October 14, 2010
Nearly a year after the Copenhagen summit to reduce the global carbon footprint, advocates for change feel they have the momentum. Round two of the conference is to begin in Cancun, Mexico in November.
To prepare for the climate change meeting, the United Nations has gathered about 300 companies that are urging their respective governments to enact limits on greenhouse gas emissions as a way to encourage innovation and reduce environmental harm. The businesses that include multinational corporations are seeking aggressive actions - 50 percent reductions in carbon emissions by 2020.
That won't happen. But the statement, a symbolic step, is meant to say that major companies such as Siemens, Coca-Cola and IBM are on board: Their collective actions can stimulate an economic recovery while also improving air quality. UN sponsors consider corporate support vital to achieving success. The Copenhagen talks produced broadly stated goals - but no firm commitments to cut such heat-trapping emissions.
The objective at Copenhagen has been to limit the rise in global temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius or less by 2050. That would require about an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions from where they now stand. Basically, the UN says that the time is now to reach a global agreement, noting that greenhouses gases must be curbed by about 3 percent annually over the next few decades.
"It is possibly the first business summit ever to recognize the role of companies as solution providers," says Barbara Kux, chief of sustainability for Siemens. "We all now recognize the huge problems that climate change is posing for our societies. We should now step up, lead and be part of the tidal wave of companies that bring the solutions."
The companies, generally, concurred that governments should employ mechanisms to offset the initial costs of converting to a low-carbon economy. That would include, for example, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and creating the incentives to build out the smart grid and to facilitate the use of more green fuels.
Other places for improvement: modernizing the building sector, which participants said could increase its efficiency rates by 40 percent in existing buildings through such things as better lighting systems. And, businesses could shift increasingly to electronic formats rather than using printed materials.
"While governments hold the key to setting the right signals and incentives, it is business that provides the solutions we need," says Georg Kell, executive director of the UN Global Compact. "Now is the time to support the many efforts that already exist, to ensure that low-carbon innovation is shared widely and to mobilize those still sitting on the fence. We cannot afford to wait any longer."
Industrial Skeptics
It is one thing to gather a group of businesses that are like-minded and interested in the enactment of more sustainable energy and environmental laws. And it is other to come up with the specific steps that policymakers should make, particularly when the manufacturing bases of some societies are dependent on fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, most nations are acknowledging the need to reduce their carbon footprints. But, it is the progressive ones on the European continent that are considered to be the most serious about it. Policies there are encouraging the use of more green energy while some of those countries are championing nuclear power.
The criticism, of course, is that India and China - with their burgeoning economies - are reluctant to obligate themselves to specific carbon cuts. Instead, China has said it would reduce greenhouse gases as a percentage of its overall gross domestic product to show that it is serious but to do so without inhibiting its economic growth.
"We should all recognize that international negotiations on climate are not moving at the pace needed," says James Leape, director general World Wildlife International.
Industrial skeptics say that a piecemeal approach to cutting carbon emissions in which some countries participate and others do not is unproductive. Data compiled by the UN shows that global carbon emissions have increased by 25 percent since 2000. China has doubled its releases in the last decade while India's has risen by 50 percent. And while most of the developed world saw decreases in such emissions in the last year because of the recession, China's releases increased by 9 percent.
The UN is trying to see the glass as half-full, emphasizing that the rapidly developing countries of Brazil, China, Indonesia and South Africa have concrete plans to reduce their emissions. They will also allow their progress to be monitored and verified. China, for example, has set upon a course to increase its green and nuclear energy as a way to cut into its coal-fired power base.
To that end, the world's most economically advanced countries have pledged to help those less advantaged make the transition to low-carbon societies. They will start by providing $100 billion in funds through 2020 so that they can adopt cutting-edge pollution technologies.
Some companies are ready to go. "We recognize the role that big corporations have in changing supply chains so that small and medium enterprises can fully participate in the green economy," says José Luis Prado, President, Gamesa.
While key businesses are pushing for bold changes to occur in Cancun, they are likely to have their hopes dashed. Change will come. But it will take place more slowly, giving many enterprises the leeway they say is necessary to acclimate to a new energy economy.
EnergyBiz Insider is nominated for Best Online Column by Media Industry News.
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Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
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