Global Businesses Commit Selves to Helping Governments Reduce Carbon Emissions

More than 90 CEOs of large multinational American for foreign organizations, all members of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, have committed themselves in an open letter to world leaders that will attend COP26 to reducing emissions by more than 1Gt annually by 2030 and expressed their belief that businesses can do more if world leaders reach agreement at the Glasgow conference that would put the world on a 1.5° pathway.

Although governments representing over 60% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are now committed to net-zero emissions goals, only 12% of emissions are addressed by sector-specific policies and regulations. This group of CEOs calls on world leaders to take the unique opportunity COP26 presents and do more together to create a better world for people today and for generations to come.

The suggestions expressed in this letter are not restricted to large businesses. Indeed, small businesses on America’s Main Streets can do their share to help the process. Small business owners can keep an eye out for unnecessary and detrimental behavior such as overnight lighting, leaky faucets, waste disposal, travel, networking with likeminded business leaders and spreading the word.

Following is the text of an open letter ahead of COP26, which will last October 31 to November 12, that was published today:

We, the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, stand ready to work side-by-side with governments in a joint public-private effort to accelerate the race to net-zero.

We believe that after the publication of the recent IPCC report, we should use the COP26 in Glasgow as our best chance to agree the steps that are required to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and build nature-positive economies.

We therefore call on governments to:

• Publish ambitious and 1.5°C-aligned Nationally Determined Contributions that at least halve global emissions by 2030 and commit to global net-zero by 2050, underpinned by robust policy roadmaps and interim targets

• Ensure that developed countries meet and exceed their $100 billion commitment to support developing countries’ efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and ensure the major development finance institutions also commit to science-based guidelines across their lending portfolios

We have impact and take responsibility: members of our Alliance represent some of the largest organizations on the planet, which employ over 8 million people. All members have committed to set or have already set Paris-aligned targets across their value chains, which would mitigate over 1Gt of emissions annually by 2030.

We will and must do more, but we can’t do it alone. We need bold climate policy agreements at COP26 to keep a chance to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C and achieve a just transition.

In addition to the detailed sector-specific policy recommendations in our open letter from June, we have identified three key points that would help us and other businesses accelerate emission reductions, scale up innovations and achieve a net-zero world by 2050:

• Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, cut tariffs on climate-friendly goods, develop market-based, meaningful and broadly accepted carbon pricing mechanisms and take adequate measures to ensure a just transition. An escalating carbon price is a critical enabler for greater competitiveness of low-carbon technologies. In parallel, international cooperation on a global, connected carbon market should ensure broad market access for these low-carbon technologies, while controlling carbon leakage.

• Support and incentivize first-movers, including to scale existing, proven solutions across value chains (especially in carbon-intensive sectors) and to develop new technologies. Governments can make the difference to help scale up and accelerate the transition, including through effective and harmonized laws and regulations that enable a speedy deployment of key technologies and systematic public procurement of low-carbon products.

• Invest in climate adaptation: create resilient cities, supply chains and infrastructure by scaling natural disaster defenses and risk transfer solutions, and by advancing climate-resilient, sustainable food production and securing water supplies.

The Alliance also encourages all business leaders to set (science-based) targets to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 with a clear roadmap on how to get there as well as to provide transparency on emissions and their financial impact, for example in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

We are ready to work side-by-side with governments to scale up public-private efforts this decade in the race to net-zero. Members of the Alliance will be in person in Glasgow and look forward to discussing with world leaders, government officials and representatives of the NGO community the many ways we can tackle this climate crisis together.