Numerous large German businesses have called on the next government of Germany to implement ambitious policies in order to achieve the Paris climate agreement goals.

In an open letter, the 69 companies stated Monday that Germany’s next government must “put Germany on a clear and consistent path to climate neutrality,” with a plan to do so in its first 100 days of office.

Signatories included chemical company Bayer, steelmaker ThyssenKrupp, and sportswear manufacturer Puma.

In an election last month, the Social Democrats of the center narrowly defeated Angela Merkel’s Union bloc. Monday’s meeting saw the Social Democrats meet with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats in order to discuss the formation of a coalition government.

“Climate Protection was the decisive issue in the federal election, and the parties should place it at the forefront of their agenda when building the new federal government,” stated Michael Otto, president of Foundation 2 Degrees and board chairman of Otto Group, and founder of the mail ordering company Otto Group.

The government of Merkel adopted earlier this year a plan for reducing the country’s greenhouse gases emissions to “net zero” in 2045. This is five years earlier than originally planned.

Official figures indicate that Germany is falling behind in its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 2021 emission are expected to rebound after a severe pandemic.

Signatories have a turnover of approximately 1 trillion euros ($1.16 Trillion) annually and employ over 5 million people around the world. They want the next government support renewable energy, and to enact climate-friendly tax reforms that include a stronger carbon pricing system to stop investments in power-hungry sectors going abroad.

The companies pointed out the U.N. climate summit to be held in Glasgow, Scotland and Germany’s presidency of Group of Seven major economies next years. They also said that the German government must work with other countries to establish international standards for global financial systems and climate-neutral products.

“As business, we are ready to fulfill our central role in climate action. They urged the German government to transform climate neutrality into the main economic project for the next legislative period.

Oct. 31 marks the start of the U.N. climate summit