Sources: Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Arlington, Va.; CP staff
The world’s top integrated cement, aggregate and concrete producer, Zurich-based LafargeHolcim, has joined peers in minerals, metals and hydrocarbons—Alcoa, BHP Billiton, BP, Rio Tinto and Shell—as signatories to “In Support of a Paris Climate Agreement,” a statement the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) prepared ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.
“We believe the Paris agreement should commit all parties to undertake nationally determined efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; provide strong transparency to hold countries accountable; require periodic renewal of national contributions to progressively strengthen the global effort; and facilitate international carbon markets,” the statement reads.
An agreement can help strengthen the role of, and minimize risks to, the private sector, statement authors note, by a) providing a clearer signal to markets to shift long-term investments toward energy efficiency and other lower-carbon alternatives; promoting transparency and enabling companies to anticipate regulatory risks and economic opportunities; and, ensuring the environmental integrity of transactions in an international carbon trading system.
Like LafargeHolcim, the signatories are major, mostly global businesses based or heavily invested in the U.S. Rounding out entities endorsing “In Support of a Paris Climate Agreement” are Calpine, HP, Intel, National Grid, Pacific Gas & Electric, Schneider Electric and Siemens Corp.
A successor to Pew Center on Global Climate Change, C2ES bills itself as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to promote action and sound policy on energy and climate change. Center President Bob Perciasepe served as Environmental Protection Agency deputy administrator from 2009–2014, following assistant administrator appointments in the agency’s Water and Clean Air programs.