In the most recent Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change over 400 investors express their support of the 2015 Paris Agreement and urge world leaders to address the subject of climate change.

Over 400 investors – 414 to be exact – emphasized their strong support of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Among them are large corporations such as Alliance SE, HSBC and Zurich Insurance Group. The stance was taken in the latest Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change, which urges ”all governments to implement the actions that are needed to achieve the goals of the Agreement, with the utmost urgency.”

Who will read the statement?

Various world leaders, who are all attending the Climate Change Conference COP 24 in the Polish town of Katowice, have received the statement. The text also includes a series of suggestions regarding where to start, making it easier for the responsible parties to draw up a roadmap.

Most urgent tasks identified

According to the investors, three areas have the strongest need for action. These are the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement, the increase of investments within the private sector towards a smooth transition to a low-carbon future and the commitment to a climate-related financial reporting.

Investors doubt governments‘ commitment

In order to address these tasks, governments need to take action, yet the investors worry that various factors may interfere. One of them was recently identified by the United Nations and is called the ”ambition gap”. It refers to the difference between what actions governments are currently taking as opposed to what needs to be done to effectively limit global warming to under 2°C. This gap is immense as, or so the UN say, three times as much effort would be required.

Consequences of global warming are worrying

If the temperatures continue to rise by 4°C, the consequences will be difficult for both the environment and mankind as well as the economy. As a matter of fact, the result would be 23 trillion USD of global economic losses over the course of the next 80 years. “This is permanent economic damage three or four times the scale of the impacts of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, while continuing to escalate,“ Schroders, one of the investors, warns.