"A Journey of a thousand miles, takes one step"
Part 1
I recently had the opportunity to meet with sustainability leaders, government officials and nonprofit organizations to talk about the roadmap to move us towards a low-carbon economy. Cambridge University along with the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change invited leaders and organizations around the world to participate in a climate change event called Deal or No Deal? It was inspirational and daunting but one theme resonated, everyone is passionate and wants to see a solution moving forward. Businesses need certainty and a framework or global policy to manage and operate their companies. The various legislative programs that vary by country and jurisdictions are confusing and could slow down the progress towards the global goal to reduce emissions. The question was how can businesses make a difference and partner with government and nonprofit groups to develop a global framework that will lead to a low carbon economy? Partnership is the key word that resonated over and over again and that we need a deal or agreement. The question was what happened in Copenhagen? Although it was disappointing the consensus is that some very important "Firsts" did come out of the event.
- It was the first time that 120 countries around the world focused on climate policy and tried to get to an agreement and by the end of 2009 almost all of the industrial countries had put in carbon emission reduction targets.
- There was an agreement to keep global warming to 2 degree centigrade.
- A fund of $100 billion was outlined for developing countries to adapt and mitigate against global warming effects and a $30 billion fast start program was outlined to begin almost immediately.
It was probably unrealistic to think that on the first try we would be able to get to a global agreement but as they say the first step in reaching an agreement is to reach understanding and talk about the problems and potential solutions. Cancun is the next meeting and then on to Brazil and with each meeting we will evolve and the journey will continue to bring us closer and closer towards the solution. This will be an evolution and not a revolution and the hope is that we have enough time to impact the climate. The hope is that constant incremental action today will help us to move forward step by step and brick by brick.
Most of the business leaders noted that companies are not waiting. They are already implementing "the low hanging fruit" such as energy efficiency programs that reduce cost. I noted that we need financial tools and government incentives that align with corporate growth plans to help businesses move faster towards a green economy. Further everyone agreed that the economic and financial crisis of the banking industry and the European economy has dampened the focus on climate change and policy. Also "climate gate" and credibility of the scientific community has been questioned which in turn raises questions about how to educate and market climate change to consumers. The engine or platform to transform and rebuild the economy should be based on a new Green engine and infrastructure that delivers sustainable ongoing growth. Another suggestion by a historian and policy analyst named Doctor Szreter of Cambridge was that on a much smaller scale in England during the 1600-1900's, they had to deal with pollution and contaminated water from their factories that was negatively impacting their population growth, particularly young children, and eventually their economy. The road forward was through them linking government and private sector towards "social capitalism" or developing solutions such as sewers and other financially innovative tools to fund the development of environmental infrastructure that helped to solve their problems. There was civic pride and the people who worked in government were successful business leaders and people with much needed expertise. The result was that England was able to rebound and grow. Another interesting thing he noted was that the cities promoted these programs across the country by having healthy competitions and league tables where they published the results. He asked what would happen if we published the results of countries on an ongoing basis and began to have healthy competition about emission reduction goals and increased clean technology usage? This is the first in a 3 part series and I will continue to share with you as we move forward. Keeping the Faith in Green.
Leave a comment