Business leaders from over 140 global companies are urging countries meeting at the United Nations climate talks in Poznan, Poland to agree on a plan of action, Reuters reports (via the Guardian)
These business leaders from companies such as Shell, Sun Microsystems, Tesco, Unilever and Vodaphone, to name a few, wrote in a joint statement (PDF) that “at a time when the global economic downturn may cause some to question whether now is the time to act, we believe that decisive action will stimulate global economic activity."
An investor delegation of 152 global investors worth over $9 trillion also called for a continued commitment to carbon markets (PDF).
However, reaching a global climate treaty may be difficult as officials from China and India are already refusing to cut emissions unless the U.S. agrees to deeper emission cuts than the proposed reduction to their 1990 emissions level by 2020 and a further reduction of 80 percent by 2050.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, recently emphasized again the crucial role of finance in reaching a long-term solution to climate change.