- The Corporate Leaders Group held its strategic annual meeting on 26-27 January. Attended by executives of those multinationals most committed to reducing CO2 emissions
- The appointment was attended by the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete and international experts who gave their view on how to address the decarbonisation of the economy
The Corporate Leaders Group, a business organisation consisting of thirty multinationals which lead in the fight against climate change, hold its annual strategic meeting on 26-27 January. This year’s venue was at ACCIONA headquarters in Madrid.
Attended by representatives of international companies which lead their respective industries, including Philips Lightning, Anglian Water, Unilever, GSK, 3M, the meeting seeked to define joint lines of action to fight global warming and to identify and establish a common stance for 2017 on key legislative and political issues in implementing a decarbonised economy.
On this occasion, in addition to the multinationals comprising the Corporate Leaders Group, the meeting was also attended by the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, who delivered a presentation on the European Union perspective on the issue of climate change.
International experts
ACCIONA was responsible for organising the event and has invited international experts in various fields related to the development of a decarbonised economy to contribute their views.
These included Pedro Martins Barata, Consultant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Climate Change Commission, Portuguese Ministry of the Environment, who spoke on ‘Climate, Energy and Environmental Policies for the Future’.
Sustainability in urban environments and sustainable transport was another topic discussed at the meeting, with the contribution of two international experts, Mauritz Hekking, head if Sustainability of the transport company GVB and, until 2014, Councillor for Sustainable Development in the City of Rotterdam and board member of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, and Oliver Rapf, Executive Director, Buildings Performance Institute Europe, and formerly Head, Climate Business Engagement, WWF International, managing strategy and developing partnerships with the private sector.
Corporate Leaders Group
The Corporate Leaders Group was created in 2006 and brings together up to thirty companies that share the common goal of fighting climate change. This initiative was promoted by HRH the Prince of Wales, under the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
The common denominator of the member companies is the conviction that there is an urgent need to develop new policies, long-term approaches to combat climate change. Company members include 3M, ACCIONA, Ferrovial, Iberdrola, Lloyds Banking Group, Philip Lighting, Skanska, Sky, Tesco, Thames Water, Unilever, UTC, Anglian Water,BT, Doosan Babcock, DSM, EDF, GSK,Interface, Interserve, Jaguar Land Rover, Stora Enso.
Carbon-neutral event
As part of ACCIONA’s comprehensive commitment to sustainability, the event was ‘carbon neutral’, meaning that CO2 emissions linked to it will be calculated and will be compensated with certificates from a clean energy project (Oaxaca III, Mexico), thus achieving a final balance of zero emissions.
For ACCIONA, fighting the effects of climate change is a strategic priority and it manages a portfolio of low-emission businesses, which have prevented 17.2 million tons of CO₂ emissions in 2015 and reduced emissions by 43% since 2010.