A fair COP or a cop-out?

In the run up to COP26 and since it ended there has been a notable shift in how the corporate world talks about itself, and perhaps how it thinks about itself.

Two small examples, both from the FT. Wednesday’s splash had “global executives broadly” welcoming the COP deal, while some “complained that companies were now showing greater urgency than many governments when it comes to global warming”.

This is by way of an acknowledgement that on their own, even very large companies are mostly powerless when it comes to the supposedly biggest issue facing all of us.

That’s a mighty admission from people who generally like to think of themselves as go-getters who don’t rely on government intervention to succeed.

In the same issue, there is a letter from Sir John Rose, the former chief executive of Rolls Royce, which concludes: “A reliance on free markets in today’s polarised politics would, I think, be a huge mistake.”

So one of Britain’s most successful capitalist/industrialists says capitalism/industry won’t save the planet.

This information, Sir John, might have been helpful, like, A Lot Earlier.

Did COP26 change anything really, or did it just make some business folk and some politicians feel better?

Prince Charles says it was “amazing”.

Uh huh. Do the public agree? Our Find Out Now poll today suggests they are far from convinced.

We asked: How much do you agree/disagree with this statement? “Large companies are insincere about net-zero goals and are just greenwashing”

59% agree, 23% strongly. Media and advertising folk agree more than most.