The chief executive of Unilever, Paul Polman, has said that he was "saddened" by US President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, labelling it "a wrong turn".
In a post on his LinkedIn page, Polman wrote, '[He hopes that] over the next few years the US administration will reconsider – and indeed, thanks to a long "cooling off period" in the legal agreement, the US actually remains in until 2020. A lot could happen in those three years and I predict there will be more chapters to that story.'
Business Support
Polman noted that, as well as Unilever, many other international business, including Apple, General Electric, Google and Goldman Sachs, have 'made their views known to the President'.
He said, "[This] outpouring of support should give us all huge confidence that there will be no U-turn in our journey towards a low-carbon world. However, we need each and every group to step up further to accelerate our momentum – and with three consecutive hottest years on record, time is not on our side."
Raising Awareness
Finally, Polman said that individuals who want to have a positive impact on raising awareness on climate change should try to spread the message to those closest to them, get involved in community projects on climate change, and, most importantly, "don't give up. The journey to tackle climate change was never going to be an easy ride.
"Nearly 200 countries remain as signatories, and thousands of businesses, cities and states are working to realise the $13.5 trillion growth opportunity the green economy presents. So while the US federal government's decision is disappointing, it is one wrong exit on a much longer journey. Never forget that committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever really has."
[swiss-image.ch/Photo by Sebastian Derungs]
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
