16 November 2010: Over 25o investors representing US$15 trillion have signed a statement calling on negotiators at the upcoming Cancun Climate Change Conference to take urgent action or risk severe economic disruptions.

The “Global Investor Statement on Climate Change: Reducing Risks, Seizing Opportunities and Closing the Climate Investment Gap” was signed by investors from Europe, the US, Asia, Australia, Brazil and South Africa, the largest-ever group of investors to call for government action on climate change. The statement calls for various domestic policies in developed and developing countries, including: short-, mid- and long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets; energy and transportation policies to accelerate deployment of clean energy; strong and sustained price signals on carbon emissions and well-designed carbon markets; phase out fossil-fuel subsidies; and adaptation measures to reduce unavoidable climate change impacts. In the statement, investors express the hope to see agreement or progress in Cancun in the following areas: the financial architecture of climate funding; a rapid timeframe for implementation of efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) and REDD+; robust measurement, reporting and verification (MRV); expansion and deepening of the international carbon market, including greater clarity on the future interplay of the Carbon Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and emerging crediting mechanisms such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and REDD-plus; support for the creation of well-functioning markets in developing countries for energy efficiency and renewable energy to accelerate effective large scale deployment of those technologies. [UN Global Compact Press Release] [The Statement]