Business Group Calls for Climate Action
News aggregator Forbes is reporting Business Group Calls for Climate Action.
The Business Roundtable, which represents 160 chief executives of leading U.S. companies, said that “collective actions” should be taken now to begin reducing heat-trapping “greenhouse” gases that scientists believe are warming the earth.
“The consequences of global warming for society and ecosystems are potentially serious and far-reaching,” the business group said. “Steps to address the risks of such warming are prudent now even while the science continues to evolve.”
The policy statement “marks the first time that a broad cross-section of business leaders from every sector of the U.S. economy have reached consensus on the risks posed by climate change and the need for action,” said Business Roundtable President John Castellani.
This is fabulous news and certainly echoes my personal experience in speaking with corporate leaders around the world. Indeed one of the advantages of being a CEO is that other CEOs take my calls. With very few exceptions corporate leaders I have met with take climate change very seriously these days. Even those who remain unconvinced by the evidence still accept that there is very little to lose, and everything to gain by throwing their weight behind addressing their company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The challenge now for these big companies is to choose a range of actions that won’t leave them open to accusations of green-washing. A lot of companies have rushed into carbon offsetting without accurate measurement of their own emissions levels, and without any thought as to genuine, achievable emissions reduction plans, as if planting some trees, or donating to charity would green them up. The public are seeing through these ill-considered measures. Firms that care about being held accountable for their actions need to go through a formal process of emissions auditing, develop comprehensive, and comprehensible, emissions reduction plans, and finally, should invest in properly certified carbon credits to offset what they can’t reduce. — DS
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