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Climate Deal May Need Company Lobbying, Figueres Says (Update1)
2010-09-20 19:17:53.80 GMT
(Adds Soros comment in eighth paragraph.)
By Jim Efstathiou Jr.
Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Success at climate-change talks in
Mexico may depend on companies such as Siemens AG and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. prodding governments into action, said Christiana
Figueres, the United Nations climate chief.
Companies should lobby governments to recognize the
business opportunities that arise from curbing global warming,
Figueres today told a group that tracks carbon emissions by the
world's largest companies. Helping developing countries deliver
more energy with fewer warming gases represents a "huge
opportunity," she said at a conference in New York.
Figueres will lead UN climate talks in Cancun that begin in
November to advance negotiations that stalled last year in
Copenhagen. The U.S. Senate this year failed to act on House-
passed legislation to slow the growth of carbon dioxide
emissions, casting doubt on prospects for the Cancun meetings.
"Business needs to make the government representatives
understand that this could be to their advantage," Figueres
said. "Government will be bolder if they are told that they can
do so by investors and businesses."
Figueres spoke at the presentation of a report from the
Carbon Disclosure Project, a group backed by 534 institutional
investors with more than $64 trillion in assets under management
that tracks emissions by companies. In an annual survey of 500
of the world's largest public companies, almost 90 percent of
those responding identified "significant opportunities" from
climate change, up from 80 percent last year.
Costs, Security
"That is about energy costs, security of energy supply,
the cost of carbon, brand reputation and employee
expectations," said Paul Dickinson, chief executive officer of
the London-based Carbon Disclosure Project. "It's about
competitive positioning, investor requests and expectations."
Billionaire investor George Soros said debate about
tackling global warming is being overtaken by damage occurring
from climate change and practical action is needed. Soros, 80,
has said he will invest $1 billion in clean-energy technology
and donate $100 million to an environmental policy group to aid
new regulations.
"The gap between what needs to be done and what's actually
happening is getting wider," Soros, founder of Soros Fund
Management LLC that oversees about $25 billion in assets, said
today at a New York panel discussion on climate change.
Wal-Mart's Goal
Matt Kistler, senior vice president for marketing at
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest
retailer, said at the conference that his company's goal is to
use only renewable energy in its stores.
Wal-Mart today announced it will install solar energy
systems to generate power at 20 to 30 sites in California and
Arizona. Wal-Mart buys wind power generated in Texas and Mexico
and is testing geothermal power systems in Canada, according to
a statement.
"The technology to solve our climate problem is here,"
said Barbara Kux, who is responsible for supply-chain management
at Munich-based Siemens, Europe's largest engineering company.
"We just have to use it."
Climate talks in Copenhagen failed to produce an agreement
binding industrial nations to limits on carbon emissions from
power plants and factories. The conference produced an accord in
which nations pledged to limit the increase in average global
temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial times, and to provide financial
aid to help poorer nations curb emissions.
Cancun Talks
Talks in Cancun may produce agreement on how to "capture"
government promises to lower emissions, Figueres said.
"I have heard in business circles that the climate change
conference in Copenhagen was a disappointment because it did not
yield the policy clarity that had been hoped for," Figueres
said. "Governments are frankly still working that out."
While there is no chance the U.S. delegation will arrive at
Cancun with domestic legislation to curb greenhouse gases,
Figueres said it was "heartening" the U.S. is seeking to
control emissions though the Environmental Protection Agency.
"It is completely impossible to conceive that the United
States would not participate in an active way," Figueres said.
"The United States must be at the table and they must be at the
table in a way that is commensurate with their past and present
responsibilities on this issue."
Figueres, a member of Costa Rica's climate negotiating team
since 1995, was named in May to lead the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change. She succeeded Yvo De Boer, who announced his
resignation in February.
For Related News and Information:
Top environmental stories: TOP ENV <GO>
Carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
News about the EPA: NI EPA <GO>
--With assistance from Kim Chipman in New York. Editors: Steve
Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at +1-212-617-1647 or
jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net.
