Paris, France: Twelve major corporations in WWF’s Climate Savers Programme are on course to eliminate at least ten million tons of CO2 emissions annually by 2010. If 1,300 more large companies join them, this would fulfil the current climate targets of the Kyoto Protocol, says WWF.
“Fighting climate change can provide business opportunities and spur innovation and jobs in all parts of the world,” says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “The Climate Savers companies show that sustainable development is not an academic concept but something that can be tackled with a profit – for nature, for society, but also for the companies themselves.”
The current agreements are with Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Nike, Polaroid, Collins, Xanterra (United States), Sagawa, Sony (Japan), Lafarge (France), Catalyst (Canada), Tetra Pak (Sweden), and Novo Nordisk (Denmark).
A statement released at the Paris conference states that the solutions to climate change exist: “As members of the WWF Climate Savers Programme, we have gained significant experience in past years and learned that we can reduce the climate change footprint of our companies and grow as businesses at the same time.”
All twelve Climate Saver companies have pledged to considerably reduce their absolute carbon emissions. Most found that reducing emissions makes business sense. WWF urges lawmakers and corporate executives around the world to move now and reduce absolute CO2 emissions.
WWF and the twelve Climate Saver companies are meeting in Paris on 1-2 February 2007. It is an opportunity for these firms to show other corporations the way forward to reduce absolute carbon emissions. WWF notes that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is taking place from 29 January to 1 February and matches the IPCC’s message of urgency by showing a way towards solutions.
"Lafarge made its climate savers commitment back in 2001 to reduce its CO2 emissions,” says Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge, a world leader in building materials. “Since then, we have worked hard to extend this initiative within the cement sector and we are pleased that a number of other major cement players have decided to commit themselves as well."
Sportswear manufacturer Nike receives an award at this year’s Climate Savers conference for having reached its CO2 reduction target.
“Participation in Climate Savers enabled us to get an early start on an issue that has major consequences for business and society,” says Sarah Severn, Director, Corporate Responsibility Horizons at Nike. “We have found that constraints can lead to tremendous innovation and despite growth in our owned and managed operations we have become more efficient with our energy use. Our next steps will be partnering with suppliers to further reduce our manufacturing and logistics climate footprint.”
“Sony has joined the Climate Savers Programme because we believe it is crucial to keep global warming below the 2°C danger threshold,” says Serge Foucher, Executive Vice President of Sony Europe GmbH. “We hope to prove that joint action across the globe can actually achieve this. Sony has committed not only to reduce GHG emissions from its own facilities globally, but also to improve the energy efficiency of its products.”
For further information:
Shruti Shukla,
Programme Officer,
Climate Change and Energy Programme,
WWF-India,
Tel: +91 11 4150 4823
Email: sshukla@wwfindia.net
Anshuman Atroley,
Communications Manager,
WWF-India,
Tel +91 11 4150 4797, Mobile: 91 9810169262
Email: aatroley@wwfindia.net
EDITORS' NOTES
1. Can 1300 companies reach the Kyoto targets? World emissions in 1990 were at 22 bn tons CO2 (Source: CAIT 4.1). The Kyoto reduction target determines that the 35 industrialised countries named in Annex B need to reduce 5% of global emissions from 1990 levels. That is 1.1 billion tons CO2. 12 Climate Savers companies have reduced 10 million CO2. This is an average of 833,333 tons per company. To achieve the 1.1 billion tons reduction on that average base, 1320 large companies would have to make similar efforts.
2. Interviews for radio, TV and print are available with our spokespeople. To book please contact Anshuman Atroley, Communications Manager, WWF-India, Tel +91 11 4150 4797, mobile-+91 9810169262, email aatroley@wwfindia.net
3. For more information on WWF’s Climate Change Programme go to http://www.wwfindia.org/climate
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