MEGA works on concrete reforms of global environmental governance, in the economic interest of all, and wants business at the table.
At a COP, most of the business conversation is about what companies pledge. Far less of it is about the rules and institutions those pledges depend on. Yet that’s where a pledge becomes an outcome, or fails to.
Companies allocate the capital, run the supply chains and implement whatever rules governments agree. They need rules that are predictable across jurisdictions, a level playing field where firms that comply aren’t undercut, and protection from systemic risks that no single company can diversify away.
of cumulative global economic output lost by 2100 if warming reaches 3°C, compared with staying below 2°C.
possible contraction of global GDP between 2070 and 2090 on current policies.
is where, an Allianz board member warned, insurers can no longer cover much of the damage, and mortgages and long-term investment go with it.
No balance sheet is large enough to hedge against unprecedented global climate and ecological risks on its own.
A patchwork of national rules can look like an advantage for the largest players, who can absorb compliance costs that smaller competitors can’t. That calculation counts the gain and leaves out the exposure. Climate damage, failing ecosystems and insurers withdrawing cover reach every balance sheet at once, including the largest, and no national rule stops a risk that starts outside the country. Those risks need rules agreed and enforced globally, which is what MEGA’s proposals are about. When companies and investors say they need those rules, governments listen. We want to help that voice speak up for specific, workable reforms.
MEGA (Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance) puts forward a coherent programme for effective global environmental governance, where many stop at diagnosing the problem. The programme is set out in a series of policy briefs based on the proposals by the Climate Governance Commission. Four of them matter most for business.
Countries are asked to explain why their national climate plans are fair and ambitious, but nobody systematically tests those explanations against the science. We propose common reporting standards, an assessment of every national plan, and Earth system science at the centre of the negotiations.
For business: National targets you can plan investment against, because someone checks them.
There are more than 500 multilateral environmental agreements, and no body that systematically oversees how they effectively and reliably work together. We propose strengthening the UN Environment Programme and exploring a Global Environmental Agency that supports implementation, monitors compliance and ensures that the international community stays within planetary boundaries.
For business: Fewer gaps and contradictions between the rules your operations answer to.
Since the International Court of Justice’s 2025 advisory opinion, states’ legal obligations on climate harm are clearer. The courts able to enforce them are not. We propose an International Environment Court, and an International Anti-Corruption Court for the grand corruption behind environmental destruction such as large-scale forest loss.
For business: Rules that are enforced protect the companies that follow them.
A brief by the Climate Governance Commission and the Global Public Investment Network proposes Global Public Investment: all countries contribute, all benefit, and all decide how the money is spent. Such investment targets functions that every economy depends on but no single country will fund alone, such as protecting the major tropical forests or early warning for climate tipping points.
For business: Public finance at the scale needed to protect the systems markets rely on.
Some of our proposals would create obligations for companies. Our financing work discusses a stronger global minimum corporate tax and a levy on fossil fuel windfall profits, and a proposed Corporate Accountability Mechanism would monitor company climate pledges, building on the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. We’d rather design these with business than present them to you finished.
In September, during Climate Week NYC, we held a first private roundtable with business leaders. At COP31 in Antalya, together with the Climate Governance Commission, we’re continuing that conversation with a different group, around a first sketch of how businesses could take part. We’ll publish what comes out of it here after COP31.
Way in | What you get | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|
A conversation | A first exchange with our Private Sector Lead on where these questions touch your strategy, and where MEGA’s work could be useful to you | Your honest view, including what you think we’re missing |
A roundtable | A seat in a small, private conversation with business leaders at major climate moments, held under the Chatham House Rule. Places are by invitation. | About 90 minutes, and candour
|
Following the work | Our policy briefs and newsletter as they come out
| Nothing |
MEGA does not certify, rank or endorse companies. Talking to us or joining a roundtable says nothing about your company’s climate performance, and we won’t present it as if it did.
We’re hosting a small private conversation with business leaders during the conference. If you’d like to take part, let us know.
The quickest way in is a direct conversation. Write to our Private Sector Lead, or use the form and we’ll get back to you.
We use your details only to reply to you and, if you tick the box, to send you our newsletter.
No. You can engage with the proposals that matter to your business and disagree with others. Disagreement is useful to us. It’s how proposals get better.
Not yet. We’re designing ways for businesses to take part together with business leaders, and will publish them here after COP31. For now, it starts with a conversation.
Only if you agree. Our roundtables run under the Chatham House Rule, and we don’t name participants or their organisations without their consent.
