The CEO of Unilever claims it is “absolutely crucial” to meet temperature targets set by the UN in Paris.
Paul Polman sounded the alarm in a recent interview with the liberal Huffington Post on May 23. He oversees Unilever, the company behind consumer brands like Dove, Lipton and Klondike.
In the interview, Polman hyped the effects of climate change, saying that temperature change caused a host of problems, including “enormous fluctuations in food prices.” He also said it was “absolutely crucial” that the world keep temperatures from rising more than two degrees celsius.
Two degrees was a goal set by a United Nations conference in Paris and promoted by climate alarmists even before that conference.
“If temperatures go up, you see enormous fluctuations in food prices, uh water levels rise, and frankly the poorest of the poor depend on agriculture or live on the coast so they suffer the most,” Polman said.
Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief, and Polman are both members of the The B Team, a non-profit opposed to the idea that businesses should be driven “primarily by profit.”
The B Team seeks to “catalyse a better way of doing business, for the wellbeing of people and the planet,” according to its website.
In line with B Team values, Polman told Huffington Post that the purpose of business was to give back to society.
“I always felt that the role of business should be to make a positive contribution to society. Otherwise, why would we be there? Why would people allow it to be there?” said Polman.
Polman claimed climate change hurts the poor most and there was “no business case in enduring poverty.”
However, critics warn that climate alarmism is already hurting the impoverished.
Vijay Jayaraj, Research Associate for Developing Countries for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, said concerns over climate change have interfered with helping India’s poor.
“Climate change rhetoric is heavily disrupting utilization of fossil fuels,” Jayaraj wrote in an April 22, 2016, op-ed for The Christian Post.
Why would that harm the poor? Because there are millions of people around the world still living without electricity and non-fossil fuel sources of power are far more expensive than fossil fuels. Higher prices mean many continue to go without the power that could help lift them out of poverty.
“India cannot afford to dance to the tunes of a science-allergic climate alarmist movement which has its foot on the throat of the world's governing bodies. Fossil fuels are indispensable in meeting India's future energy needs,” said Jayaraj.
He even argued India should shun “climate fear mongers” in order to help the India’s poor.
“The country must immunize itself from the influence of foreign elements, like American climate fear mongers who ignore the negative impacts of unsound climate policies on the poor and marginalized — people they never see, and about whom they don't care,” Jayaraj said.
