Ethos has joined more than 135 leading investors, representing assets worth 6.4 trillion USD, in a statement to world leaders warning that any global agreement on climate change must be strong and binding to guarantee necessary financing for global emissions reduction and adaptation efforts, and that the financial crisis should not delay efforts to address rising global temperatures.
In a joint Statement addressed to Heads of State and climate negotiators, including President Pascal Couchepin and Federal Councilor Moritz Leuenberger of the Swiss Confederation, the investors call for an ambitious, binding framework to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, warning that clear and long-term policy signals are essential if investors are to allocate the huge amounts of private capital required to fund the transition to a low-carbon economy and the adaptation measures.
Released ahead of The United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for December 1-12, 2008, in Poznan, Poland, the statement has been timed to show the importance that the investment community attaches to a timely and strong global agreement. The statement was coordinated by three leading investor groups on climate change: the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), of which Ethos is a member, the US-based Investor Network on Climate Risk, and the Investors Group on Climate Change in Australia and New Zealand.
