The World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, the largest CEO-led community on climate in the world, representing $4 trillion in revenues, 12 million employees and 12 industries, has shared an open letter to strengthen the collaboration between public and private sector.
“Every fraction of a degree matters and with the right leadership and commitment, we have it in our hands to reach net-zero by 2050”
– Jesper Brodin, CEO Ingka Group
As every fraction of a degree counts, in order to reach the Paris Agreement, the WEF Climate Group members are asking policy makers and business leaders to improve the business case for climate action and incentivise the investments needed to accelerate climate action, now at scale. The good news is that it works, in September the Alliance announced it had delivered collectively ~10% emissions reduction from 2019 to 2022, outperforming major economies.
The WEF Alliance open letter comes ahead of United Nations Climate Change Conference COP29 in November and is signed by Ingka Group CEO and Alliance co-chair, Jesper Brodin, together with 112 CEOs from global businesses. With clear asks it states that governments and businesses need to enhance collaboration to close the ~600 Gt emissions reduction ambition gap by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
“We are in the most critical decade for climate action. The good news is that we know what actions we need to take and the Alliance progress from the last three years show that the Paris Agreement is working, when action is taken. It’s possible to reduce your climate footprint while growing the business – as we have proven in our own business with a growth of 30.9% and a -24.3% reduction in climate footprint, since 2016. Every fraction of a degree matters and with the right leadership and commitment, we have it in our hands to reach net-zero by 2050,” says Jesper Brodin, CEO Ingka Group.
The open letter outlines and advocates for the following key policy asks:
- Develop ambitious, credible, and investable Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
- Scale up climate finance from billions to trillions and de-risk private capital flows
- Remove transition obstacles to deliver on COP28 pledges
- Support breakthrough technologies to reach commercial scale and complement cost-competitive solutions
Currently most NDCs are not aligned with 1.5°C. The Global Stocktake shows that current country level plans (Nationally Determined Contributions) only provide for ~5% emissions reductions by 2030, far short of the 43% needed. Ahead of COP30, countries are required to submit enhanced climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions) to the United Nations for the period 2025-2035.
Speaking with the WEF CEO Climate Leaders Alliance, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary, UN Climate Change said: “Bold new national climate plans are crucial, from all governments, not only to stop the climate crisis decimating every economy and global supply chains. Done well, they will also be blue-prints for much stronger economies, unleashing huge benefits – more jobs and growth, better health, more affordable energy, and massive opportunities for businesses. That’s why leading businesses are urging governments to set stronger climate policies, as the global race to seize the huge benefits heats up. It’s increasingly obvious that bold climate action is good for business.”
Additionally, the Alliance calls on fellow businesses to commit strategically and financially to net zero by setting science-based targets, disclose progress and increase cross-sectoral collaboration across value chains to support suppliers and partners on their decarbonization journeys.
As a multinational business operating in 31 countries Ingka Group believes that, together with partners, it can use its size and reach to play a role in accelerating climate action by influencing and working together with governments and the private sector.
In November 2023, Ingka strengthened its climate targets in alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard. These targets were approved by SBTi in April 2024. This includes a commitment to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions from the value chain by at least 50% by FY30 (compared to FY16 baseline) and reach net zero emissions by 2050, without relying on carbon offsets to meet these absolute reduction targets.
More information: Governments and business must double down on climate action | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
For more information about the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders (weforum.org)
Why we advocate for a net zero world – To read more information on Ingka Group’s climate advocacy and policy asks, please go to the climate advocacy page on Ingka.com here: Climate change advocacy | Ingka Group
About Ingka Group
With IKEA retail operations on 31 markets, Ingka Group is the largest IKEA retailer and represents about 90% of IKEA retail sales. It is a strategic partner to develop and innovate the IKEA business and help define common IKEA strategies. Ingka Group owns and operates IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. It has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Read more on www.Ingka.com.
About WEF:
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
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