COP16 business review
Down to Business at COP16
Matt Banks, WWF-US
At the end of the talks, UNFCCC COP16/Cancun was heralded as a success and delivered a balanced bundle of decisions -- ranging from establishment of a "Green Climate Fund" (to administer assistance to poor nations), to inscribing the commitments from the 2009 Copenhagen Accord into the formal UN documentation. Countries also agreed on the details for crediting emission reductions from forest preservation (REDD+, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
There was also a decision by the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) to offer "observer" organizations – including the businesses -- an opportunity to participate more actively in the policy development process. As a start, the business community was offered a 2-minute intervention during the High Level Segment on the final day in Cancun, and will be offered a formal engagement process at the next intercessional meeting in Bonn (June 2011).
The agreements in Mexico not only confirm that governments will continue to pursue the reduction plans set out in the Copenhagen Accord, they acknowledge that these plans are not ambitious enough and that bolder targets or additional measures will be required to close the "gigaton gap" between what has been pledged and what is needed. The direction of future negotiations is clearer than it has ever been, the international consensus is stronger than ever, and the mechanisms to deliver deep emission cuts are beginning to take shape.
Cancun also sends a clear message to businesses that there will be public sector support for leveraging private investment, which means there will be substantial opportunities for the private sector. After COP 15/Copenhagen people were asked if this was ever going to happen. In the end Cancun showed that it is happening.
COP16 allowed for more business contributions to the negotiations and a more clear role for business in designing and accelerating the uptake of green solutions for a global transition to a low carbon economy than in previous UNFCCC negotiations. Besides seeing a Private Sector Sub-committee being created within the formal structure of the UNFCCC, at least 2 major world-class business events took place: Green Solutions and the World Climate Summit, both attended by CEOs of global leading companies, WWF, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and other government officials.
WWF played a leading role at these business events. WWF International President Yolanda Kakabadse participated at a number of panels and gave the closing address in the B4E event, WWF-US president Carter Roberts was a panel member at the Business Action for Climate 2010, Climate Savers’s Acting Head Bruce Haase moderated part of the B4E event and WWF Mexico co-organised the Green Solutions Forum with the Mexican Government, The UN Global Compact and media company Global Initiatives.
The B4E event – a sub-event of the Green Solutions Forum - concluded with a clear statement from 300 companies from 30 countries calling for a successful outcome in the Cancun climate talks, key national policy changes and concrete commitments by 5 major industry sectors (see the statement here).
On November 29th, the “Business Action for Climate 2010,” event featured Mexican President Felipe Calderón; Christina Figueres, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change; and Carter Roberts of WWF-US. Perhaps the most important aspect was the participation by key business leaders such as Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, and Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, were joined by Jim Rogers, chairman, president and CEO of Duke Energy, and José Antonio Fernández, chairman and CEO of FEMSA. The discussion was moderated by television talk show host Charlie Rose and focused on progress that the business world wanted to see from governments and on policy frameworks and financing initiatives that could provide the predictability needed to unleash private investment for building the clean economy. The collection of high-profile leaders showed that the business world is ready to move forward.
It is important to note that WWF’s Climate Savers programme was represented at the COP by ambassadors like Bryan Jacob from The Coca Cola Company and Engelina Jaspers of Hewlett Packard and the two companies played a prominent role in amplifying the Climate Savers message – CO2 reductions and business growth are complimentary (or compliment each other).
Hewlett Packard was selected by the Mexican government as the IT provider for COP 16. HP's complete portfolio of energy efficient products and services was in use during COP 16 and supported all 15,000 conference participants. HP's Visual Collaboration technology enabled the UNFCCC to remotely meet with its headquarters office in Bonn and the Netherlands government to meet with team members in The Hague who were unable to travel to COP 16. Over twenty Heads of State in addition to environmental ministers from 193 countries attended COP 16 and interacted with HP technology. Engelina Jaspers, VP of HP Environmental Sustainability also participated in several public discussions at the COP.
The active participation by HP and The Coca Cola Company helped to highlight that Climate Savers leadership makes sense for business and for the planet, and that governments need to lead us further along the path to a new era. It is now up to the U.N. climate secretariat, lead negotiators, NGOs and other Climate Savers partners to broadcast Cancun's message far and wide: the negotiations have been revitalized and the world's governments are, publicly at least, more committed than ever to building a low-carbon economy.
