Top business leaders issue expletive-laden message on climate

Top business leaders this week delivered an expletive-laden plea in defense of climate action, describing the backlash to Europe’s green transition as an “aberration.”

In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte said he disagreed with the suggestion that it may just be a matter of time before net zero is dismissed in Europe, saying short-term thinking on this issue is “bulls—.”

Asked about political leaders backtracking on their much-vaunted European Green New Deal and Norway’s oil fund reportedly defending a push from companies to water down their climate goals, Bäte said anyone who has children “will have to worry” about the planet’s future.

“It’s an aberration that short-term people are saying that,” Bäte told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday. “I think it’s about doing it intelligently. And by the way, the role model here is China, they are going to be the leader both in terms of renewable and cost of energy.”

The CEO of Allianz, one of the world’s biggest insurers, said it was integral for business and political leaders to stay the course on necessary energy transition targets.

“This is what we do in Allianz, we said 2050 is net zero. Let’s not try to say, ‘ah I need to do it already by 2035’ — bulls—. Excuse my language on TV,” Bäte said.

“We have, in our company, reduced energy consumption for us by more than 40%. It can be done, but let’s not make it a religion. Make it a target and then keep focusing on it,” he added.

His comments come amid concerns that businesses are increasingly shying away from climate action, turning instead to issues such as competitiveness, while political support for net zero appears to be fading.

Indeed, at Davos, the event itself has shifted focus, looking now at how to cope with the worst elements of the climate crisis rather than, as in previous years, focusing on how to rapidly reduce planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.

Andrew Forrest, founder and executive chairman of Australian mining giant Fortescue, said Monday that the net zero term itself was “a little bit of a problem here.” He has previously called for the world to walk away from the “proven fantasy” of net zero, saying it is time to embrace “real zero” by 2040 instead.

Net zero refers to the goal of achieving a state of balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere and the carbon removed from it. More than 140 countries, including major polluters such as the U.S., India, and the European Union, have adopted plans to reach net zero.

“While we use excuses like carbon credits, offsets, all…