Nestle, Volvo among 130 companies urging COP28 agreement to ditch fossil fuels
23/10/2023 11:23
By Tommy Wilkes
LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Companies including Nestle
NESN.S , Unilever ULVR.L , Mahindra Group and Volvo Cars are
urging political leaders to agree a timeline at the upcoming
U.N. climate summit to phase out fossil fuels.
The 131 companies, which have nearly $1 trillion in global
annual revenues, wrote in a letter published on Monday that
attendees at the COP28 summit must commit to reach 100%
decarbonised power systems by 2035 for richer economies, and
help developing countries financially so they can ditch fossil
fuels by 2040 at the latest.
"Our businesses are feeling the impacts and cost of
increasing extreme weather events resulting from climate
change," the companies wrote in the letter, which was
coordinated by the non-profit We Mean Business Coalition, which
is pushing for greater climate action globally.
"To decarbonise the global energy system, we need to ramp up
clean energy as fast as we phase out the use and production of
fossil fuels," they wrote.
The letter's 131 signatories, which include Bayer
BAYGn.DE , Heineken HEIO.AS , IKEA and Iberdrola IBE.MC ,
span a range of sectors and include multinationals and small and
medium-sized businesses.
Companies are increasingly committing to their own timelines
for reducing their emissions, but many acknowledge that their
ability to slow planet-warming CO2 emissions is contingent on
faster action from governments.
COP28 begins in Dubai on Nov. 30 against a backdrop of more
scientists warning that the world is not on course to avoid the
worst impacts of climate change by meeting the goals of the 2015
Paris accord, which committed countries to limit global
temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7°F) from
pre-industrial levels.
The speed at which countries should phase out fossil fuels
will be one of the thorniest issues.
Calls from Europe and elsewhere to stop burning CO2-emitting
fuels will run into the arguments of the world's biggest fossil
fuel producers, consumers, as well as poorer nations that say
they cannot cut CO2 emissions fast enough without significantly
more financial support from wealthy nations.
(Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
((thomas.wilkes@tr.com; +44 (0) 7769 955711;))