us to help bring them together with their peers and competitors , so they can learn from each other . And I suppose the thing that has pleasantly surprised me , if you like , is the willingness of organisations to collaborate with direct competitors to tackle some of the sustainability challenges that they face .
“ After all , if you are trying to decarbonise a supply chain and it ’ s an industry problem , it ’ s really hard to do that on your own , right ?” sustainabilitymag . com 53