What does Wall Street, China & Food Moguls have to say on Climate Change?

Last week, multiple climate change headlines caught my eye.

One of them was some exciting news. International Business Times (IBT) reported, “six major U.S. banks are urging world leaders to adopt a strong agreement to slash carbon emissions and tackle climate change.” This joint statement is calling for governments to reach a global climate agreement by cooperation. These banks include: Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. This is huge news and will have massive ripple effects on climate recognition. Now with big banks willing to help with financing climate adaptation and mitigation policies, governments can address the problem.

If this is not good enough news for you, IBT says that, “China last week announced it would launch the world’s largest cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions from its steel, cement, paper and electric power sectors.” A Cap and Trade system is a policy tool used to deliver results by placing an annual cap on emissions”, “while providing some flexibility with how polluters comply. Pollution permits are then sold on the open market, making polluting energy more expensive and clean energy cheaper. This decision is a significant first step in reducing the impact of the world’s largest polluter. China is now leading on the climate change issue, the US is getting left behind.

With a changing climate and growing uncertainty of where clean water will come from, last Friday food moguls spoke out about the impacts of climate change on agriculture.

Ceres, a nonprofit organization advocating for sustainability leadership, published a press release that said, “Mars Incorporated, General Mills, Unilever, Kellogg Company, Nestlé USA, New Belgium Brewing, Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, Stonyfield Farm and Dannon USA released a joint letter to U.S. and world leaders pledging to accelerate business action on climate change and urging governments to do the same.”

The joint letter read: “Climate change is bad for farmers and agriculture. Drought, flooding and hotter growing conditions threaten the world’s food supply and contribute to food insecurity.”

World leaders can no longer stand idly by as large international companies are taking action. As a person who loves a bowl Lucky Charms from time to time; I would listen to General Mills and what they say about the threat climate change has on their food supply.

The issue of climate change is no longer to be left for future generations. It is by far the most pressing matter of the day. It is compelling news that profit driven companies are accepting the mountain of scientific evidence on climate change. We must follow the example of these top banks and companies.

If you want to make a difference, learn your ecological footprint.