It’s Earth Day today. The federal budget was yesterday. The number of mentions of climate change in the latter:
Zero.
It’s seemingly an effective strategy: Do not deny; just don’t discuss. It will work until such time as Nature overrules inaction with catastrophe. Perhaps that’s why those who are paid to assess risk and plan for a future that cannot be dismissed have released the following:
.
.
This coalition, comprising 43 CEOs from companies with operations in over 150 countries and territories, and facilitated by the World Economic Forum, believes the private sector has a responsibility to actively engage in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to help lead the global transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. This coalition further seeks to catalyze and aggregate action and initiatives from companies from all industry sectors — towards delivering concrete climate solutions and innovations in their practices, operations and policies.
The undersigned, as CEO climate leaders, urge the world’s leaders to reach an ambitious climate deal at COP21, aligned with the UN Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We extend an open offer to national governments to meet and co-design tangible actions as well as ambitious, effective targets that are appropriate for their different jurisdictions.
Our commitments
- The companies we represent are taking voluntary actions to reduce environmental and carbon footprints, setting targets to reduce our own GHG gas emissions and/or energy consumption while also collaborating in supply chains and at sectoral levels. Technological innovations will be an important element.
- We agree on the need for inspirational and meaningful global action and aligned messaging. We will act as ambassadors for climate action, focusing on solutions and economic opportunities and using “the science debate is over: climate change is real and addressable” * as one of the common themes to raise public awareness.
- We will actively manage climate risks and incorporate them in decision making — not least to realize growth opportunities. We will take steps to implement effective strategies to strengthen not only our companies’ but also societal resilience.
Our vision supporting a climate deal
- We believe that effective climate policies have to include explicit or implicit prices on carbon achieved via market mechanisms or coherent legislative measures according to national preferences, which will trigger low-carbon investment and transform current emission patterns at a significant scale. We support global mitigation approaches that promote cost effective incentives for cutting emissions, while respecting level playing fields and preventing carbon leakage.
- We urge a strategic action agenda — supported by clear and consistent policies and robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) — that will complement business efforts to stimulate innovation as well as collaborative actions across value chains, and to develop and scale up alternative and renewable energy sources, promote energy efficiency, end deforestation and accelerate other low-carbon options and technologies such as ICT.
- We welcome transparency and disclosure regarding financial investments and policies in relation to all energy-related activities — including fossil-based and alternative. We support assessments ofresilience to climate risks and call for new financial instruments to stimulate alternative energy and efficiency projects as well as green bonds. This will enable climate action to be integrated with financial reporting and instruments.
- We encourage governments to set science-based global and national targets for the reduction of GHG emissions and the development of alternative energy sources.
Hastening the shift to a low-carbon economy in an economically sustainable manner will generate growth and jobs in both the developing and developed world. Delaying action is not an option — it will be costly and will damage growth prospects in the years to come. The CEO climate leaders call on government leaders and policy makers to align on global measures, to be consistent in policy-making and to develop helpful innovation frameworks.
A comprehensive, inclusive and ambitious climate deal in Paris on mitigation, adaptation and finance — in combination with a strong set of clear policy signals from the world’s leaders — is key to accelerating this transition. This opportunity should not be missed.
* We will build on the data contained in The Consensus Project of the Scientific Community on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN and the New Climate Economy Report (“Better Growth — Better Climate”) of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
We are CEOs from 43 companies and 20 economic sectors.
With operations in over 150 countries and territories, together we generated over $1.2 trillion in revenue in 2014.
Olof Persson, President and CEO, AB Volvo
Pierre Nanterme, Chairman and CEO, Accenture *
José Manuel Entrecanales Domecq, Chairman and CEO, Acciona * ^
Ton Büchner, CEO, AkzoNobel
Michael Diekmann, Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO), Allianz SE
Gregory Hodkinson, Chairman, Arup Group
Gavin Patterson, CEO, BT Group * ^
Niels B. Christiansen, President and CEO, Danfoss
Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL Group *
Henrik Poulsen, CEO, DONG Energy
Andrew N. Liveris, President, Chairman and CEO, Dow Chemical
Company *
Francesco Starace, CEO and General Manager, Enel SpA
Hans E. Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson
Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO, GDF SUEZ *
Bernardo Gradin, CEO, GranBio Investimentos
Ajit Gulabchand, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Construction Company
Stuart Gulliver, Group CEO, HSBC Holdings
Ignacio S. Galán, Chairman and CEO, Iberdrola
Peter Agnefjäll, President and CEO, IKEA Group *
Ralph Hamers, CEO, ING Group
Sandra Wu Wen-Hsiu, Chairperson and CEO, Kokusai Kogyo Co. Ltd
Bruno Lafont, Chairman and CEO, Lafarge *
Marc Bolland, CEO, Marks and Spencer
Nikolaus von Bomhard, Chairman of the Board of Management, Munich Re
Torben Möger Pedersen, CEO, PensionDanmark
Eric Rondolat, CEO, Philips Lighting
Feike Sijbesma, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, Royal DSM * ^
Frans van Houten, President and CEO, Royal Philips * ^
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric *
Franky Oesman Widjaja, Chairman and CEO, Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food
Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO, Solvay *
Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, President and CEO, Statkraft *
Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO, Suez Environnement *
Takeshi Niinami, President and CEO, Suntory Holdings
Tulsi Tanti, Chairman, Suzlon Energy
Michel M. Liès, Group CEO, Swiss Re
Masashi Muromachi, Chairman of the Board, Toshiba Corporation *
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever * ^
Antoine Frérot, Chairman and CEO, Veolia *
Anders Runevad, Group President and CEO, Vestas Wind Systems
Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman, Visy Industries
David W. Kenny, Chairman and CEO, The Weather Company
Kuok Khoon Hong, Chairman and CEO, Wilmar International
All signatories are members of the World Economic Forum.
