SWORDS, Ireland — George Oliver, chairman and CEO, Johnson Controls, has co-signed a letter with a list of international company and organization executives urging the G7 to accelerate action limiting greenhouse gas emissions. One of the primary ways suggested is a ramp in carbon pricing. The letter makes the case for a price starting at around $30 per tonne and potentially moving beyond $120 per tonne if the world is forced to consider options such as drawing emissions directly out of the atmosphere. The call to action came ahead of the G7 country leaders meeting in Germany this week.

The signatories have come together under the banner of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) – a collection of more than 400 CEOs and chaired by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The shared goal is to accelerate the world's transition to a sustainable future. Companies co-signing with Johnson Controls include the Bank of America, Mahindra Group, Shell, and BP alongside organizations such as Wateraid UK and the Sustainable Food Trust.

"Climate change is a constant and increasing threat," said Oliver. "While we must band together to tackle immediate shocks from energy supply and pricing and address the pain it's causing for people and business, we know that our current energy strategy is not sustainable and must be more resilient, reliable, and healthy. Whatever measures G7 leaders consider this week to help the global economy must balance short- and long-term needs and incentivize the private sector to do the right thing on sustainability investment. That includes ways to accelerate adoption of advanced technologies to optimize major emitting sectors, such as buildings."

The buildings sector accounts for almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions and is a primary target for the United Nations and its Sustainable Development Goals. Johnson Controls has been operating in the sector for nearly 140 years, with its founder Warren Johnson inventing the electric room thermostat in 1883. Today, the company's modern-day innovators are using advanced technology to transform how buildings are controlled through the Johnson Controls OpenBlue platform. OpenBlue sits on top of buildings' operational technology, taking data from connected devices running heating, lighting, ventilation, and other systems, and it applies machine learning analytics — either locally or in the cloud — to manage performance in real-time.

The goal of Johnson Controls is to make future buildings more autonomous and far more sustainable, as well as smarter and healthier.

“We know that real energy security can only come from a strategy that cuts costs and carbon,” said Katie McGinty, chief sustainability officer, Johnson Controls. “The best place to start is energy efficiency as technology today can dramatically cut energy consumption and emissions while boosting the bottom line. A major acceleration of effort to upgrade buildings will bring more secure communities and a stable climate. G7 leaders have the opportunity and obligation now to drive action with smart policy and favorable investment incentives.”