Global sport goods company DECATHLON has defined 1.5°C science-based emissions reduction targets and commits to being aligned with a net-zero future, responding to what the latest climate science indicates is needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change. The company has responded to a call-to-action, issued by a broad coalition of business, civil society and UN leaders, to make their critical and necessary contribution to keeping global temperature increase within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“We are passionately devoted to making sports and the outdoors accessible to as many people as possible. Climate change threatens the world we live in, and without change — on every level, from all constituencies — our planet is in immediate and measurable peril. We are making it our priority to do our part in this global fight.» said DECATHLON’s Sustainability Chief Officer Isabelle Guyader joining this call-to-action.
A call to join the campaign #OurOnlyFuture
In June, global leaders including Her Excellency María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the UN General Assembly, Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, and SDG Advocate Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, collectively issued an open letter addressed to business leaders.
The letter challenges Chief Executive Officers to set ambitious targets for their companies in line with last October’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which made the case for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Companies are asked to set verifiable science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which independently assesses corporate emissions reduction targets against scientific best practice.
Building a prosperous, net-zero carbon economy by 2050 requires a transformation of unprecedented pace and scale, with decisive business leadership and investment in climate solutions supported by ambitious government policies. By setting ambitious policies and targets in line with a 1.5°C trajectory, Governments give business the clarity and confidence to invest decisively in the zero-carbon economies of the future.
Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, UN Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit and one of the key advocates for the campaign:
“We need concrete, realistic plans by 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade, and to net zero by 2050. Climate change requires an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society and business leadership demonstrated by setting science-based targets at 1.5°C will send strong market signals as we look to identify the scalable and replicable solutions needed to secure a world where no one is left behind.”
“We have less than 11 years to fundamentally change our economies or we will face catastrophic consequences. For the first time, we are seeing business and climate leaders coalesce around a common call-to-action, sending a powerful signal that science-based target setting presents a significant opportunity for businesses to step up when it comes to tackling climate change and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, one of the SBTi partners.
“The science is clear: in order to limit the catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must ensure warming does not exceed 1.5°C. The ambition is high but it’s achievable — and science-based targets give companies a roadmap for getting there. Corporations worldwide have an unprecedented opportunity to be at the very forefront of the transition to a net-zero economy — and there is no time to lose,” said Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, one of the SBTi partners.
More information about DECATHLON climate commitments here.
