Climate action is a matter of conviction – today more than ever!
Ten years after the Paris Climate Agreement, climate change continues to advance – increasingly threatening prosperity and people’s livelihoods in Germany. While one in two already feels its personal impact, the issue is perceived as less important compared to other social challenges. This is one of the findings of a quick survey commissioned by the Otto Group, in which more than a thousand people took part. At the same time, skepticism towards global climate efforts is growing: more than half of respondents doubt that these measures are sufficient or will ultimately succeed. So, will the World Climate Conference in Brazil mark a turning point – or another lost year? And what does this mean for the Otto Group?
To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and move urgently needed action into implementation, ambitious climate protection and competitive business must not be seen as contradictions. For the past 18 years, the Stiftung KlimaWirtschaft – a CEO-led, cross-sector, and non-partisan initiative – has been working towards this very goal. The organization was originally founded under the name Stiftung 2 Grad.
For climate transformation to succeed – both in Germany and internationally – we need bold entrepreneurial decisions as well as long-term, reliable political frameworks that create planning security and broad social acceptance.
Dr. Michael Otto, Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Otto Group, is one of its key initiators and serves as Chair of the Foundation’s Presidium. At the annual conference on November 6 in Berlin, he emphasized that for the Otto Group, climate protection has been a matter of conviction for decades – “today more than ever” – and made one thing unmistakably clear:
“For climate transformation to succeed – both in Germany and internationally – we need bold entrepreneurial decisions as well as long-term, reliable political frameworks that create planning security and broad social acceptance.”
We are currently facing many global uncertainties. Yet sustainability and climate protection remain defining challenges of our time. That’s why the Otto Group is fully committed to staying its course. Ultimately, we are convinced that one thing will not change: companies that take sustainability seriously will have a competitive advantage in the end.
This conviction is shared by Petra Scharner-Wolff, CEO of the Otto Group, who reaffirmed:
„We are currently facing many global uncertainties. Yet sustainability and climate protection remain defining challenges of our time. That’s why the Otto Group is fully committed to staying its course. Ultimately, we are convinced that one thing will not change: companies that take sustainability seriously will have a competitive advantage in the end.“
Together with other CEOs of leading companies, they have now joined an appeal initiated by the Stiftung KlimaWirtschaft, urging the German government to strengthen the country’s economy, secure international competitiveness, and meet its climate targets.
COP30 must prove that climate protection is a real priority
Under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, many countries committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions – laying a crucial foundation for global climate protection. However, current pledges are far from sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and even these commitments are often not fully implemented. As a result, public confidence is low: only 5.5% of respondents believe international measures will succeed. Just over a quarter (28.5%) see potential but emphasize the need for greater effort. The majority are pessimistic: 36.6% consider current measures inadequate, while 17.1% already believe climate change is unstoppable. Slightly more than one in ten (12.4%) have no clear opinion on the issue.
Especially now, as other crises threaten to overshadow climate policy, COP30 in Brazil is a crucial forum for dialogue and ambition.
Without the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the annual climate conferences, the crisis would likely be even more severe, says Prof. Dr. Tobias Wollermann, Vice President Corporate Responsibility at the Otto Group: „According to projections, without the Paris Agreement, global temperatures would have already risen by up to 4 degrees. So, international climate policy does work – but we need to act faster, more reliably, and more consistently. Especially now, as other crises threaten to overshadow climate policy, COP30 in Brazil is a crucial forum for dialogue and ambition. But the time has come for effective and verifiable implementation.“
The Otto Group is moving forward out of conviction – staying firmly committed to its science-based, SBTi-validated climate targets to consistently reduce emissions across the entire value chain.
“Only by doing so can we build trust and show that we truly mean business when it comes to climate action,” says Wollermann.
© Fotocredit: Stiftung KlimaWirtschaft: Per Jacob Blut, Petra Scharner Wolf: Daniel Reinhardt, Tobias Wollermann: Jan Northoff, Dr. Michael Otto: Jewgeni Roppel
