Top business leaders issue expletive-laden message on climate

This week, top business leaders delivered an expletive-laden plea in defense of Climate actiondescribing Backlash to Europe’s green transition As a “deviation”.

In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allianz Chief Executive Oliver Butt said he disagreed with the suggestion that it might only be a matter of time before net zero is rejected in Europe, saying short-term thinking on the issue was “bulls—“.

In response to a question about political leaders backing down from the much-vaunted European Green New Deal and the Norwegian Oil Fund It is said Defending companies’ push to relax their climate targets, Paty said anyone with children would “have to worry” about the future of the planet.

“It’s a perversion for people to say that in the short term,” Patey told CNBC.Squawk Europe Fund” on Tuesday. “I think it’s about doing it smart. And by the way, The role model here is China“They will be the leader in terms of both renewable energy and energy cost.”

The CEO of Allianz, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, said it is essential for business and political leaders to stay the course towards achieving the necessary energy transition goals.

“This is what we do at Allianz, we said that 2050 is net zero. Let’s not try to say, ‘Oh, I need to do this already by 2035’ – bulls—. ‘Excuse my language on TV,'” Paty said.

He added: “In our company, we have reduced our energy consumption by more than 40%. It can be done, but let’s not make it a religion. Make it a goal and then stay focused on it.”

His statements come amid Fears Companies are increasingly turning away from climate action, turning instead to issues such as competitiveness, while political support for net zero It seems to be fading.

In fact, at Davos, the event itself shifted the focus to now looking at how to deal with the worst elements of the climate crisis rather than, As in previous yearsfocusing on how to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet.

Andrew Forrest, founder and CEO of the Australian mining giant FortescueHe said on Monday that the term net zero itself was “a little bit of an issue here.” He previously called on the world to move away from… The “certain fantasy” of net zeroSaying it’s time to embrace “true zero” by 2040 instead.

Net zero refers to the goal of achieving a balance between carbon emitted into the atmosphere and carbon removed from it. More than 140 countries, including major polluters such as the United States, India and the European Union, have adopted plans to reach net zero.

“While we use excuses like carbon credits, offsets, and all that nonsense, I think the president of the United States has the right angle to pursue an argument against those who just advocated for net zero emissions.” [but] I have to say this: We don’t need the Internet anymore,” Forrest told CNBC’s Karen Tso in Davos.

“True zero is simply to stop burning fossil fuels. That’s a very simple equation. When are you going to stop burning fossil fuels? Name the date. Then you’ll give your shareholders a lower cost and a more competitive cost of energy.”

Fortescue, a scientist Fourth largest Iron ore mine, has shown It plans to stop burning fossil fuels across its Australian iron ore operations by the end of the decade, and has called on other hard-to-mitigate companies to follow suit.

Forrest said China has wisely supported “every horse in the race” by investing in both oil and gas and renewable energy technologies, a policy decision that clearly differs from the Trump administration’s approach.

“Now, the United States has taken difficult steps [for] Fossil fuels and kind of make anyone looking at renewables feel like they’re being woke, and that they don’t take care of the shareholders. “Frankly, I’m here to say to everyone involved in Davos, this is not true,” Forrest said.

He continued: “It’s cheaper to go toward a renewable energy future. If you have a basically flat or declining technology curve with oil and gas, meaning your operating cost is flat or rising with oil and gas. However, you have a renewable technology curve that’s bloody near vertical up, and its costs are bloody near vertical down, then you look at trends.”

“The trend in renewable energy is to eat fossil fuels for lunch. So, I would simply say to all my friends in America, back every horse. Your president is more of a businessman than a climate change advocate.”

US President Donald Trump, who rejected the scientific consensus on climate change due to human activity and called it a “hoax”, It is said She agreed to attend Davos this year after organizers gave assurances that “woke” topics would not feature prominently at the meeting.

On Wednesday, the US President took aim at the European Union’s energy policy during his speech in Davos, claiming that wind turbines are destroying the earth and losing money.

“This is unfortunately not entirely new, and we are actually taking a very different view here,” EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told CNBC on Wednesday.

“We feel that climate change has huge economic ramifications. At the same time, there is a clear opportunity in batteries, solar energy, and incidentally also in nuclear energy, which I agree with.” [with Trump]He added.

Asked about weak political support for net zero policies, the EU’s Hoekstra acknowledged that “there are pockets” that are more skeptical than before.

“The harsh truth is that the physics of the entire matter and planet doesn’t care whether we talk about it or not,” Hoekstra said.

He added: “The only thing that matters is the amount of carbon dioxide we pump into the air, how much the planet will warm, and how much economic damage will befall us as societies.”

Not everyone is concerned about Europe’s commitment to climate action. Joe Kaeser, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Germany Siemens EnergyHe said he is more focused on what action can be taken.

“We need to talk to our customers about what we can do together and set a path for how we eventually get to net zero,” Kaiser told CNBC on Tuesday.

He added: “There is no problem that we cannot do, but it is about technology and innovation and not about regulation that says: ‘You have to do this, you have to do that, you have to do hydrogen’, even though everyone knows that will never be economically viable.”