More than 90 French companies, including drinks giant Pernod Ricard and retail group Carrefour, have called for a drastic reduction of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to meet the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement’s goals.
During the 'One Planet Summit' on 12 December at La Seine Musicale in Paris, the companies signed a statement affirming the need to collectively change course in order to fight climate change around the world, according to the drinks company.
The signatories represent an overall turnover of €1.5 trillion and 6 million jobs worldwide. They include Carrefour, Danone, L’Oréal, LVMH, Airbus, Auchan, BIC and many more.
According to Pernod Ricard, 60 of the companies made commitments to reduce their emissions, while 27 have an internal CO2 price. Some 42 are engaged in the ‘Science-Based Targets' initiative or are considering joining it, and 34 have decided or intend to implement the recommendations of the 'Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures' (TCFD) with pragmatic methodologies.
Major Reductions
“We want to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by several billion tons, particularly in the energy, transport, industry, building and agriculture sectors,” Pernod Ricard said.
“Meeting this challenge requires accelerating the injection of public and private financial resources into research and investment,” it added. “It is also necessary to establish interconnected carbon pricing mechanisms in the main economic regions. This will enable economic actors to integrate climate issues into their decisions.”
The company said that the signatories expect at least €60 billion of industrial investment and R & D in renewable energy, energy efficiency, the deployment of sustainable farming practices and other low-carbon technologies between 2016 and 2020.
Further, they envision at least €220 billion of funding for projects contributing to the fight against climate change. Low-carbon investments amount to €15 billion in the developing nuclear generation and investment in natural gas as transitional energy amount to €30 billion over the same period, the company said.
“It is also a key challenge for the attractiveness and competitiveness of France and Europe,” said Pernod Ricard. “The signatory companies recommend that France and the European Union more systematically rely on the continent’s technological and scientific potential, its competitiveness and encourage an increasing cooperation between European actors."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
