BBVA is backing the joint statement from global business leaders prior to COP30, which underscores the commercial viability of the decarbonization of the economy and the climate transition.The statement urges companies and political leaders to “scale the historic opportunity for returns, resilience and growth.” Chairs and CEOs from the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, including BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila, signed the statement.
In the letter, corporate leaders are calling for clear measures to accelerate climate action in areas such as investments in infrastructure, innovation and resilience. They note that the benefits of investing in the climate economy clearly outweigh the rising costs of inaction. The letter also emphasized that “the climate transition represents a strategic opportunity for both the economy and for society,” and calls on governments to “deepen cooperation with the private sector.”
The climate economy is already creating growth and resilience
According to the signatories, “the viability of the climate economy is proven and compelling across many sectors.” Between 2019 and 2023, the companies that belong to the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders have reduced total emissions by 12 percent, while increasing income by 20 percent. As it happens, the global market for solar energy, wind energy, electric vehicles, batteries, electrolyzers and heat pumps has increased nearly four-fold since 2015, surpassing €700 billion per year. This performance demonstrates that moving toward a climate-responsible economy could boost both business competitiveness and job creation.
Furthermore, the transition represents a global economic opportunity. By 2030, it is estimated that it could move trillions of dollars in investment and create up to 10 million jobs.
Action is becoming increasingly urgent
The letter stresses that current global policies “are setting the world towards a temperature increase of 3ºC by 2100, with warming expected to exceed 2ºC as early as 2050.
The letter cautions that, on the current trajectory, “the world is heading towards a temperature increase of up to 3°C by 2100, with warming expected to exceed 2°C as early as 2050. The expected consequences include an intensification of extreme phenomena such as droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, floods and severe storms.” Despite the fact that these effects are already visible, policies remain fragmented and unclear, with uneven ambition and urgency across countries, regions and sectors, thus making it hard for companies to invest at the speed and scale needed to curb the impact of climate change.
A wait-and-see approach is not viable
Business leaders warn that a “wait-and-see strategy” is no longer viable: “Businesses and policy-makers should act to reinforce and boost the sustainable economy across more areas,” the letter states. This collaboration is especially needed in infrastructure, financing, demand signals and investments in climate resilience. Beyond this partnership, there are key measures that governments and businesses can take separately to scale up the climate transition, explain members of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders.
The letter calls for mobilizing large-scale private capital and mitigating risk with debt instruments, equity, concessional finance, blended finance, guarantees and mechanisms at project level, such as PPAs (power purchase agreements) and carbon contracts for difference, to ensure a guaranteed CO₂ price.
It also suggests “doubling financing and incentives for breakthrough tech,” which are needed to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors (such as industrial heat) through R&D funding, investments in pilots, ambitious green public procurement policies, transparent carbon markets and pricing mechanisms to send clear demand signals. To create these signals, they suggest combining corporate targets, where possible, with industry alliances like the First Movers Coalition.
They also call for investments and policies in nature due to its immense economic and social value: wetlands, forests and oceans provide carbon sequestration and sinks, soil protection and water regulation; along with further action to strengthen innovation and digital solutions, including artificial intelligence (AI), while remaining mindful of its environmental impact.
The overall goal is to unlock investment, scale up technology deployment and protect natural assets under a single logic of value creation and risk reduction
COP30, a pivotal moment to reignite progress towards a sustainable and inclusive economy
The letter is being shared ahead of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will take place in November in Belém, Brazil. The summit “represents a pivotal moment for businesses and governments to reignite progress towards a more resilient and environmentally sustainable economy,” they conclude.
About the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders
The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders is the largest CEO-led community committed to achieving climate neutrality. It brings together companies with combined annual revenues of over $4 trillion, employing more than 12 million people, and accounting for nearly 5 gigatons of CO₂ emissions.