Representatives from leading companies, such as Wal-Mart, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Hewlett Packard, Volvo Group and Siemens, attended the two-day Business for the Environment Summit organized by the United Nations in preparation for the climate change conference in Cancun in November.
They agreed that entrepreneurial action against climate change can be critical in stimulating worldwide economic recovery, initiating employment and creating more sustainable and resilient low-carbon societies.
«While governments hold the key to setting the right signals and incentives, it is business that provides the solutions we need,» said Georg Kell, executive director of the United Nations Global Compact.
During the summit, energy companies targeted to attain 100 percent renewable energy production by 2050. Meanwhile, information and communications technology companies agreed to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 7.6 gigatons by 2020.
The building sector also pledged to reduce emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and raise the energy efficiency of existing buildings by 40 percent.
However, business leaders acknowledged that establishing global policy and strong national legal frameworks are also essential to avoid a major climate crisis.
Governments must promote international negotiations in order to secure a favorable outcome at the Cancun climate talks, the representatives stressed. Additionally, ensuring a level playing field will spur green entrepreneurship across industry sectors to allow them to meet their respective sustainability goals.
In light of these concerns, business leaders listed national policy proposals that will help countries transition toward a low-carbon economy. These include creating financial mechanisms to offset initial costs and reallocate total costs throughout the life cycle of buildings; eliminating fossil fuel subsidies; providing soft loans to climate solutions; and promoting innovations such as smart grids and feed-in tariffs.
“We should all recognize that international negotiations on climate are not moving at the pace needed,” noted James Leape, director general of World Wide Fund-International
“This business summit, held immediately before Cancun, should stimulate all governments to act in order to unleash business potential to transform our economies», he added.
