Over 200 companies including Ikea, Unilever, Currys and more, have joined calls for countries to phase out fossil fuels, in an open letter.
In the We Mean Business Coalition letter which coincides with the start of COP28 the companies, collectively worth £776,000, are calling for more investment in clean energy.
“Our businesses are feeling the impacts and cost of increasing extreme weather events resulting from climate change,” they state in the letter.
“We recognise the need to transition in a way that safeguards our future collective prosperity on a liveable planet”.
“To decarbonise the global energy system, we need to ramp up clean energy as fast as we phase out the use and production of fossil fuels. This means turbocharging the renewables revolution,” the letter continues.
They argue that a ‘just transition’ could bolster global GDP by 4% as soon as 2030.
They call on financial institutions to work collaboratively with businesses and policymakers to make sure funds are allocated towards the transition, and urge fossil fuel producers to set science-based targets with short and long term steps.
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The businesses also back measures to support countries in the Global South in diversifying their energy systems so that they can avoid exacerbating unsustainable sovereign debt.
In addition, they are urging governments to set targets and timelines for the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels in line with 1.5C, and to accelerate the clean energy transition by committing to reaching 100% decarbonised power systems by 2035 in advanced economies.
They are asking policymakers to push for clear pricing signals through a meaningful price on carbon that reflects climate change, and to reform and repurpose fossil fuels subsidies to be used for renewable energy purposes.
