Greener post-COVID era urged by Torqeedo, 68 companies

A greener post-COVID era is being called for and recommended by 68 German and multinational companies at the German government’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue.

The participating companies come from all sectors of the economy and together represent a global turnover of about one trillion Euro, employ almost one million people in Germany and more than 3 million people globally. They are urging politicians to combine economic measures with ambitious climate policy coming out of the pandemic.

The companies said that

“the private sector is prepared to assume societal responsibility in the crisis and, at the same time, stick to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. To achieve this, governments must act decisively now and restore urgently needed investment security with climate-friendly long-term economic stimulus programmes“.

The statement was initiated by Foundation 2° – German Businesses for Climate Protection. It is named after its most important goal: to limit average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Participating companies employ 3M people globally

Torqeedo is the global leader in electric boat motors, and it joins corporations like IKEA, Bayer, Allianz, General Electric, T-Mobile, Puma, Epson and Unilever in calling on the German government to:

1. Closely link economic policy measures aimed at overcoming the corona and climate crises and systematically ensure that all relevant stimulus and investment programmes are climate-friendly.
2. Build on climate policy successes and consistently continue to design and implement climate policy measures.
3. Preserve and increase the competitiveness of the German and European economies by resolutely crafting an ambitious and constructive Green Deal and develop it as a European innovation and growth strategy that also contributes to the mastering of the impacts of the corona crisis.
4. Work to ensure that all countries present ambitious climate commitments in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement by the next UN Climate Change Conference at the latest.

Torqeedo CEO Dr. Christoph Ballin on post-COVID era

Torqeedo has promoted marine electrification since 2005 and recently delivered its 100,000 the electric boat motor. About the post-COVID era, Torqeedo CEO Dr. Christoph Ballin said: “The Corona pandemic has shown that proper preparation for a crisis situation makes an important difference. The time to prepare for the climate crisis is now. We must reduce the use of fossil fuels on land and on the water to implement the Paris Climate Convention and meet the 2° goals.”

The participating companies made the point that If they continue to make climate action a part of their business models, it will play an important role in the post-COVID era in dealing with the impacts of the pandemic while also helping to avoid profound impacts of the climate crisis.

Sabine Nallinger, Managing Director of Foundation 2° said “Many companies from all sectors of the economy have already begun to make their business models climate-friendly, based on scientific evidence. These investments must not be jeopardized. The German government should work with all Member States of the European Union to assure that there is no turning back from European climate policy.”