Ceres President Applauds Historic International Climate Agreement in Paris
December 14, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Ceres president Mindy Lubber, who spent eight days at the UN climate negotiations in Paris, heralded the final international agreement that was announced tonight at the Le Bourget.
The historic agreement includes unprecedented GHG-reducing pledges from 186 countries representing more than 95 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions; a binding commitment to limit global temperature rise to well under 2 degrees Celsius, along with a stretch goal of 1.5 degrees; and a long-term goal of achieving peak global emissions as soon as possible and rapid reductions thereafter to achieve net zero emissions by the second half of the century.
“Today Paris lived up to its name as the City of Lights. This historic agreement sends a spark, a signal, that the low-carbon global economy has officially arrived,” said Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), which is comprised of 115 institutional investors collectively managing $13 trillion in assets.
“Given the global reach of the agreement and the follow-up mechanisms and transparency behind it, I’m hopeful we could see trillions – not just billions – pouring into the low-carbon economy worldwide every year. But, of course, far more work is needed by governments, the private sector and other parties to turn this document into significant on-the-ground action. We must all collectively hold ourselves accountable for bringing this agreement to life.”
Ceres will be hosting the 2016 Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations on January 27, 2016 in New York City.
Ceres had a major role mobilizing business and investor leadership in support of a strong climate agreement. In coordination with Ceres, major U.S. banks, global apparel companies, global food and beverage firms and hundreds of investors worldwide issued public statements calling for a strong climate agreement in Paris. Details on those activities can be found at www.ceres.org/cop21.
About Ceres
Ceres is a nonprofit sustainability organization mobilizing business leadership on climate change, water scarcity and other global sustainability challenges. Ceres directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of more than 110 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $13 trillion. Ceres also directs BICEP, an advocacy coalition of 36 businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation. For more information, visit www.ceres.org or follow on Twitter @CeresNews.
