Environmental groups take aim at US corporates

Eleven of the world’s leading environmental groups have written an impassioned open letter imploring America’s big corporates to step up their climate change efforts.

The
letter, published in the New York Times, urged CEOs of US corporations
to adopt science-based climate policies to help achieve net-zero emissions
by 2050.

Signatories include some of the world’s most respected names in
environmental conservation including The Climate Group, World Wildlife Fund,
Environmental Defence Fund, the Union of Concerned Scientists, BSR, and
Conservation International.

Rather than addressing particular corporations, the letter pleads with
all relevant businesses to properly tackle the problem of climate change.

“The climate crisis is escalating before
our eyes, causing unprecedented damage and threatening our children’s future,” it
states.

“The costs
of unabated climate change — already in the hundreds of billions of dollars —
will grow to trillions, destabilising the global economy and hurting nearly
every business and family.”

The letter
asked that leaders of major corporations “engage with businesses” on
environmental issues, calling on companies to embrace and execute a
science-based climate policy agenda.

“Now is the
time to create a future that will protect our air, water and land, preserve
ecosystems, improve children’s health and create millions of jobs in a strong
and resilient economy,” it concluded.

Policy alignment

The letter makes it clear that these policies should align with the recommendations of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Established in 1988, the IPCC provides governments with scientific
information to develop climate policies, while its renowned reports, based on
thousands of scientific papers published each year, are a key input into
international climate change negotiations. 

The letter also warns businesses to take a number of immediate steps to secure a more sustainable future. These include allocating spending to advance climate policies, rather than obstructing them, and to support policies that are consistent with getting to net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition, the environmental groups want to see “robust disclosure” of
the actions from firms to ensure transparency. The letter is the latest in a line
of similar open letters sent to big businesses.

Last month, 200 of the
world’s largest investors wrote to major US corporations urging them to align
their climate lobbying with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The joint letter sent on behalf of the Investor Expectations on Corporate Climate Lobbying group - which includes BNP Paribas Asset Management, Boston Trust Walden Company, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund – was sent to 47 of the largest US publicly traded corporations.

The companies, which were identified as some of the largest corporate
greenhouse gas emitters, included American Airlines, American Electric Power
Company, Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart Stores,
and Ford Motor Company.

The investors have given the companies a deadline of 8 November 2019 to
make public the steps taken to align with these expectations.

Mirrored approach

European investors presented a similar letter to a large group of
European companies last year. As a result, a dozen companies, including Royal
Dutch Shell, BP, Unilever and Equinor, have committed to making changes to
their corporate lobbying.

Commenting on this week’s open letter, Fred Krupp,
president of the Environmental Defence Fund, said supportive statements are no longer
enough and firms need to now do everything in their power to create real change.

“The situation really is that urgent,” he said. “The best science from
the IPPC says the world must produce no more climate pollution than we can
remove, reaching what we call a 100% clean economy, soon after
mid-century.

“We cannot address the global challenge of climate change without
leadership from the United States. We are the world’s largest economy and
second-largest emitter, and other nations follow our example.”

Sanjayan Muttulingam, chief
executive officer of Conservation International, said its own peer-reviewed research found the world’s largest
companies are collectively underestimating and underreporting the financial
implications of climate risks to their investors - sometimes by more than 100
times.

“Businesses must take bold steps to
ensure that their actions and influence address this new reality of our planet,”
he said.

“It’s time to seize the opportunity
to shape public policy that drives us to a net-zero carbon future as soon as
possible for the sake of our economy and humanity.”