June 24, 2008

CEOs Call For International Climate Treaty

Ninety-nine companies say a new climate change treaty with incentives to capture and store CO2 is needed to fight global warming, Bloomberg reports.

In a statement prepared by the World Economic Forum and presented to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who will host a meeting of the Group of Eight nations next month, the companies, including Shell and Alcoa, said world leaders should set GHG targets for all nations and create an international carbon market. Shell is Europe’s largest oil company and Alcoa is the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum.

It’s the first time international business leaders have signed an in depth statement on a global warming framework for business, according to the World Economic Forum’s head of environmental initiatives, Dominic Waughray.

The new treaty must include an “unambiguous” goal including all major economies, including China and India, to cut GHG emissions mostly from the burning of fossil fuels in half by 2050, according to the statement.

A recent report suggested China’s greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the U.S. in 2006-2007.

Russia has said it has no plans to cap carbon emissions under a post-Kyoto Protocol climate regime once the current agreement expires in 2012.

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