*Member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
^Member of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change
Re, your intro: Absolutely too true. Heard minister Joe Oliver interviewed yesterday. He will not even utter the words ‘climate change’ and when questioned on it refers to “this topic” or something similar. Seriously! Shame.
ride a bike and save the world. cute.
We are fortunate to live in British Columbia. This World Bank Group is leading, as is British Columbia. Last week Premier Christy Clark was invited to the World Bank-International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington, D.C. to speak about our carbon tax—the first time a Canadian premier has been invited to speak at the forum. The government in Ottawa supports the action taken by BC as is encouraging other provinces to follow BC’s lead. Since Canada is a federation it is up to each province to determine what suits them best.
BC is a clean province and highly rated by international environmental organizations due to our hydro electric power generation. The expansion of hydro based electrical power will ensure that BC leads in clean power and low emissions.
Canada also leads at the federal level under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. In 2012 federal Environment Minister Peter Kent, “Canada already boasts one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world, with three-quarters of our electricity supply emitting no greenhouse gases,” said Minister Kent. “These regulations will further strengthen our position as a world leader in clean electricity production, while continuing to grow our economy and create jobs.”
The regulations apply a stringent performance standard to new electricity generation units and old units that have reached the end of their economic life. In the first 21 years, the regulations are expected to result in a cumulative reduction in GHG emissions of about 214 megatonnes–equivalent to removing some 2.6 million personal vehicles per year from the road.
Reducing emissions from coal-fired electricity–which is responsible for 11 percent of Canada’s total GHG emissions–is an important step toward meeting Canada’s 2020 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels.
It does concern me that Canada extracts and exports fossil fuels, and plans to do a lot more of it. In my mind, this amounts to exporting climate change. It is the real issue, and it is the issue that gets little mention in Victoria or Ottawa.
We can find other ways to earn our living, but this does not really seem to be on the agendas for both our Federal and BC Prov gov’t’s.
With roughly 4M barrel of oil extracted daily, at US$55 or Can$70 = $280M a day in revenue, or roughly $100B per year, and perhaps 15-20% of it in various taxes for income taxes, corporate taxes, GST, PST, EI etc .. it is an industry that generates much wealth across the country, including huge $s for education, social services or healthcare, incl. salaries of many of the blog participants here.
Are you proposing a significant layoff of say 40% plus a deep deep salary cut for civil servants, nurses, university professors, teachers, etc. by advocating this elimination of the oil & gas industry in Canada ?
I find it ironic that the production is attacked, or its transportation network, aka pipelines, but not the use of it in millions of vehicles used daily. A simple $1 increase per liter of gas plus road tolls would eliminate many cars and create a vast network of subways and fast buses. Why don’t the MetroVan mayors propose that instead of this band-aid PST based non-congestion proposal ?
Furthermore, it is very easy to attack fossil fuel use from balmy Vancouver. Without natural gas 85% of the population would freeze to death in the rest of Canada. Is this what you advocate ?
Please keep a sense of realism when criticizing industries in a cold cold country such as Canada. Canada is a beneficiary of global warming, and yes, maybe we have to add a meter of height on the dikes around Richmond. As such, it is not a priority for this small and sparsely populated country, compared to coal spewing countries like the US or China with 50 times the pollution.
Perhaps we should focus our attention on pollution, from both cars and agriculture in the Lower Mainland, or on the import of far too much crap from polluting countries like China, rather than lamenting our world class environmental standards here at home ?
The real issue, Ken, is booze, gambling, sex and all that junk food. There oughta be a law!