By Nova Safo
We’re already dealing with the costs of the climate crisis — that’s the message from the more than 130 companies who signed onto a letter urging world leaders to ditch fossil fuels, at least when it comes to energy production.
The companies — which include Ikea, Nestle, Unilever and Volvo — want them to do so by 2035. Next month, those leaders will gather in Dubai for COP28, the latest United Nations Climate Summit, and the companies are urging quick action from the world’s richest economies.
Right now, those economies are likely to miss emissions targets by 2035, so companies are sounding the alarm.
Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School, points to signatories — such as consumer goods giant Unilever, which has previously warned of potential hits to its bottom line because of lower crop yields and water scarcity that climate change can bring.
“This is essentially business management with fiduciary responsibility to shareholders saying, ‘We can only see this going in one direction, so let’s get on with it,’” Wagner said.
Quoted in: “More than 130 major companies press world leaders to phase out fossil fuels by 2035” by Nova Safo, NPR Marketplace (24 October 2023).