US President Joe Biden will attend a CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience via video conference from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on April 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Amr Alfiky | Getty images
More than 300 companies and investors have called on President Joe Biden to nearly double the US targets to reduce global warming to below 2005 levels by 2030.
In a letter published Tuesday, executives from companies such as Google, Apple, Walmart and Unilever praised the Biden government for re-joining the Paris global climate agreement and its aggressive approach to climate change.
The pressure from executives at some of the country’s largest companies to set a target of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases by at least 50% – a goal consistent with what environmental groups want – is taking precedence over the climate of world leaders. summit that the administration will organize on April 22.
The Biden government plans to unveil a tougher emissions target for the Paris Accord at or before the top of world leaders. The Obama administration wanted to cut emissions to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, but former President Donald Trump halted federal efforts to achieve that goal and withdrew the US from the Paris Accord.
The companies that signed the letter account for more than $ 3 trillion in annual revenue and more than $ 1 trillion in assets. The letter points to a shift by the private sector to address their own climate change impacts and better align with the goals of the Biden administration, which has pledged to move the country towards zero net carbon emissions by 2050.
Biden’s climate ambitions, including a sizeable infrastructure package investing heavily in clean energy technologies, would be largely paid for by raising corporate tax rates, a move that could raise objections among some of the companies that signed the letter.
The president has also pledged to pass new rules for fossil fuel producers, automobiles and electricity companies. Signatories to the letter include utilities such as PG&E Corporation and Exelon, but no notable oil and gas companies.
“Many of us have set or are still setting emission reduction targets since the Paris Agreement was concluded,” the company executives wrote in the letter. “The private sector has been purchasing renewable energy in record time, and along with countless cities across the country, many are committed to a net zero-emission future.”
Almost every country in the world is part of the Paris Agreement, a historic non-binding agreement between nearly 200 countries to reduce their global warming emissions. The US is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.