CEO Climate Alliance to world leaders: We support you in taking decisive climate steps at COP26

Oct 27, 2021

A message for world leaders at COP26 Image: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

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The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders shares an open letter for world leaders at COP26.
The CEOs say they stand ready to work side-by-side with governments in a joint public-private effort to accelerate the race to net-zero.

More than 90 CEOs of large multinational organizations, all members of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, are committed to reduce emissions by more than 1Gt* annually by 2030 and believe that businesses can do more if world leaders reach agreement at COP26 that would put us on a 1.5° pathway.

Although governments representing over 60% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are now committed to net-zero emissions goals, only 12%** of emissions are addressed by sector-specific policies and regulations. The group of CEOs calls on world leaders to take the unique opportunity COP26 presents and do more together to create a better world for people today and for generations to come.

Below is the text of an open letter ahead of COP26, published today:

Have you read?

We, the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, stand ready to work side-by-side with governments in a joint public-private effort to accelerate the race to net-zero.

We believe that after the publication of the recent IPCC report, we should use the COP26 in Glasgow as our best chance to agree the steps that are required to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and build nature-positive economies.

We therefore call on governments to:

Publish ambitious and 1.5°C-aligned Nationally Determined Contributions that at least halve global emissions by 2030 and commit to global net-zero by 2050, underpinned by robust policy roadmaps and interim targets
Ensure that developed countries meet and exceed their $100B commitment to support developing countries’ efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and ensure the major development finance institutions also commit to science-based guidelines across their lending portfolios

We have impact and take responsibility: members of our Alliance represent some of the largest organizations on the planet, which employ over 8 million people. All members have committed to set or have already set Paris-aligned targets across their value chains, which would mitigate over 1Gt of emissions annually by 2030.

We will and must do more, but we can’t do it alone. We need bold climate policy agreements at COP26 to keep a chance to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C and achieve a just transition.

In addition to the detailed sector-specific policy recommendations in our open letter from June, we have identified three key points that would help us and other businesses accelerate emission reductions, scale up innovations and achieve a net-zero world by 2050:

Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, cut tariffs on climate-friendly goods, develop market-based, meaningful and broadly accepted carbon pricing mechanisms and take adequate measures to ensure a just transition. An escalating carbon price is a critical enabler for greater competitiveness of low-carbon technologies. In parallel, international cooperation on a global, connected carbon market*** should ensure broad market access for these low-carbon technologies, while controlling carbon leakage.
Support and incentivise first-movers, including to scale existing, proven solutions across value chains (especially in carbon-intensive sectors) and to develop new technologies. Governments can make the difference to help scale up and accelerate the transition, including through effective and harmonized laws and regulations that enable a speedy deployment of key technologies and systematic public procurement of low-carbon products.
Invest in climate adaptation: create resilient cities, supply chains and infrastructure by scaling natural disaster defences and risk transfer solutions, and by advancing climate-resilient, sustainable food production and securing water supplies.

The Alliance also encourages all business leaders to set (science-based) targets to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 with a clear roadmap on how to get there as well as to provide transparency on emissions and their financial impact, for example in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

We are ready to work side-by-side with governments to scale up public-private efforts this decade in the race to net-zero. Members of the Alliance will be in person in Glasgow and look forward to discussing with world leaders, government officials and representatives of the NGO community the many ways we can tackle this climate crisis together.

Signatories

1. Søren Skou, Chief Executive Officer, A.P. Møller-Maersk

2. Björn Rosengren, Chief Executive Officer, ABB

3. Julie Sweet, Chief Executive Officer, Accenture

4. José Manuel Entrecanales Domecq, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Acciona

5. Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer, Allianz

6. Hakan Bulgurlu, Chief Executive Officer, Arcelik

7. Alan Belfield, Group Chair, Arup

8. Werner Baumann, Chief Executive Officer, Bayer

9. Manny Maceda, Chief Executive Officer, Bain & Company

10. Ana Botin, Group Executive Chairman, Banco Santander

11. Carlos Torres Vila, Chairman, BBVA

12. Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer, Biogen

13. Peter Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg

14. Rich Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group; Chief Advisor, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders

15. Christoph Schweizer, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Consulting Group

16. Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer, Capgemini

17. Ion Yadigaroglu, Managing Partner, Capricorn Investment Group

18. Cees 't Hart, Chief Executive Officer, Carlsberg Group

19. Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Cement (Bharat)

