Posted on February, 01 2007

Paris, France – Twelve major corporations taking part in WWF’s Climate Savers Programme are on course to eliminate at least ten million tons of CO₂ emissions annually by 2010. If an additional 1,300 large companies join them, current emission reduction targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol could be achieved, says WWF.

“Fighting climate change can provide business opportunities and spur innovation and jobs in all parts of the world,” says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme.

“The Climate Savers companies show that sustainable development is not an academic concept but something that can be tackled with a profit – for nature, for society, but also for the companies themselves.”

All 12 companies have pledged to considerably reduce their absolute carbon emissions. Most found that reducing emissions makes business sense.

"Lafarge made its climate savers commitment to reduce its CO₂ emissions back in 2001,” says Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge, a world leader in building materials. “Since then, we have worked hard to extend this initiative within the cement sector and we are pleased that a number of other major cement players have decided to commit themselves as well."

Sony is another international company that is part of the WWF Climate Savers Programme.

"We believe it is crucial to keep global warming below the 2°C danger threshold,” says Serge Foucher, Executive Vice President of Sony Europe GmbH. “We hope to prove that joint action across the globe can actually achieve this. Sony has committed not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own facilities globally, but also to improve the energy efficiency of its products.”

At WWF's Climate Savers conference, taking place in Paris from 1–2 February, sportswear manufacturer Nike received an award for having reached its CO₂ reduction target.

“Participation in Climate Savers enabled us to get an early start on an issue that has major consequences for business and society,” says Sarah Severn, Director of Nike's Corporate Responsibility Horizons. “We have found that constraints can lead to tremendous innovation and despite growth in our owned and managed operations we have become more efficient with our energy use. Our next steps will be partnering with suppliers to further reduce our manufacturing and logistics climate footprint.”

A statement released the conference indicated that solutions to climate change do exist:

“As members of the WWF Climate Savers Programme we have gained significant experience in past years and learned that we can reduce the climate change footprint of our companies and remain viable as businesses at the same time.”

The conference was organized by WWF as an opportunity for these firms to show other corporations the way forward to reduce absolute carbon emissions. WWF continues to urges lawmakers and corporate executives around the world to move now and reduce absolute CO₂ emissions.

END NOTES:
• The WWF Climate Savers conference is taking place as policymakers meet in Paris (from 29 January to 1 February) for a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

• World emissions in 1990 were at 22 billion tons of CO₂ (Source: CAIT 4.1). The Kyoto reduction target determines that the 35 industrialised countries named in Annex B of the protocol need to reduce 5 per cent of global emissions from 1990 levels. That is 1.1 billion tons of CO₂. Twelve WWF Climate Savers companies have reduced 10 million CO₂ — an average of 833,333 tons per company. To achieve the 1.1 billion tons reduction on that average base, 1,320 large companies would have to make similar efforts.

• As part of its Climate Savers Programme, WWF has agreements with numerous cutting-edge corporations committed to innovative emission reductions. The companies include: Johnson & Johnson, IBM, Nike, Polaroid, Collins, Xanterra (United States), Sagawa, Sony (Japan), Lafarge (France), Catalyst (Canada), Tetra Pak (Sweden), and Novo Nordisk (Denmark).

For further information:
Brian Thomson, Press Officer
WWF International
Tel: +41 22 364 9562
Email: bthomson@wwfint.org

Martin Hiller, Communications Manager
WWF Global Climate Change Programme
Email: mhiller@wwfint.org