A group of business and civil society leaders, led by the B Team, issued an open letter to Heads of State in support of an ambitious climate change agreement.
In the letter, they request that the existing commitment by Parties to the UNFCCC to limit global average temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels be translated into an actionable long-term goal at the UN Paris Climate Change Conference.
16 November 2015: A group of business and civil society leaders, led by the B Team, issued an open letter to Heads of State in support of an ambitious climate change agreement. In the letter, they request that the existing commitment by Parties to the UNFCCC to limit global average temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels be translated into an actionable long-term goal at the UN Paris Climate Change Conference.
In the letter, 22 business and civil society leaders from around the world note that “the science, economic costs and social risks of climate change are becoming increasingly clear,” and stress that securing a long-term goal in Paris, in December 2015, should therefore be “an urgent personal priority” for Heads of State.
They stress that the Heads of State at the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Turkey in November and at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December “have the imperative to act, and set the world on the path to a thriving and just net-zero emissions economy” by 2050.
The signatories of the letter state that a long-term goal will “facilitate the mobilization of economic and human resources,” and “inspire the private sector to invest and innovate to achieve decarbonization of the global economy at the speed and scale required.”
They also argue that an ambitious long-term goal: underpins the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); enables the protection of the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystems; and supports the achievement of an economic transition to a more equitable future.
According to the letter, many of the signatories have committed to a ‘net-zero by 2050′ target for their respective companies, including ones from Brazil, China, France, Kenya and the US.
The B Team, founded in 2013, is a group of business leaders “driving a better way of doing business for the wellbeing of people and planet.” In February 2015, the B Team called for a long-term goal of net-zero emissions by the year 2050.
In parallel, The Elders, a group of independent global leaders, issued a joint statement calling on G20 Heads of State to “show leadership and commit to a credible, strong and just agreement” in Paris.
The G20 Leaders’ Summit took place from 15-16 November 2015, in Antalya, Turkey. The UN Paris Climate Change Conference will be hosted by France from 30 November to 11 December 2015. [B Team Press Release] [B Team Open Letter to World Leaders] [The Elders Press Release]