The best thing that ever happened to climate negotiations, according to Yvo de Boer, was when Russia closed the gas pipe tap to Ukraine. That made us put at least three items on the climate agenda, said Yvo:
1) energy prices;
2) energy security;
3) climate change.
Yvo de Boer challenged the businesses, present at the headquarters of Confederation of Danish Industry yesterday, with a call to increase their attractiveness to negotiation process by offering the product. Current negotiations, according to him, primarily focus on obligations and commitment for public actors but you almost can't hear anything about the role of private sector. As it is now, businesses influence the policy on a national level, through new technologies for example, but not on international level. To change the situation, you need to find linkage to institutions, said Yvo.
Some comments from businesses followed:
- transition to low-carbon future is a marathon not a sprint, so it's hard to offer an immediate product or an immediate solution;
- business and government don't think along the same lines and that is another challenge;
- it's not about our ability to formulate the message but rather to define who we are selling it and what we are selling (the comment from the Head of Confederation of Danish Industry);
- we should talk more about green growth;
- we want to focus on users; what we ask from governments is to help us develop necessary instruments for this;
- we need clear, long-term framework and clear targets;
- inertia in the existing capital stock is a problem;
- public private partnerships can be very effective;
- multi-stakeholder approach is important, i.e. we need to communicate across communities and different sectors; and
- business needs one voice calling for government framework now.
Session with CEOs (on the photo)Global carbon trading and carbon pricing were another hot topic on the agenda. Businesses hope that a price on carbon will be set soon. However, there were some doubts expressed in regard to whether it will change consumer behavior.
A couple of interesting facts mentioned during the work stream I attended (immediate actions by 2012):
- 93% of energy demand between now and 2030 will occur outside the OECD (according to the Head of International Energy Agency);
- we need to get the carbon prices right by 2012!
- price signal is still not there for recycling - e.g. it's more expensive to recycle plastic than to use a virgin one, not to mention user preferences as an obstacle for recycling.
What was reassuring is to hear some business voices saying that we need to address climate change across the entire supply chain, with Coca-Cola and Unilever announcing a pilot project with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development on establishing a low carbon supply chain.
Among other, Yvo de Boer urged businesses to set more ambitious target for innovations, for example, on the basis of 50% carbon emissions reductions as opposed to 20 or 30% (incrementalism!). He also mentioned that business community should talk from North to South. Wrapping up his session, Yvo said that, by the end of next week, we will get an architecture and design for what we are to do after Copenhagen, rather than a clear cut climate agreement.
That sounded really interesting Nadiya. I am intrigued to know what the demographic of the event was? Was it all middle aged men in grey suits ? (asides from the two beautiful Ukrainian and Hong Kong ladies of course).
ReplyDeleteWas there any discussion on whether a legally binding treaty would be more effective (and reduce risks)? Or how companies who are undertaking green practices should do more to encourage governments to introduce stronger regulation in order to push their competitors into compliance (i.e. were examples given on how to facilitate your "one voice now" comment)?
SOOOOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, exactly - middle aged men in grey/black suits! I can tell you more - in the sessions with CEOs, out of 21 CEOs, there was only one woman, and out of those 20 men, 19 were white men. It says a lot about the meeting! In a way, an elitist gathering with a bit too Northern (developed countries) perspective. (But they admit this themselves, which is, hopefully, the first step to change!)
ReplyDeleteBusinesses said they want a long-term legally binding agreement with clear commitments - this is supposed to create clear rules of play for everybody - they said they are ready to accept Yvo's challenge of incrementalism in innovations - strive for 50% reduction and, may be, get to 30% by 2020. Is this sincere? I don't know.
The point of businesses influence on policy making was discussed a lot - that's what they want to have both on national and international levels and, preferably, institutionalised, to create a favorable climate for green innovations and low-carbon economy. In regards of "one voice", the issue was reiterated several times - they acknowledge that situations and points of view can be very different not only between those businesses who have operations in developed and developing economies, but also between large companies and SMEs, companies working in different sectors. To facilitate the processes of getting to the coordinated positions, they would prefer some kind of institutionalised dialogue (may be on the basis of WBCSD, may be another international forum/platform), also across different communities and sectors. This, as they seem to believe, should help them formulate a concise position on certain topics within climate change and transition to low-carbon economy, which it will be easier to advance then on national and international levels.