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HuffPost: Global Businesses & Climate Change: Don’t Get Left Behind

Here’s a simple fact: taking decisive action on climate change will cost us less than failing to do so.

At Unilever, we operate in 190 countries with two billion people using our products daily. We take climate seriously because we know that it impacts those two billion people — and that means it impacts us, too. A changing climate already costs Unilever between $300 million and $400 million every year — mainly because of droughts and flooding — manifestations of climate-induced extreme weather that will only become more frequent in the future. When the climate hurts, people and businesses also feel the pain…

…The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, comprised of leaders from business, government and academia and of which I am a member, reported last year that the world will require $90 trillion of investment in infrastructure over the next 15 years. This money will be invested anyway but we have the opportunity to invest it wisely, setting us on a low-carbon-development pathway.

…We are already responding to the climate challenge. It’s time for governments to join us in ensuring better growth and a better climate for all.

Read the entire article at Huffington Post.