Business leaders call for climate policies that are long, loud and legal

More than 70 CEOs signed the Copenhagen Call, which asks governments to provide a framework to help business become part of the climate change solution

Steve Howard
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 May 2009 18.08 BST

The mood at the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen was framed by Ban Ki-moon's bold opening address. The UN secretary general said that the smart money was backing a low-carbon economy and described the world's high-carbon infrastructure a "toxic asset that threatens the entire portfolio of global goods".
In December, Copenhagen will host arguably the most important meeting of our time – the negotiation of a post-Kyoto deal on climate change. If successful, this deal will lock the world into emissions reductions of around 80%.
With around 200 days to go , business everywhere is waking up to the fact that the future will be green. Last month, Todd Stern, US special envoy on climate change at the US state department, said "high carbon goods and services will become untenable" as the world negotiates a new agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Such political rhetoric from around the world suggests a low-carbon economy will increasingly favour low-carbon players whether they are companies, cities, states or nations. At a time when global capital is in short supply and global politics is beginning to line up for a new global deal, businesses who continue to pursue high-carbon strategies will be risking their investments as well as the climate.
In a joint statement formally presented to the Danish prime minster and the executive secretary of the UN on Tuesday, more than 70 CEOs at the summit sent a clear message to the world's political leaders. They not only want "an ambitious and effective" global climate deal but that they are united and ready to be part of the solution.
Around the world, business leaders gearing up for the low-carbon economy not only understand the moral imperative of reducing emissions but the long-term economic benefits of such action. Their leadership will not only generate first-mover advantage but serve to drive transformative action across the wider business community.
Often part of the climate problem, business needs to become the solution and remains our primary lever to cut global emissions. However, to do this it needs strong practical policies that will create long-term certainty and a level playing field on which to base low-carbon strategies and to unlock billions of investment in low-carbon growth.
The "Copenhagen Call" asks governments to set out:
• A timeline of emissions reductions targets;
• Standards and regulation for energy efficiency;
• A standardised method for companies to report on their low-carbon progress;
• Economic incentives to drive the development, financing and deployment of low-carbon technology;
• Rapid scale-up of carbon markets;
• Immediate action to protect forests and a fund for adaptation.
Effective policy cannot be created in a vacuum and vigorous stakeholder consultation over the coming months and years will be vital. Evidence of this has been shown by members of the Aviation Global Deal (AGD) Group, representing those airlines quick to see the economic risks of patchwork environmental legislation and who have been calling for international aviation emissions to be included in a global policy framework.
On Sunday, Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive of International Air Transport Association (IATA), announced new support for a proposal broadly based on principles the AGD Group have been advocating. He went one further, announcing his hopes for the aviation sector to be the first industry sector to achieve zero-carbon growth. Such ambition demonstrates the positive impact progressive business coalitions can have in environmental policy development across their sectors.
Power, finance and technology sectors are other major examples of industry sectors that can rapidly change the game in terms of the global response to climate change. They can have a significant impact on bringing down global emissions that goes way beyond cutting their own carbon footprints. With the right policies in place, transformative industry sectors like these can bridge the gap to a low-carbon economy.

Much is at stake and, in the run-up to UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December and beyond, business will need to work closely with government to create effective and practical rules and regulations that can help unlock the low-carbon investments and guarantee the world's long-term economic prosperity.
The next few months of negotiation require government and business leadership on climate change to be both united and bold. But the "Copenhagen Call" indicates that if the world's politicians can demonstrate the will for a prosperous low-carbon economy, then a growing number of the world's business leaders are uniting to show them the way.
• Steve Howard is the chief executive of the Climate Group and chairs the World Economic Forum's global agenda council on climate change