Global businesses must lead the way on climate action: Article from the Guardian

Global businesses must lead the way on climate action
Posted:  May 19
By Laurent Fabius andChristiana Figueres

Major business leaders will gather in Paris this week for the Business and Climate Summit. It comes six months before the Paris climate conference, COP21, the aim of which is well known: to reach a universal agreement limiting the rise in global average temperature to 2C above pre-industrial levels.

Until recently, action against climate change was trapped in a sort of vicious circle: many businesses were waiting for political decisions before taking action, while governments, for their part, were waiting for a mobilisation of the private sector.

Now the situation is changing. Firstly, most governments are committing themselves.

To date, nearly 40 countries – including the 28 member states of the European Union, the US, Mexico, Gabon, etc – have submitted their “national contributions” – that is, their commitments in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change. We are counting on all countries to join this collective effort and submit their contributions before the deadline of 30 October. Read Full Article