Decarbonise or disappear: when SMEs and large corporations realise they breathe the same air!

Ten years after COP21, the reality is stark: emissions continue to rise, the planet is overheating, and promises are melting faster than glaciers. Nothing is slowing down. Worse still, some large corporations, proud of their carbon footprint, are suddenly becoming aware of the difficulty with their emissions in the famous Scope 3, that of suppliers — in other words, among the SMEs and mid-cap companies that form the economic fabric of the country. The tragedy? Their fate is now shared.

In a tense economic climate, between declining consumption, geopolitical instability and falling margins, major contractors are looking for breathing space… from their suppliers. But the solution will not come from shifting the burden. It will come from an alliance.

The global climate balance remains alarming: +1.2°C and on track for +2.7°C

Despite promises, emissions continue to rise, caught between energy transition and dependence on fossil fuels. Governments have legislated, companies have made commitments, but Scope 3 – supply chains – remains the big blind spot. Progress has been made: the rise of renewables, electrification, green finance. Yet the results remain below target.
The last ten years have been about declarations; the next ten must be about consistency. Because now, everything is happening at the local level, in SMEs, in the real transformation of economic models. The climate cannot wait any longer: to stay within the +1.5°C limit, emissions must be halved by 2035. The time for talk is over; the time for action has just begun.

Decarbonisation is no longer a competition, it is a team sport.

The next challenge? Doing together what no one can do alone. It’s not about “doing less harm”; it’s about stopping doing things we shouldn’t be doing in the first place. The time has come for regenerative businesses — those that repair more than they consume — to lead the way. They are inventing new business models, experimenting with solutions, and writing stories of cooperation and partnerships between large corporations and local SMEs. Because the future can no longer be outsourced: it is being co-constructed on a daily basis, step by step, in close proximity.

CSR must avoid falling into the role of a “minor non-financial accountant”.

The time has come to break away from the ESG complexity rent, this complicated system that feeds rating agencies and absolves financial partners of guilt, rather than creating value.

Make way for common sense. Simplify, connect, act. Build “real” bridges between SMEs rooted in local communities and major contractors. This is the whole point of the “Regen Revolution” currently taking shape: CSR 2.0, an adventure in collective intelligence, where leaders of SMEs and large groups learn to build a regenerative economy together.

Because decarbonising, at its core, is about relearning how to breathe together.