As world leaders converge on Belém, Brazil in November for this year’s climate summit, the pressure to accelerate action has never been more acute. Just last week scientists reported that the world may have crossed the first climate tipping point — warm-water coral reefs — and others are on the brink. 

Many fear that global progress has stalled. Yet while we have not reached peak emissions, the data tells a different story, one of transformation. A new economic model is emerging before our eyes. In dozens of countries, GDP continues to rise while emissions decline, widening apart like the jaws of a crocodile. The same pattern is now visible for leading companies. Revenues are growing as emissions fall, clearly across scope 1 and 2, and increasingly among the frontrunners across scope 3 as well.

This is crocodile economics and, as we articulate in a new report, it represents a profound shift in the global economy.