More than 175 corporations sign new statement demanding global emissions deal to limit temperature rise and build green economy
By Will Nichols
More than 175 of the world’s largest companies will today call on governments around the world to agree a “robust, equitable and effective agreement” on climate change at the Durban summit later this year.
Shell, Tesco, Kingfisher, BSkyB, Unilever, Lloyds Bank and EDF are among the businesses from 29 countries to endorse the 2˚C Challenge Communiqué launched in cities across the world by members of the Corporate Leaders’ Network for Climate Action (CLN).
FURTHER READING
•    Updated: More than 280 global investors issue fresh plea for climate action
•    Exclusive: Businesses urged to sign up to 2°C Challenge Communiqué
As BusinessGreen revealed earlier this month, the Communiqué warns that without urgent action climate change threatens to “undermine global prosperity and inflict significant social, economic and environmental costs on the world”.
It also warns that the legal basis for the world’s carbon markets will be allowed to lapse and “business will have insufficient clarity or certainty of action to invest to its full potential” in low-carbon projects if there is no international deal to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol.
The group is calling for the introduction of a global carbon price, increased funding for low-carbon technologies, an end to fossil fuel subsidies, reforms to the Clean Development Mechanism offsetting scheme and the introduction of the promised Green Climate Fund.
The CLN is also demanding action at a domestic level, arguing that “we cannot, and should not, wait for a new international treaty to be in place”. It says that more national policies and measures are required “that ultimately drive action now”.
The communiqué is backed by UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, who last week challenged businesses to step up low-carbon investments regardless of the uncertainty around international climate negotiations.
“Governments have already established a clear, collective path to a low-carbon future but the world will need to cut emissions faster in the coming years to meet the full challenge of climate change,” she said in a statement ahead of the launch of the communiqué.
“Corporate leadership that provides powerful vocal support for action gives governments the greater confidence they need to move forward a global climate change agreement that will ultimately cover the current ambition gap.”
The call comes a day after a group of 285 investors, which manage combined assets worth more than $20tr, called on the G20 countries to accelerate the development of domestic and international low-carbon policies.
However, with little progress made at the Panama summit earlier in the month, the prospect of any breakthroughs at Durban remains bleak, as Thomson Reuters Point Carbon become the latest analysts to predict a stalemate at the talks.
Stig Schjølset, head of EU carbon analysis at Point Carbon, said the US and China, the world’s largest emitters, are unlikely to be willing to commit to binding reduction targets, even if they only come into force from 2020.
This would force the EU to decide whether it can take on a second Kyoto period without a commitment from other major emitters.
“We do not expect the EU to do so, and we maintain our view that there will be no second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol,” said Schjølset in a statement. “The current deadlock on this issue will thus persist.”
The “increasingly blurry divide” between developing and industrialised countries is also causing problems, the analyst firm said, noting that the US is unwilling to accept requests for financial support from the booming economies of China, India and Brazil.
“The impasse in Durban reflects wider divisions on global negotiations more generally,” said Lisa Zelljadt, Point Carbon’s North America editor, in a statement. “For carbon markets, this stalemate means relevant policies are, and will continue to be, decided at the national and regional level, emissions trading programmes will be local, though potentially interlinked via mutually recognised offset units or even tradable allowances.”
(Source: www.businessgreen.com )