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Paris, November 26, 2015 – In the lead-up to the Paris climate summit (COP 21), 39 major French companies, employing a total of 4.4 million people worldwide and generating sales of 1,200 billion euros, have made a firm commitment to combat climate change. By signing this climate pledge, they want to contribute to making COP 21 a success and to limiting the warming of the Earth to 2°C. They emphasize their driving role and leadership in the fight for a more sustainable world.
Active since many years, these companies are taking concrete steps to reduce their carbon footprint through:
- The use of active and passive energy efficiency solutions,
- The use of renewable energy, notably hydro, wind or solar energy,
- The systematic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life cycle of their products,
- The development of new low-carbon materials and solutions,
- The reduction of food waste and packaging,
- The adoption of long-term investment strategies actively promoting the energy transition.
From 2016 to 2020, the 39 companies plan to invest at least 45 billion euros in industrial projects and R&D devoted to renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low carbon technologies. Over the same period, they also intend to provide bank and bond financing of at least 80 billion euros for projects contributing to the fight against climate change.
In addition, they foresee low carbon investments of 15 billion euros in new nuclear capacities and investments of 30 billion euros in natural gas as energy transition solution, planned over the next five years.
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As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world's top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aeronautics or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society's quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 26,000 people in 52 countries and generated 10.2 billion euros in net sales in 2014. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on EURONEXT Brussels and EURONEXT Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB:BB - Reuters: SOLB.BR).
