Ahead of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), more than 100 CEOs from the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders have issued a call for ambitious climate action. In an open letter to world leaders, coordinated with the World Economic Forum, the CEOs, representing over $4 trillion in revenue and 12 million employees, stressed the need to bridge the 600-gigaton emissions gap by 2050 to meet the 1.5°C goal.
A key point in the letter highlights the compatibility of emissions reductions with economic growth. Between 2019 and 2022, Alliance members achieved a 10% reduction in emissions while delivering an 18% growth in revenue.
The Alliance’s specific policy requests for COP29 include:
- Strengthening Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with ambitious, investable transition plans for transparency in long-term investments.
- Scaling climate finance from billions to trillions of dollars to address the funding gap for decarbonization and climate adaptation.
- Streamlining permitting processes for renewable energy projects to meet energy transition targets.
- Supporting breakthrough technologies, like clean hydrogen, to decarbonize heavy industries faster.
The CEOs underscore the need for collaboration between governments and businesses to ensure a fair and effective transition to a net-zero economy. As COP29 approaches, the global community has an opportunity to turn climate commitments into concrete action, with every degree of warming making a significant impact in the fight against climate change.
Source: This finance research report is published by Urgewald and co-published by 17 NGO partners. The finance research was conducted by the not-for-profit company Profundo.
