U.K. Firms Say Recovery Effort Should Align With Climate Goals
U.K. Firms Say Recovery Effort Should Align With Climate Goals
(Bloomberg) --
More than 200 U.K. companies have called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ensure that policies to speed a recovery from the pandemic align with climate goals.
Tesco Plc, Standard Life Aberdeen Plc and BT Group Plc are among the signatories of a letter asking the premier to strengthen British leadership on environmental matters as the nation prepares to host the United Nations’ COP26 climate conference in Glasgow next year, as well as the Group of Seven summit.
@10DowningStreet urging the UK government to set out a clean, inclusive and resilient #covid19 recovery plan https://t.co/tbYOUiYRxc#FutureWeWant #BuildBackBetter #AimForZero@AldersgateGroup @UKGBC @BITC @IIGCCnews
â Corporate Leaders Groups (@ClimateCLG) June 1, 2020
“Efforts to rescue and repair the economy in response to the current crisis can and should be aligned with the U.K.’s legislated target of net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest,” the companies wrote.
The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group led the business organizations that coordinated the letter. Last month, companies worth more than $2 trillion called on world leaders to ensure an environmentally friendly recovery from the crisis.
On Friday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said that tackling climate change and green industries would “absolutely” play a part in the economic recovery. He said the U.K. could become a world leader in carbon capture and storage technology, which takes pollution out of the air and stores it underground, and he promoted a new fund dedicated to preserving natural capital.
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