CEOs call for ‘net-zero’ target in Paris climate deal

Twelve influential business leaders including Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and the chief executive of Unilever, Paul Polman, have called on world leaders to adopt ambitious carbon neutral 2050 climate targets.

The B-Team appealed to the United Nations’ climate chief Christiana Figueres this week and called for countries to agree to target zero net emissions by 2050 when they sign a global climate deal in Paris this December.

The group, which promotes environmental responsibility in the private sector, wrote an open letter to Figueres and other signatories included telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington.

The target would require fossil fuels such as coal to only be used if the resulting emissions are eliminated by capturing and storing them underground.

A statement from the group said: “The net-zero emissions by 2050 target is not only desirable but necessary. This is not going to be easy, but the earlier we act the greater the economic opportunities will be.”

Sir Richard has urged major gas companies to transform into cleaner energy producers by 2050 if the ‘net-zero’ target is to be met.

The target is one of a range of issues that officials from over 190 states will discuss in Geneva next week, in a meeting to address a draft negotiating text for the binding global climate deal due to be signed at the end of the year at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris COP21 summit.

Branson said: “Taking bold action on climate change simply makes good business sense. It’s also the right thing to do for people and the planet. Setting a net-zero GHG emissions target by 2050 will drive innovation, grow jobs, build prosperity and secure a better world for what will soon be 9 billion people. Why would we wait any longer to do that?”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a November reports that said governments should phase out net carbon dioxide emissions by 2070 to meet a UN target of limiting average temperature rises to 2°C (3.6 Fahrenheit) above levels before the Industrial Revolution.

The B Team leaders said governments should agree to achieve the UNEP goal 20 years earlier to avoid the and economic costs of failing to keep within the 2°C threshold needed to avoid dangerous climate change.