[Asia Future Business Forum] Professor John Wayneat "To Achieve Net Zero, Corporate Business Model Development and Public-Private Cooperation Must Be Complemented"

Financial Support, Business Model Development, and Public-Private Cooperation Need Improvement

[Asia Economy Reporter Sunmi Park]"Increasingly more destructive climate changes are emerging. Technically, economically, and institutionally, let's start with the easiest actions that are feasible."

John Weyant, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and leader of the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF), delivered a keynote speech titled "Technology, Behavior, and Institutional Innovation for Sustainable Net Zero" at the 10th 2022 Asia Future Business Forum held on the 27th at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul. He is a world-renowned authority who has led the energy modeling field for the past 11 years and has spearheaded various studies including national research projects for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Professor Weyant cited the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, stating, "Research and considerations to address climate change have existed since 1992, 30 years ago. Back then, these efforts were limited to awareness, but by 2022, they have evolved into significant changes that influence climate change responses." He added, "Renewable energy, which was considered uncompetitive 30 years ago, has now not only gained interest but also developed technological and price competitiveness along with improved efficiency."

He particularly emphasized the importance of public-private cooperation that can accompany institutional and financial support in the current situation where corporate awareness of achieving net zero has improved and technological capabilities have advanced considerably. "Primarily, achieving net zero requires considerations of sustainable finance and funding," he said. "We need to find ways to encourage financial institutions to participate in net zero efforts and expand the scope of action to private finance. The government should also actively consider incentives for participating organizations to attract entities that have not previously engaged in net zero efforts into the market."

Furthermore, considering the urgency of new challenges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he stated that it is important for both companies and governments to immediately take feasible initial actions and then support these efforts with additional research to accelerate progress.

He urged, "Companies can think about developing new business models based on net zero awareness that also consider sustainable financing. However, despite companies' efforts to address climate change by introducing the concept of 'risk,' more destructive climate changes may still occur for the time being. We need to move faster."

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