Ratify Kyoto!
We call on the governments of the world to ensure the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol no later than 2002. This will require ratification of the Protocol by at least 55 countries responsible for 55% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrialised countries.
Since its inception in Mai 2001, „e-mission 55“ has exceeded its goal of recruiting 55 companies that declare their support for the Kyoto Climate Treaty and want to see it enter into force at the latest by 2002. Already 5 weeks after start of the initiative, more than 90 companies signed the Business Call. The companies are drawn from nine countries including the United States, Japan and Europe. Among the prominent companies are Deutsche Telekom, the UK insurance company CGNU, household appliance manufacturer AEG, the Credit Suisse Group, and the reinsurance company Swiss Re.
„The rapid growth of this business initiative shows that the business community needs a binding international framework for climate protection in order to protect innovative strength and sustain competitiveness,“ said Gerd Tenzer, director of Deutsche Telekom, the main initiator of „e-mission55“.
Other companies that have played an initiating role in „e-mission55“ include the Gerling Group, the British company Calorgas, the Swiss bank Sarasin, the Dutch CSS Telecom, Deutsche Bahn, Otto Versand – the world’s largest mail order company – and the German company SolarWorld. „e-mission55“, launched in May 2001 by e5 ( the European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future), has been supported by the non-governmental organisations, WWF and Germanwatch.
The name „e-mission55“ is derived from the mission to have the Kyoto Climate Treaty enter into force. To become international law, the agreement needs to be ratified by at least 55 countries which together accounted for at least 55 per cent of the carbon dioxide emitted by industrialised nations in 1990. The original aim of „e-mission55“ was to recruit 55 companies from all over the world by the time of the Bonn climate summit.
List of the 194 signatories
of e-mission55 (status as of Summer 2002) [Link]
Activities:
- Conference 2002: „Kyoto is business“ 10. December 2002 in Brussels
The conference will deal with consequences of the foreseeable entry-into-force of the Kyoto Protocol expected for early 2003. The EU emissions trading scheme which is likely to be decided upon during the conference days (9th or 10th of December), best practice cases of corporate climate strategies and their details and implementation will be discussed. - e5-press release: Appeal to G8 environment ministers – e-mission 55 urges ratification of Kyoto Protocol (Bonn, 5 April 2002)
e-mission 55 spokesperson Paul E. Metz appeals to the environment ministers of the world’s strongest economies to bring the Kyoto Protocol into force in time before the World Summit for Sustainable Development takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa.