Global investor group urges United States to rejoin Paris climate accord

(EurActiv, 4 Nov 2020) A group representing European and US investors with a collective $30 trillion in assets urged the United States to quickly rejoin a global accord to tackle climate change on Wednesday, as a decision by President Donald Trump to leave the pact came into effect.

The group, whose members include big investors such as New York-based BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager, warned that the United States risked falling behind in the race to create a cleaner global economy by leaving the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“Recommitting to the Paris Agreement would provide an important policy signal, helping unlock additional flows of investor capital to support sustainable growth and job creation across key sectors of the US economy,” Stephanie Pfeifer, chief executive of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, said in an email to Reuters.

The coalition of European and some US funds joined other investor groups in Asia, Australia and New Zealand in issuing a joint statement calling for a US return to the Paris pact.

The statement was timed for release on Wednesday morning, after US election polls were due to be closed, indicating how the withdrawal from the Paris deal remains a contested issue.

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EurActiv, 4 Nov 2020: Global investor group urges United States to rejoin Paris climate accord