Truck manufacturer Volvo has joined The Global Round table on Climate Change, which brings together more than 100 high-level stakeholders from around the world — including senior executives from the private sector and leaders of international governmental and non-governmental organisation — to discuss and explore areas of potential consensus regarding core scientific, technological, and economic issues critical to shaping sound public policies on climate change.
In a statement, “The path to climate sustainability”, the round table endorses a framework for affecting change at the levels of policy and industry, particularly in regard to creating sustainable energy systems necessary for achieving economic growth.
It is particularly significant that this initiative comes from the United States and is supported by a number of major US corporations including Florida Power and Light, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Toyota Motor North America and Citigroup. The US is generally seen as well behind Europe in its approach to global warming.
The statement calls on governments to set scientifically informed targets for greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions. It also urges governments to place a price on carbon emissions and to set forth policies aimed at addressing energy efficiency and de-carbonization in all sectors.
Calling climate change “an urgent problem”, the statement lays out a framework for global action to mitigate risks and impacts while also meeting the global need for energy, economic growth and sustainable development. It outlines cost-effective technologies that exist today and others that could be developed and deployed to improve energy efficiency and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases in major sectors of the global economy.
“Leaders from key economic sectors and regions of the world have reached a consensus on the path forward to reduce human-made climate change,” said Jeffrey Sachs, chair of the round table and director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.
“This is exactly the type of initiative in which Volvo wants to participate,” said chief executive Leif Johansson. “If we are to be able to address the greenhouse effect, we in the transport industry in particular face major challenges. We know that we are part of the problem, but we are also convinced that we are part of the solution.”
