July 5, 2001
WWF, the conservation organization, welcomes today's call on governments by more than 90 companies grouped together in the "e-mission 55 - Business for Climate " initiative to finalise the Kyoto Protocol. The status of growing business support for Kyoto was presented at a press conference this morning in Berlin.
Since its inception five weeks ago, "e-mission 55" has exceeded its goal of recruiting 55 companies that declare their support for the Kyoto climate treaty and want to see it enter into force at the latest by 2002. The companies are drawn from nine countries including the United States, Japan and Europe. Among the prominent companies are Deutsche Telekom, the UK insurance company CGNU, household appliance manufacturer AEG, the Credit Suisse Group, and the reinsurance company Swiss Re..
"The rapid growth of this business initiative shows that the business community needs a binding international framework for climate protection in order to protect innovative strength and sustain competitiveness," said Gerd Tenzer, director of Deutsche Telekom, the main initiator of "e-mission 55".
Other companies that have played an initiating role in "e-mission 55" include the Gerling Group, the British company Calorgas, the Swiss bank Sarasin, the Dutch CSS Telecom, Deutsche Bahn, Otto Versand - the world's largest mail order company - and the German company SolarWorld. "E-mission 55", launched in May 2001 by e5 ( the European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future), has been supported by the non-governmental organisations, WWF and Germanwatch.
The name "e-mission 55" is derived from the mission to have the Kyoto Protocol enter into force. To become international law, the agreement needs to be ratified by at least 55 countries which together accounted for at least 55 per cent of the carbon dioxide emitted by industrialised nations in 1990. The original aim of "e-mission 55" was to recruit 55 companies from all over the world by the time of the Bonn climate summit, that opens on Monday 16 July - an aim that has already been exceeded.
"WWF urges other companies to come off the fence and support Kyoto by putting their weight behind "e-mission 55"," said Oliver Rapf, of WWF's Climate Change Campaign. "Businesses have a tendency to want to play it safe. But when it comes to global warming, 'playing safe' means cutting down on carbon pollution. It is time for forward-looking firms to declare their support for Kyoto. Business support is the missing ingredient that could tip the balance in favour of finalising the Kyoto treaty at this month's climate summit."
The Kyoto Protocol would introduce the first legally-binding limits on emissions of global warming pollution by industrialised nations. The industrialised world would have to reduce emissions 5 per cent below the 1990 level in the period 2008-2012. A string of studies in Europe, the U.S. and Japan that have analysed ways of cutting emissions have highlighted the critical importance of cutting energy waste by improving energy efficiency, and by increasing reliance on clean, renewable forms of energy. This opens up competitive advantages for forward-looking companies in all sectors to reduce costs by installing modern energy-saving equipment.
During the Bonn climate summit, representatives of "e-mission 55" will hold meetings with government negotiators and other business community representatives to press for the successful conclusion of the Kyoto treaty.
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