GREEN CAPITALI$M 

French blue-chips back climate risk disclosure code

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s blue-chip CAC-40 companies threw their support behind global recommendations on climate risk disclosures, a major Paris business organisation said on Saturday.

All 40 companies on the benchmark index endorsed the code developed by the international Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Paris Europlace said.

The pledge came as President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson co-hosted an online U.N. event marking the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

“We have very little time before us,” Macron told the meeting. “We need immediate action.”

The TCFD, established by the global Financial Stability Board, in 2017 published voluntary disclosure principles designed to inform investors of climate-related financial risk.

Despite supportive corporate statements, however, the level of climate risk disclosure in practice remains inadequate, the task force recently warned.

Reporting by Laurence Frost. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau. Editing by Mark Potter

Apple CEO calls for stricter corporate, government climate goals at U.N. summit

(Reuters) - Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook on Saturday called on governments and businesses to implement stronger climate targets starting next year, during remarks at the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit.

“We call on companies and governments around the world to do all we can to make 2021 the year we turn the corner for good,” Cook said, according to prepared remarks seen by Reuters.

Cook did not call for specific goals during his remarks but disclosed that Apple is assisting 95 of its suppliers to transition to renewable energy, up from a figure of 70 disclosed in July. The iPhone maker earlier this year said it has become carbon-neutral for its corporate operations and set out plans to make its full supply chain and product lineup carbon-neutral by 2030.

The summit is being held on the fifth anniversary of the international Paris climate agreement and ahead of U.N. talks next year in Glasgow, Scotland.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement in 2017. Cook publicly criticized the withdrawal as “wrong for our planet,” though he did not name Trump in his criticism