CERES Roadmap for Sustainability

Some 365+ Businesses Call on Trump to Support Paris Climate Accords

Article from CERES,  EcoWatch.com, November 16, 2016

More than 365 businesses and investors, from more than a dozen Fortune 500 firms to small, family-owned businesses across more than 35 states, sent a strong message today to President Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and other elected U.S. and global leaders, reaffirming their support for the historic Paris climate agreement and the need to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy at home and around the world.

“Implementing the Paris climate agreement will enable and encourage businesses and investors to turn the billions of dollars in existing low-carbon investments into the trillions of dollars the world needs to bring clean energy prosperity to all,” wrote the powerful business group, in a statement of support at a press conference at the COP22 climate negotiations in Marrakech, Morocco. “Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk.”

Among the diverse and iconic large and small U.S. businesses signing the statement are DuPont, Gap Inc., General Mills, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hilton, HP Inc., Kellogg Company, Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oreal USA, NIKE, Mars Incorporated, Schneider Electric, Starbucks, VF Corporation and Unilever.

“Now more than ever, Levi Strauss & Co. believes it is important to reaffirm our commitment to address climate change by supporting the Paris climate agreement,” Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co., said. “Building an energy-efficient economy in the U.S., powered by low-carbon energy will ensure our nation’s competitiveness and position U.S. companies as leaders in the global market—all while doing the right thing for our planet.”

The U.S., China, India, Brazil, European Union and more than 100 other nations representing more than three-fourths of global emissions formally ratified or joined the agreement, and it entered into legal force on Nov. 4. The agreement is the first-ever global, legally binding framework to tackle climate change.

In the statement, the large and small businesses pledged to do their part, in their own operations and beyond, to realize the Paris climate agreement’s commitment of a global economy that limits global temperature rise to well below two-degrees Celsius.

They are calling on elected U.S. leaders to strongly support:

• Continuation of low-carbon policies in order to allow the U.S. to meet or exceed its promised national commitments.

• Investment in the low-carbon economy at home and abroad in order to give financial decision-makers clarity and boost investor confidence.

• Continued U.S. participation in the Paris climate agreement in order to provide the long-term direction needed to limit global warming.

“The enormous momentum generated by the business and investment community to address climate change cannot be reversed and cannot be ignored by the Trump administration. That train has left the station and to stand in its way is folly,” Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management, said.

“Nevertheless, we know that now is the time to remind the incoming administration that virtually every company in the Fortune 500 and over $100 trillion in investor assets has acknowledged the reality of climate change and the need to address it head on,” Patsky concluded.

NOTE: Ceres is an advocate for sustainability leadership. Ceres mobilizes a powerful network of investors, companies and public interest groups to accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable business practices and solutions to build a healthy global economy. Our mission is to mobilize investor and business leadership to build a thriving, sustainable global economy.

See also: www.CERES.org

Investors and Businesses Know the Clean Power Plan is Good for the Economy

From an Article by Katina Tsongas, Senior Manager, Policy Program, Ceres Coalition, September 27, 2016

Today, challengers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan will try to make their case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that the plan—the nation’s first comprehensive effort to reduce carbon pollution from power plants—will cause “irreparable harm” to our economy.

However, hundreds of leading investors and businesses—as well as top climate and energy experts—recognize that this claim is far from the truth.

A 2016 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the Clean Power Plan will in fact accelerate annual growth of renewable energy production nationwide by nearly five percent through 2030, falling in line with the mandate’s goal of reducing U.S. power-plant carbon pollution 30 percent by 2030.

Businesses from across the country—from large employers to mom-and-pop stores—support the Clean Power Plan. Last summer, more than 365 companies and investors sent letters to governors calling for swift implementation of the plan. Industry leaders like General Mills, Staples, Unilever, eBay and Levi Strauss were among the wide swath of companies who signed onto to the letters, stating, “tackling climate change is one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time.”

More recently, eight major companies—including Adobe Systems Inc, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, IKEA North America Services and Mars Incorporated, took their support a step further by submitting legal briefs in defense of the Clean Power Plan.

“[We] believe the Clean Power Plan, when fully implemented, would not cause business harm to [our] operations as large energy consumers and purchasers,” wrote the companies. Tech companies Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft submitted a separate legal brief.

These companies understand that the Clean Power Plan plays a major role in the United States’ contribution to the global Paris Agreement—a climate pact signed by more 170 countries that showcases broad, universal support for addressing greenhouse gas pollution across the globe. They acknowledge the value of moving towards a low-carbon economy and the importance of forward-looking climate policies that will help to secure a clean energy future.

The Clean Power Plan is a critical step in making that future an achievable reality.

NOTE: This Article is from CERES,  the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net