2012-6-19  Source: WBCSD

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today announced that global member companies including CLP Holdings, GDF Suez and Unilever have responded to its call to members to submit Commitments for the Future We Want, and to the UN Secretary-General’s recently launched Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative.

The WBCSD partnered with the UN Global Compact (UNGC) on Commitments for the Future We Want. It is a worldwide call for commitments and actions from business to take the lead in creating a sustainable world.

At the same time, WBCSD members have pledged commitments for SE4All. This initiative is designed to mobilize action from all sectors of society in support of specific energy-related objectives to be achieved by 2030.

Andrew Brandler, CEO, CLP, said: “To underscore our commitment to responsible and sustainable power generation, CLP established a Sustainability Framework that encompasses the economic, social and environmental dimensions of our operations. Two of our goals– to lower the carbon intensity of our generation portfolio by 75 percent between 2007 and 2050, and to have non-carbon emitting generation comprise 30 percent of our portfolio by 2020 – are part of our roadmap towards our ultimate aspiration of zero emissions. But we can’t do it alone: we need appropriate policy support at the international and national levels to sustain the progress we have made on contributing to a sustainable future.”

Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO, GDF SUEZ, said: “Business has a leading role in providing innovative solutions to the problems that our planet faces. As the world’s leading utility company, GDF SUEZ is strongly committed to the coming Rio +20 Conference and actions to create a green economy, access to sustainable energy, the optimization of natural resources, and urban development.Thanks to its strong expertise and to the skills of its 220,000 employees spread over more than 70 countries, GDF SUEZ provides its clients with innovative and sustainable solutions. Our six commitments focus on Access to Modern Energy for All through an international investment social programme “GDF SUEZ RASSEMBLEURS D’ENERGIES”, Energy efficiency Renewable Energy, Biodiversity, Gender Equality and Sustainable Development Investment Criteria.”

Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever, said: “We welcome Commitments for the Future We Want, a keyinitiative that will help set the world on a firm course towards sustainability. Only by creating critical mass and working across the value chain will we be able to make significant progress.  Unilever’s commitments focus on helping one billion people to improve their health and well being, sourcing 100 percent of our agricultural raw materials sustainably, improving the livelihoods of at least 500,000 small holder farmers in our supply chain and halving the environmental footprint of our products across the value chain, all by 2020.”

The WBCSD strongly urges its members companies, and other businesses, to make a commitment to Commitments for the Future We Want or Sustainable Energy for All.

Other companies that have made commitments are ABB, Acciona, Bank of America, BASF, Bayer, Bridgestone, Deloitte, DNV, DuPont, ENI, Holcim, Infosys, KPMG, Lafarge, Meadwestvaco, Mitsubishi Chemicalss, Novozymes, Proctor &Gamble, Philips, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Suez Environment, Sumitomo and Weyerhaeuser.