More than 150 global corporations, including Burberry, H&M, Zara owner Inditex, PVH Corp signed a United Nations-backed agreement urging governments to align their COVID-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with ambitious, science-based climate action in a bid to recover better.All 155 companies, which represent a combined market capitalization of more than $2.4 trillion, are calling for policies that will guard against future disruptions by promoting efforts to rein in global temperature increases within 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, and in line with achieving net-zero emissions well before 2050.
The statement arrives as world leaders are preparing not only trillions of dollars in stimulus packages to prop up their pandemic-battered economies but also their enhanced national climate plans under the 2015 Paris Agreement.
A study published by Oxford University earlier this month concluded that incorporating climate targets into policy and spending will reduce vulnerability to future shocks and disasters, create good jobs, cut down emissions and ensure clean air.
