Natalie Kyriacou OAM is the CEO of My Green World and the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) BD Lead at PwC Australia. She is a social entrepreneur and board adviser exploring the intersection of environmental, social, economic and governance issues.

For the next 13 days, the world will watch as history is made in Glasgow, Scotland when the most pivotal climate summit of the century will set the terms for the economy of the future.

The stakes have never been higher. For millions of people, this singular event will determine whether their countries will be submerged by rising sea levels; whether fires, floods, droughts, cyclones and earthquakes will ravage landscapes and drive mass displacement and conflict; and whether loss of biodiversity will propel food insecurity to catastrophic new heights.

The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, is a defining moment in our world's story that will seal the fate of communities in every corner of the globe, and it is one every business should be watching closely. This is a race to zero emissions and is a turning point for humanity.

Hailed as "a matter of survival"; "the last best chance" to avert climate catastrophe and the "most important meeting in human history," COP26 comes just months after the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report signaling a "code red for humanity" and "guilty verdict for climate crimes of humanity."

This year's meeting is particularly iconic as countries will deliver their Nationally Determined Contributions that will determine whether the Paris Agreement, agreed by 196 countries at COP21 to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels, is fulfilled.

With more than 125 world leaders expected to attend, including U.S. President Joe Biden, the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth II and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event signals one of the most crucial and decisive meetings in recent history.

Few businesses can afford to ignore this landmark event or the economic, social and environmental costs of inaction. After all, the commitments and conversations in both the lead-up to and throughout COP26 are already profoundly shaping markets as well as ushering in a new era of business practice that places climate change front and center.

The past year alone has seen a meteoric rise in global climate action, both in regulation and shifting consumer, stakeholder and investor demand. Governments around the world are ramping up their climate policies with ambitious emissions reductions targets, decarbonization road maps and mandated climate-related risk disclosures.

More than 130 countries have now set or are considering a target of reducing emissions to net-zero by midcentury, while the European Union has made ambitious policy announcements through the European Green Deal that will drive new global standards and pave the way for a carbon-neutral economy.

Net-zero investment opportunities in the Asian energy sector alone are predicted to reach $37 trillion by 2050. In January 2020, BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company which controls $9 trillion, announced it was shifting its financial strategy to center around climate change.

Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka, India, pictured on Oct. 11: net-zero investment opportunities in the Asian energy sector are predicted to reach $37 trillion by 2050.   © Getty Images

Last month, a record number of 587 investors with $46 trillion in assets under management threw their weight behind COP26, urging governments to rapidly implement five priority policy actions that will allow them to invest the trillions needed to respond to the climate crisis.

COP26 has thrust a harsh spotlight on businesses, determining their position on the global stage as either climate leaders or laggards. And laggards will undoubtedly pay the price.

More than 950 companies, including heavy-hitters such as Chanel and Nestle, have set net-zero targets to reduce their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, while over 3000 businesses have signed up to the U.N.'s Race to Zero campaign to accelerate the adoption of targets ahead of COP26.

Similarly, there is a flurry of activity across the financial system as the sector seeks to align itself to the Paris Agreement. The Financial Stability Board's Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures is set to become mandatory for U.K. asset owners and public interest entities, who will be required to disclose their climate-related risk exposures to investors, lenders and insurance underwriters.

The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action is accelerating the global climate response with representatives from more than 50 countries working to secure a just transition toward low-carbon resilient development, while the Network for Greening the Financial System is scaling up green finance through a network of 83 central banks and financial supervisors.

As the U.N. puts it, "to achieve our climate goals, every company, every financial firm, every bank, insurer and investor will need to change."

To thrive in the economy of the future, businesses will be expected to set ambitious environmental and net-zero targets and deliver on them rapidly. COP26 provides a unique opportunity for business leaders to re-evaluate their current policies, practices and procedures and consider how they may raise their strategic ambition to address the most pressing issue of our era.

For many businesses, this will likely mean setting sustainability as their core agenda, developing and implementing robust environmental strategies, evaluating short and long-term environmental impacts, and transparently reporting on climate risks to provide a clearer view of a company's prospective value.

The world is watching COP26 closely, as powerful policy and market signals drive an ambitious new wave of global climate action. Our failure to act on climate change over the past half-century has left us with little choice but to mobilize a wartime-like effort to address climate change. It is time to move, because the alternative is complicity in the greatest threat to humanity.