Over 400 leading businesses pledge action after Paris summit

Over 400 businesses, including many of the World's largest companies, have signed a joint declaration - The Paris Pledge for Action - committing to support the goals of the deal agreed at the COP21 summit.

 

The Pledge - or L'Appel de Paris - has already been signed by over 400 businesses, 120 investors, 150 cities and regions representing 150 million people and $11tr. Businesses, cities, regions, NGOs, and trade unions are now being invited to sign onto the pledge.

 

Business Green reports that the businesses are stating their welcome of the Paris Agreement, which saw over 190 countries commit to keeping global temperatures well below 2C, ensuring emissions peak as "soon as possible", delivering net zero emissions this century, and backing a system of national climate action plans that will be reviewed every five years.

 

Signatories to the pledge include multinational giants from a wide range of sectors, including Diageo, Ericsson, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Swiss Re, Tesco and Verizon. It has also been backed by business groups, such as the We Mean Business coalition, faith groups, leading city governments, such as London and Los Angeles, and top investors and pension funds.

 

Business groups around the world gave the Paris Agreement a near universally positive response, predicting it would help mobilise increased investment in clean technologies and send a clear signal to business leaders that a net zero emission economy will be built in the coming decades.