German multinational energy company E.ON has signed a pledge initiated by the Prince of Wales, during the One Planet Summit, to encourage CEOs around the world to play a key role in accelerating the energy transition.
The pledge ‘Terra Carta’ or ‘Earth Charter’ seeks to protect the world’s natural resources and accelerate the transition to a greener future.
The Earth Charter contains nearly 100 actions that businesses can take, including a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner and protecting natural ecosystems.
One of the initiatives arising out of the charter is a private sector alliance that aims to invest $10 billion in ‘natural capital’ to speed-up the energy transition and combat climate change.
Organisations that have signed the charter have pledged to support international agreements on the climate, biodiversity and desertification, and make investment and financial flows consistent with a future of low greenhouse gas emissions.
Leonhard Birnbaum, member of the E.ON board of directors, said: “We take pride in supporting the Sustainable Market Initiative of the Terra Carta. We share the vision around the need to accelerate global progress towards a sustainable future. We are deeply convinced that we need to put Nature, People and Planet at the heart of future global value creation.”
The development follows E.ON partnering with some 150 other companies in calling on the European heads of state and government in September 2020 to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
The utility has set a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2040.
The energy company claims it has fully aligned with the new energy world and has completely restructured its activities accordingly over the last five years by investing in the decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation of its energy supply.
The company’s portfolio of renewables to date help the emissions of 100 million tons of carbon emissions.