Matt Banks is Senior Program Officer of Business & Industry at WWF-US
At the end of the talks, UNFCCC COP16/Cancun was heralded as a success and delivered a balanced bundle of decisions -- ranging from establishment of a "Green Climate Fund" (to administer assistance to poor nations), to inscribing the commitments from the 2009 Copenhagen Accord into the formal UN documentation. Countries also agreed on the details for crediting emission reductions from forest preservation (REDD+, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
There was also a decision by the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) to offer "observer" organizations – including the businesses -- an opportunity to participate more actively in the policy development process. As a start, the business community was offered a 2-minute intervention during the High Level Segment on the final day in Cancun, and will be offered a formal engagement process at the next intercessional meeting in Bonn (June 2011).
The agreements in Mexico not only confirm that governments will continue to pursue the reduction plans set out in the Copenhagen Accord, they acknowledge that these plans are not ambitious enough and that bolder targets or additional measures will be required to close the "gigaton gap" between what has been pledged and what is needed. The direction of future negotiations is clearer than it has ever been, the international consensus is stronger than ever, and the mechanisms to deliver deep emission cuts are beginning to take shape.
Cancun also sends a clear message to businesses that there will be public sector support for leveraging private investment, which means there will be substantial opportunities for the private sector. After COP 15/Copenhagen people were asked if this was ever going to happen. In the end Cancun showed that it is happening.
COP16 allowed for more business contributions to the negotiations and a more clear role for business in designing and accelerating the uptake of green solutions for a global transition to a low carbon economy than in previous UNFCCC negotiations. Besides seeing a Private Sector Sub-committee being created within the formal structure of the UNFCCC, at least 2 major world-class business events took place: Green Solutions and the World Climate Summit, both attended by CEOs of global leading companies, WWF, Mexican President Felipe Calderón and other government officials.
WWF played a leading role at these business events. WWF International President Yolanda Kakabadse participated at a number of panels and gave the closing address in the B4E event, WWF-US president Carter Roberts was a panel member at the Business Action for Climate 2010, Climate Savers’s Acting Head Bruce Haase moderated part of the B4E event and WWF Mexico co-organised the Green Solutions Forum with the Mexican Government, The UN Global Compact and media company Global Initiatives.
The B4E event – a sub-event of the Green Solutions Forum - concluded with a clear statement from 300 companies from 30 countries calling for a successful outcome in the Cancun climate talks, key national policy changes and concrete commitments by 5 major industry sectors (see the statement here).
On November 29th, the “Business Action for Climate 2010,” event featured Mexican President Felipe Calderón; Christina Figueres, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change; and Carter Roberts of WWF-US. Perhaps the most important aspect was the participation by key business leaders such as Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, and Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, were joined by Jim Rogers, chairman, president and CEO of Duke Energy, and José Antonio Fernández, chairman and CEO of FEMSA. The discussion was moderated by television talk show host Charlie Rose and focused on progress that the business world wanted to see from governments and on policy frameworks and financing initiatives that could provide the predictability needed to unleash private investment for building the clean economy. The collection of high-profile leaders showed that the business world is ready to move forward.
It is important to note that WWF’s Climate Savers programme was represented at the COP by ambassadors like Bryan Jacob from The Coca Cola Company and Engelina Jaspers of Hewlett Packard and the two companies played a prominent role in amplifying the Climate Savers message – CO2 reductions and business growth are complimentary (or compliment each other).
Hewlett Packard was selected by the Mexican government as the IT provider for COP 16. HP's complete portfolio of energy efficient products and services was in use during COP 16 and supported all 15,000 conference participants. HP's Visual Collaboration technology enabled the UNFCCC to remotely meet with its headquarters office in Bonn and the Netherlands government to meet with team members in The Hague who were unable to travel to COP 16. Over twenty Heads of State in addition to environmental ministers from 193 countries attended COP 16 and interacted with HP technology. Engelina Jaspers, VP of HP Environmental Sustainability also participated in several public discussions at the COP.
The active participation by HP and The Coca Cola Company helped to highlight that Climate Savers leadership makes sense for business and for the planet, and that governments need to lead us further along the path to a new era. It is now up to the U.N. climate secretariat, lead negotiators, NGOs and other Climate Savers partners to broadcast Cancun's message far and wide: the negotiations have been revitalized and the world's governments are, publicly at least, more committed than ever to building a low-carbon economy.
Matt Banks is Senior Program Officer of Business & Industry at WWF-US
Cancún - México
