Chairman of the SA Consumer Goods Council and Co-Chairman of the global Consumer Goods Forum Gareth Ackerman said on Sunday he was both “saddened and disappointed” by the decision of the Trump administration to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Accord.
The Consumer Goods Forum comprises the CEOs and senior management of some 400 global retailers‚ manufacturers‚ service providers‚ and other stakeholders across 70 countries. Member companies have combined sales of EUR 3.5 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain.
Ackerman‚ who is also chairman of SA-based retailer Pick n Pay‚ said: “Our global members – which include some of the US’s largest retailers and manufacturers - have committed themselves to key deliverables on climate change.
These include a strong focus on the sourcing of key commodities - palm oil‚ soy‚ paper and pulp and beef - and our members are committed to working together to achieve zero net deforestation by 2020.
“Our industry globally has also acknowledged its responsibility to phase out ozone depleting substances and is taking action to move to natural refrigerant alternatives‚ with the CGF board passing a resolution to begin phasing out HFCs from 2015 and calling for HFC inclusion in the Montreal Protocol.
Our members have also committed to working together to halve food waste by 2025 and as part of an international partnership‚ the CGF has helped contribute to the first-ever global standard to measure food loss and waste.
“Our US-based members have played an important role to date in these agreements and resolutions‚ and have put in an enormous amount of work on these and other important issues. We know that they will continue their good work notwithstanding this decision.”
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