Halve carbon emissions by 2030: Over 600 companies write to G20 nations
Ahead of the G20 talks and the COP26 summit, more than 600 companies from across the world, including some of the world’s biggest companies, on Thursday signed a letter appealing to G20 nations to halve their carbon emissions by 2030 and to end support for coal power.
In the letter, the companies made a unified call for governments to raise their climate preservation ambition and implement meaningful policies — including mandatory climate risk disclosure, strengthened national commitments, ending fossil fuel subsidies and phasing out thermal coal to “avoid the risk of missing out on the enormous investment opportunities in tackling the climate crisis.”
There are 15 signatories from India: Intelliace Solutions Private Limited, Reliance Industries Limited, Mahindra Group, Wipro Ltd, Tech Mahindra, Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, ReNew Power Private Limited, Valency International. Mindspace Business Parks REIT, acting through its Manager, K Raheja Corp Investment Managers LLP, Chalet Hotels Limited, Banka BioLoo Limited, Convention Jurist Law Chambe, Rasoi Group and Tradeananta International.
The signatories also include global corporations such as Unilever, Netflix, Volvo Cars, Iberdrola and Natura and span sectors from power and transport to fashion and construction.
Following the “code red for humanity” warning recently issued by the UN, the businesses, representing over $2.5 trillion (£1.8 trillion) in revenue and employing more than 8.5 million people worldwide, have signed the open letter. They are urging the world’s biggest economies to deliver on the existing commitment to $100 billion in climate finance annually for developing countries, to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 and to put a price on carbon, they said in a joint statement.
“Our businesses recognize the benefits of climate action…The right policy decisions taken today can drive further investments and spur business decisions in favour of climate solutions across G20 countries,” it says.
Among the calls from business leaders was an immediate end to new coal power development and financing plans for phasing out coal-fired power generation by 2030 for advanced economies, and 2040 for other countries.
The letter also calls for scaling up electrification of transport and renewable energy across sectors, including removing barriers to corporate purchasing of 100 per cent renewable electricity to “enable companies to go quicker in their clean energy transition”.
A recent analysis by the Climate Action Tracker found that no G20 country is currently on track to contain global warming to the 1.5ºC target. G20 countries represent approximately 90 per cent of global GDP and almost 80 per cent of global trade and greenhouse gas emissions.
Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman and MD, Godrej & Boyce has said, “The urgency couldn’t be clearer – climate change poses existential threat to society and to business. In the fight against this global challenge for our planet, we as business leaders recognise that climate action is a path to job creation, economic growth, improved public health and enhanced innovation. Godrej and Boyce is committed to being a part of the solution and calls upon G20 leaders to go all in to collectively halve global emissions by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade by the end of this century.”
Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Mahindra Group has said, “We urge G20 leaders to step up and go all in to collectively halve global emissions by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C. We all have a part to play. With greater investment and the right policy signals, we can scale up the existing solutions and simultaneously innovate to develop the ones that we urgently need for effective climate action. Business has the potential to bring about rapid change, but we need clear and consistent policies to support us in driving business investments and decisions that will build stronger, just, and more resilient economies.”