There will be many business leaders who are now reflecting on the start of 2023 and will agree with Kermit the Frog: “It’s not easy being green.”

Over the past few weeks, a series of reports have surfaced on companies and their efforts to combat climate change. Responsibility is key and businesses must fulfill their obligations. However, the conclusion that all corporate action to combat climate change amounts to green laundering is simply wrong. Many companies achieve incredible success and take a course worthy of emulation.

I regularly hear from corporate leaders how difficult it is to develop a credible decarbonization strategy and plan. There are businesses that volunteer with the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative and dedicate an incredible amount of time and resources to their sustainability efforts.

We simply don’t have time to intersect incoherent government policies, divergent cross-border legislation, active investors, consumer skepticism about various marketing claims, and green attacks when emissions are to be halved by 2030.

I’d rather see a million companies around the world roll up their sleeves and continue to come up with flawed plans for climate change today than spend another decade arguing with a few thousand companies that have already started developing flawless plans.

Achieving this scale will eventually require governments to adopt rules that force companies to act. However, those who are taking the lead in reducing emissions today are leading the way. The structures and initiatives that helped create We Mean Business, including SBTi, SME Climate Hub, and others, may not be perfect, but they are getting better every day.

The experience of thousands of companies, large and small, over the years shows what every company must do: measure emissions and set scientific goals, develop a robust action plan and implement it, advocate for policies and rules that accelerate mobilization and accountability by publishing information. emissions and reporting on tested emissions as well as progress made. However, to truly achieve zero emissions across industries and countries, every company must report accurate emissions data.