20. Kim Fausing, President and Chief Executive Officer, Danfoss

21. Michael Dell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dell Technologies

22. Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO

23. Wendy Clark, Global Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu International

24. Christian Sewing, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Bank

25. Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Post DHL

26. Francesco Starace, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Enel

27. Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EY

28. Revathi Advaithi, Chief Executive Officer, Flex

29. Stefan Klebert, Chief Executive Officer, GEA Group

30. Poul Due Jensen, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Grundfos

31. Helena Helmersson, Chief Executive Officer, H&M Group

32. Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer, Heineken

33. Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Henry Schein

34. Antonio Neri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

35. Enrique Lores, President and Chief Executive Officer, HP

36. Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive, HSBC

37. Ignacio S. Galán, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Iberdrola

38. Pablo Isla, Executive Chairman, Inditex

39. Aloke Lohia, Group Chief Executive Officer, Indorama Ventures

40. Steven van Rijswijk, Chief Executive Officer, ING

41. Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group I IKEA; Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders

42. Steve Demetriou, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Jacobs

43. Christian Ulbrich, Chief Executive Officer, JLL

44. George R. Oliver, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson Controls International

45. Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board, Kearney

45. Bill Thomas, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KPMG

47. Tex Gunning, Chief Executive Officer, LeasePlan

48. Hak Cheol Shin, Chief Executive Officer, LG Chem

49. H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman, LGT

50. Anish Shah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra & Mahindra

51. Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim

52. Jonas Prising, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ManpowerGroup

53. Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair, Microsoft

54. Mike Haigh, Executive Chair, Mott MacDonald

55. Mark Schneider, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé

56. Tom Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Newmont

57. David Knibbe, Chief Executive Officer, NN Group

58. Vas Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer, Novartis

59. Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novo Nordisk

60. Ester Baiget, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novozymes

61. Philippe Knoche, Chief Executive Officer, Orano Group

62. Mads Nipper, Chief Executive Officer, Ørsted

63. Nikesh Arora, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Palo Alto Networks

64. Torben Möger Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer, PensionDanmark

65. Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo

66. Robert E. Moritz, Global Chairman, PwC

67. Dimitri de Vreeze, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Managing Board Member, Royal DSM

68. Feike Sybesma, Honorary Chairman, Royal DSM; Founder and Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders

69. Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Philips

70. Marc Benioff, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce

71. Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Executive Board, SAP

72. Christian Levin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Scania

73. Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric

74. Roland Busch, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens

75. Eric Rondolat, Chief Executive Officer, Signify

76. Ilham Kadri, Chief Executive Officer, Solvay

77. Takeshi Niinami, Chief Executive Officer, Suntory Holdings

78. Christian Mumenthaler, Group Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re; Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders

79. Christophe Weber, President and Chief Executive Officer, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

80. Thachat Viswanath Narendran, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Tata Steel

81. Börje Ekholm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson

82. Adolfo Orive, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tetra Pak

83. David S. Regnery, Chief Executive Officer, Trane Technologies

84. Donnie King, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tyson Foods

85. Alan Jope, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever

86. Henrik Andersen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vestas Wind Systems

87. Thierry Delaporte, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Wipro

88. Chano Fernandez, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Workday

89. Svein Tore Holsether, Chief Executive Officer and President, Yara

90. Wolf-Henning Scheider, Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer, ZF Group

91. Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance Group

92. Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer, AXA

Discover

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?

Climate change poses an urgent threat demanding decisive action. Communities around the world are already experiencing increased climate impacts, from droughts to floods to rising seas. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report continues to rank these environmental threats at the top of the list.

To limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it is essential that businesses, policy-makers, and civil society advance comprehensive near- and long-term climate actions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The World Economic Forum's Climate Initiative supports the scaling and acceleration of global climate action through public and private-sector collaboration. The Initiative works across several workstreams to develop and implement inclusive and ambitious solutions.

This includes the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a global network of business leaders from various industries developing cost-effective solutions to transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. CEOs use their position and influence with policy-makers and corporate partners to accelerate the transition and realize the economic benefits of delivering a safer climate.

Sourcing information

*Indicative; based on available CDP data and Alliance membership criteria, which require that across all emissions scopes, member organizations fully disclose and have set ambitious and credible reduction targets that are either Paris-compliant or will be Paris-compliant within two years of joining.

**Based on analysis from forthcoming World Economic Forum publication in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group.

***The Report of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices concludes that the explicit carbon-price level consistent with achieving the Paris temperature target is at least US$40–80/tCO2 by 2020 and US$50–100/tCO2 by 2030.

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