Open letter: Ikea, Inditex and H&M join business leaders urging G7 to take ‘bold’ action on climate

Those in charge at global retailers Ikea, Inditex and H&M are among more than 79 CEOs to add their names to an open letter calling for bold action on climate matters from the world leaders.

The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, which also includes bosses at Unilever, Nestle, PepsiCo and some of the other biggest companies in the world, said they would “stand ready to work side by side with governments to support new green policies and transform the scale of public-private effort in the race to net-zero carbon emissions.

In the letter, the G7 and other world leaders are urged to “help supercharge the net-zero and climate resilience transition with bold and courageous commitments, policies, and actions”. The call for action on climate matters comes five months ahead of COP26, the UN climate change conference, which is to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow.

“With the ongoing challenge of the Covid pandemic, it is easy to forget that climate change is an immediate and growing threat to people, ecosystems, and economies – with our current trajectory leading us to potentially irreversible outcomes,” the letter starts.

“To avoid the worst impacts of climate change we need to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which will require nearly halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching net-zero by 2050. This drastic departure from today’s emissions growth trajectory requires bold action across private and public sectors five months before COP26 in November.”

It adds “many businesses are already stepping up”, claiming at least one-fifth of the world’s largest 2,000 public companies, several of which are led by the letter’s signatories, has committed to meet net-zero targets by mid-century or sooner.

But to decarbonise at the speed and scale required to achieve net-zero by 2050 at the latest, it warns, transformative policy change is urgently required. The alliance wants world leaders to:

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

Several business-specific action on climate matters are called for, including the development of credible decarbonisation targets, and disclosure about emissions across all scopes using consistent standards, and climate-related risks and opportunities.

The leaders also call for governments to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and cut tariffs on climate-friendly goods, and to boost research and development and funding for green tech innovation.

Various sector specific measures are mapped out, including support for the development of material and process carbon-efficiency standards, and encouragement for procurement of green industrial goods while promoting circularity of materials.

Read the full letter here

List of 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, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ACCIONA
5. Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer, Allianz
6. Alan Belfield, Group Chair, Arup
7. Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca
8. Thomas Buberl, Chief Executive Officer, AXA
9. Manny Maceda, Chief Executive Officer, Bain & Company
10. Martin Brudermüller, Chief Executive Officer, BASF
11. Werner Baumann, Chief Executive Officer, Bayer
12. Carlos Torres Vila, Chairman, BBVA
13. Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer, Biogen
14. Rich Lesser, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Consulting Group, Chief Advisor, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
15. Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer, Capgemini
16. Ion Yadigaroglu, Managing Partner, Capricorn Investment Group
17. Cees ‘t Hart, Chief Executive Officer, Carlsberg
18. Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Cement (Bharat)
19. Kim Fausing, President and Chief Executive Officer, Danfoss
20. Punit Renjen, Global Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte
21. Wendy Clark, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu International
22. Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Post DHL
23. Francesco Starace, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Enel
24. Catherine MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer, Engie Group
25. Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EY
26. Poul Due Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Grundfos
27. Helena Helmersson, Chief Executive Officer, H&M Group
28. Dolf van den Brink, Chief Executive Officer, HEINEKEN
29. Antonio Neri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
30. Ignacio S. Galán, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Iberdrola
31. Pablo Isla, Chairman, Inditex
32. Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys
33. Steven van Rijswijk, Chief Executive Officer, ING
34. Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group, I IKEA, Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
35. Steve Demetriou, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Jacobs Engineering Group
36. Christian Ulbrich, Chief Executive Officer, JLL
37. George R. Oliver, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson Controls International
38. Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board, Kearney
39. Bill Thomas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KPMG International
40. Tex Gunning, Chief Executive Officer, LeasePlan
41. Stefan Doboczky, Chief Executive Officer, Lenzing Group
42. Hak Cheol Shin, Chief Executive Officer, LG Chem
43. H.S.H. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman, LGT
44. Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group
45. Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim
46. Jonas Prising, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Manpower Group
47. Mike Haigh, Chair of the Executive Board, Mott MacDonald
48. Mark Schneider, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé
49. Tom Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Newmont Corporation
50. Vas Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer, Novartis
51. Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, Chief Executive Officer, Novo Nordisk
52. Ester Baiget, Chief Executive Officer, Novozymes
53. Philippe Knoche, Chief Executive Officer, Orano
54. Mads Nipper, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ørsted
55. Torben Möger Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer, Pension Denmark
56. Ramon Laguarta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo
57. Robert E. Moritz, Global Chairman, PwC
58. Dimitri De Vreeze, Co-CEO, Royal DSM
59. Feike Sybesma, Honorary Chairman, Royal DSM, Founder and Honorary Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
60. Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Philips
61. Marc Benioff, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce
62. Christian Levin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Scania
63. Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric
64. Roland Busch, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens
65. Eric Rondolat, Chief Executive Officer, Signify
66. Ilham Kadri, Chief Executive Officer, Solvay
67. Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank
68. Takeshi Niinami, Chief Executive Officer, Suntory Holdings
69. Christian Mumenthaler, Group Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re, Co-Chair, Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
70. J. Erik Fyrwald, Chief Executive Officer, Syngenta Group
71. Christophe Weber, President and Chief Executive Officer, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
72. Börje Ekholm, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson
73. Michael W. Lamach, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Trane Technologies
74. Alan Jope, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
75. Henrik Andersen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vestas Wind Systems
76. Thierry Delaporte, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Wipro
77. Svein Tore Holsether, Chief Executive Officer and President, Yara
78. Wolf-Henning Scheider, Chief Executive Officer, ZF Friedrichshafen
79. Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance Company

Read about the British Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap for retailers on Green Retail World

[Image credit: H&M Group]