Prince Charles is calling on corporate leaders around the world to sign a new “earth charter” which puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector.
The ‘Terra Carta’ – which was officially launched by the Prince at the One Planet Summit in France on 11th January – devises its name from the historic Magna Carta, and offers the basis of a recovery plan to 2030 that puts “Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation.”
Redesigning net zero
Nearly 40 CEOS from major corporates have already signed the charter, including the CEOs of AstraZeneca, Unilever, Bank of America and HSBC. It comprises nearly 100 recommended actions that signatory companies could take for a sustainable future, including a commitment to “redesign net zero” and ensure that the transition will be “nature positive”.
It calls on signatories to accelerate the net zero transition before the current 2050 target and outlines a number of ways they can help to achieve this, including collaborating to create industry roadmaps, and investing in ‘game-changing’ technologies and solutions to remove barriers to transition.
The Prince of Wales said: “If we consider the legacy of our generation, more than 800 years ago, Magna Carta inspired a belief in the fundamental rights and liberties of people. As we strive to imagine the next 800 years of human progress, the fundamental rights and value of Nature must represent a step-change in our ‘future of industry’ and ‘future of economy’ approach. With this in mind, Nature, of which we are an integral part, lies at the heart of the ‘Terra Carta’.”
One of Terra Carta’s actions was initiated at the One Planet Summit in Paris, with the creation of a Natural Capital Investors Alliance targeting $10 billion by 2022.
