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More than 40 major businesses and trade associations are demanding more climate ambition and a bold implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement in Germany. The companies, from a large variety of sectors, are encouraging the German government to adopt a long-term Decarbonisation Plan with a climate target at the upper end of the current target range of an 80 to 95 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. Businesses need interim sector targets for the power, buildings, industry, transport and agriculture sectors, write the signatories, amongst them the construction major Hochtief, the electricity producer EnBW, the retailer Metro and Commerzbank. The declaration was coordinated by the business associations Foundation 2° and B.A.U.M. as well as the development and environment NGO Germanwatch.

Since the 2015 adoption of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the success of the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it has become clear that “business as usual” is no longer an option for neither industrialized countries nor the developing world. Both the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement (PA) entail substantial consequences for the world financial system. Mobilizing the massive investment required for climate resilient, low-carbon infrastructure and development, transforming the world economy and hedging the climate-related risk to the financial system form formidable challenges to the public and the private sector alike.

In December 2015 the Paris Agreement was adopted, in November 2016 it will come into force. A transformation of the energy-, transport- and agricultural sector is needed, to be able to implement the goals agreed upon and to limit global warming to 1.5°C/well below 2°C.