Global business leaders issue call for climate treaty

World business leaders assembled in Denmark today presented “The Copenhagen Call” urging adoption of an “ambitious and effective global climate treaty” at this December’s international climate talks in Copenhagen.

The call was released at the end of the World Business Summit on Climate Change.

“Sustainable economic progress requires stabilising and then reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the call states. “Success at COP 15 (December’s talks) will remove uncertainty, unleash additional investment and bolster current efforts  to revive growth in a sustainable way. By addressing the magnitude of the climate threat with urgency, a powerful global climate change  treaty would help establish a firm foundation for a sustainable economic future. This would set a more predictable framework for companies to plan and invest, provide a stimulus for renewed prosperity and a more secure climate system.”

The call continues, “Economic recovery and urgent action to tackle climate change are  complementary — boosting the economy and jobs through investment in the new infrastructure needed to reduce emissions. Business is at its best when innovating to achieve a goal and the goal of reducing greenhouse gas  emissions is vital to our common social, economic and environmental future.”

Summit attendees called for:

• Agreement on a science-based greenhouse gas stabilization path with 2020 and 2050 emissions reduction targets;
• Effective measurement, reporting and verification of emissions;
• Incentives for a dramatic increase in financing low-emissions technologies;
• Deployment of existing low-emissions technologies and the development of new ones;
• Funds to make communities more resilient and able to adapt to the effects of climate change; and
• Innovative means to protect forests and balance the carbon cycle.

“We believe these elements should form the core of the international climate change treaty agreed at Copenhagen,” the call states. “As business leaders we stand ready to innovate and operate within the framework established through that treaty and national policies. Reducing the emissions that until now have been so linked to our economic growth and betterment will  be an enormous, unprecedented global challenge but will also provide significant opportunities for  sustainable growth, development and innovation. Acting together, we owe it to future generations to  meet this challenge. Now is the time to create the foundations for long-term, low-carbon prosperity. We are willing to work with government to do so.”