Arabesque’s Dr Carolyn Woo and Georg Kell Join Leading Global Investors and Energy Executives at Vatican Meeting on Climate Change

LONDON, June 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Arabesque Board member Dr Carolyn Woo and Georg Kell, Chairman of the Arabesque group, participated alongside other leading global investors and oil and gas industry executives at a summit held today at the Vatican to accelerate action on climate change, it was announced.

Following two days of dialogue between senior Vatican officials, investors and energy company executives setting out a collective commitment to tackle climate change, Pope Francis addressed attendees by calling for "open, transparent, science-based and standardised reporting of climate risk".

Entitled 'The Vatican Dialogues: The Energy Transition and Care for our Common Home', the two-day summit, hosted by the Vatican and the University of Notre Dame, saw investors and oil and gas industry leaders discuss a transition to a net-zero carbon economy, in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. To accelerate global transformation towards low carbon economies, all participants agreed in a signed statement to support 'economically meaningful' carbon pricing, and climate-related disclosure.

Speaking at the Vatican, Kell said: "In 2015, the world made a commitment to restrict global warming to below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. To stand a chance of meeting these goals, a huge level of effort is required by companies across all sectors around the globe, and particularly those in the oil and gas sector. As investors, it is imperative we do all we can to ensure the Paris agreement is met, and that we work with energy leaders to transition towards a low carbon economy.

"It's an honour to represent Arabesque at this week's Vatican forum and, under the guidance of His Holiness Pope Francis, to work alongside other investors and sector leaders to take critical action against climate change. If we are to succeed, it will be for the wellbeing and security of all."

Prior to joining the Arabesque group's Board in 2015, Georg Kell was the founding Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative with over 10,000 corporate signatories in more than 160 countries. He is joined on the Arabesque Board by Dr Carolyn Woo, former President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, and former Dean of the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, who helped spearhead efforts on behalf of the Vatican and Notre Dame to encourage the energy industry and its investors on a path toward energy transition.

SOURCE Arabesque