Climate Change Leadership in the eyes of Business

Abstract: In 2015, the COP21 creates a new hybrid mode of multilateral governance, which aims to make the action of non-states actors a bridge between the political commitments and the government’s actions. The business world is one of these actors with ambitious new roles to implement the Paris Agreements and its NDCs. Yet it seems that nobody has yet questioned whether companies can also act as leaders at their level or at least help their country/organisation to take the lead. To understand how business perceived their roles in the governance landscape post Paris-Agreement, several questions were asked to see what kind of leadership themselves were looking for. Who are the designated leaders for business when it comes to climate leadership? How have them evolved ? Why are they recognized as such? And what is the role of business in delivering Parties' NDCs in the post Paris-Agreement area? Thanks to a unique data collection of questionnaires distributed on COP22 to 25, it appeared that European leadership is not only the most consistent but also the most recognised, although the other EU partners in the BIG3 are far from demeriting. As the issue is particularly political, it was found that the recognition of leadership is not only due to certain leaders but also to many laws, which create and restrict many opportunities for business. The history and culture of the countries concerned also provided many answers. Finally, it seemed unanimous that a cooperative work between governments and business would allow a better and faster reach of both NDCs and SDGs.