CORRECTED: $ 2 trillion fund encourages cement manufacturers to take action on climate impact



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@ impact (Indicates clearly in the paragraph that the global cement industry is responsible for 7% of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency, and not gas emissions at greenhouse effect.)

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – European funds that manage $ 2 trillion have called on cement companies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions on Monday, warning that non-compliance could put their models at risk. economic.

With the intensification of extreme weather events and natural disasters badociated with climate change around the world, some badet managers are increasing their engagement with heavy polluters in order to demand a faster transition to an economy. cleaner.

The cement industry must significantly reduce its contribution to climate change, "said Stephanie Pfeifer, Managing Director of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which has more than 170 members, mainly European pension funds and investment managers. badets.

This is ultimately a critical issue for the industry, said Pfeifer in a statement.

The group said investors had written to cement or building materials companies, including Ireland's CRH, Franco-Swiss group LafargeHolcim and French St Gobain asking them to achieve zero net carbon emissions. from here 2050. They also noted that the German goal HeidelbergCement had already adopted the goal.

The funds urged all cement companies to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Combating Global Warming, to engage with policymakers to ensure an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy and better report climate risk.

Construction materials companies may ultimately risk disinvestment and lack of access to capital as more and more investors seek to exclude carbon-intensive sectors from their portfolio, "said Vincent Kaufmann, Director General of the Ethos Foundation, a group of Swiss pension funds who signed the letters.

The signatories collectively manage badets worth $ 2 trillion and include Aberdeen Standard Investments, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Sarasin & Partners and Hermes EOS.

Although the funds increasingly engage airlines and automakers on emissions, few are calling for a systemic transformation of the global economic system, which, in the view of more and more scientists, is needed. to avoid a sudden degradation of the climate.

According to the International Energy Agency, the cement industry produces 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, which means that if it were a country, it would be the third largest emitter behind the United States and China.

As climate advocates have traditionally focused on fossil fuel companies, the European cement sector has been the subject of relatively small surveillance until recently.

Police on Tuesday arrested six activists from the civil disobedience group Extinction Rebellion during a protest aimed at disrupting a site located in East London and owned by London Concrete, a LafargeHolcim unit.

In June of last year, a report from the Chatham House think tank concluded that even though there was no quick fix for reducing cement emissions, it should be possible to deploy a range of policies and technologies to achieve deep decarbonization. (Matthew Green report, edited by Clare Fallon)

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