Leading CEO’s call for strong Paris climate deal

Business leaders from more than forty international companies have urged negotiators to agree a historic climate deal at the UN climate meeting in Paris in December, in an open letter published on Thursday.

The group of 43 chief executives represents firms which generated a combined US$1.2 trillion in 2014 and they also pledged to make their own cuts to carbon emissions.

The statement said the businesses would set internal targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and called on officials to ensure a new climate deal limits the global rise in temperatures to below the 2°C threshold.

The letter is aimed at putting pressure on government officials in the build up to a spring conference of a World Bank group in Washington D.C. from April 17-19.

Signatories of the letter include the telecom giant Ericsson, consumer goods company Unilever, car manufacturer Volvo and cement maker Lafarge.

Ignacio Galan, CEO of utility Iberdrola, said: "This initiative being launched today is a significant commitment in efforts to combat climate change. As businesses, we have the obligation to contribute to sustainable development."

Several governments missed an informal March 31 deadline to submit their climate action pledges in advance of the Paris summit.

Switzerland, Norway, Mexico, Russia, Gabon and the European Union have posted their commitments on the U.N.'s submission website as of April 16.

The companies have joined more than 340 institutional investors that called on governments last September to set carbon pricing policies that encourage the private sector to scale up investment in cleaner technologies.