Leading global corporations announce 50 million tons of emissions reductions

Washington, DC – Some of the world’s leading companies, all partners

in the World Wildlife Federation ‘s Climate Savers Program, have announced an estimated 50 million tons of voluntary emissions reductions by 2010. The independently estimated reductions are equivalent to the annual emissions of Switzerland.Companies in the program include The Coca-Cola Company, Catalyst, The Collins Companies, Elopak, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Hewlett-Packard, Lafarge, Johnson & Johnson, JohnsonDiversey, Nike, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Novo Nordisk, Polaroid, Sagawa Express, Sofidel Group, Sony, Spitsbergen Travel, Tetra Pak, Xanterra Parks and Resorts.”These Climate Savers companies have proven that greenhouse gas reductions and strong economic performance are not an either/or proposition,” said WWF-US President Carter Roberts.”Environmental protection and sustainable business performance are inextricably linked,” said Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “Governments, NGOs and businesses have unique roles, but we must work more closely together to address climate change. A key part of our role is to drive the Coca-Cola system to achieve and surpass the targets we have established in partnership with WWF and Climate Savers.”WWF works with Climate Savers companies to develop action plans to achieve aggressive emission reduction targets. Overall, the companies say these efforts are resulting in greater operational efficiency and significant cost reductions.Many Climate Savers companies have previously offered public support for a declaration calling for action to limit the global average temperature increase to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, and have affirmed an Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change report’s conclusion that global emissions must be reduced to half of 2000 levels by the middle of the 21st century.The companies also declared that they would widen the scope of reduction activities by partnering with other businesses and champion best practice by sharing their methods with more sectors and in more regions around the world.– Edited by David Greenfield , editorial director

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