(Geneva, 6 July 2007)
– The chief executives of 153 companies
worldwide have committed to speeding up
action on climate change and called on governments
to agree as soon as possible on measures
to secure workable and inclusive climate
market mechanisms post 2012, when the Kyoto
Protocol expires.
The call was made in a business leaders
statement issued at the UN Global Compact
Leaders Summit convened by UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki Moon on 5-6 July in Geneva. The statement,
called "Caring for Climate: The Business
Leadership Platform", provides a global
call from business leaders, many of them
attending the Leaders Summit. The UN Global
Compact, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
facilitated its development.
Signatories to the statement, including
30 from the Fortune Global 500, commit their
companies to "taking practical actions
to increase the efficiency of energy usage
and to reduce the carbon burden of products,
services and processes, to set voluntary
targets for doing so, and to report publicly
on the achievement of those targets annually".
They also commit to dealing with the climate
issue strategically and to building relevant
capacity. They undertake to work collaboratively
with other enterprises on a sector basis
and along their global supply chains, promoting
recognized standards and taking joint initiatives
to reduce climate risks.
According to the statement, business leaders
expect from government the "urgent
creation, in close consultation with the
business community and civil society, of
comprehensive, long-term and effective legislative
and fiscal frameworks designed to make markets
work for the climate, in particular policies
and mechanisms intended to create a stable
price for carbon".
" 'Caring for Climate: The Business
Leadership Platform' is a unique and significant
business initiative, as it is both a call
to Governments and a commitment to action
by business itself, coupled with an undertaking
to communicate progress annually,"
said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the
UN Global Compact.
Welcoming the statement, UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner, said: "Climate
change is shaping global markets and global
consumer attitudes. There will be winners
and losers. Companies who seize the opportunities,
who adopt environmental, social and governance
policies and who evolve, innovate and respond
to these challenges are likely to be the
pioneers and industry leaders of the 21st
century".
"Currently, a plethora of initiatives
are underway across public and private sectors.
Leadership on climate change requires us
to all work to combine these strands and
weave together these threads in order to
maximize international efforts towards a
low carbon economy," he said.
WBCSD President Bjorn Stigson commented:
"We do possess realistic options for
solutions. These include technologies that
can create a more resource-efficient economy
and can eliminate the waste from resource
use, such as carbon capture and storage."
He also said that we already possess the
tools to implement the solutions, referring
to "regulations, efficiency standards
for products and processes, taxes and fees
that influence the prices of resources,
goods and services… all of which can involve
voluntary actions by business and citizens
alike."
The climate statement concludes with an
invitation to the UN Global Compact to promote
the public disclosure of actions taken its
signatories and, in cooperation with UNEP
and the WBCSD, to communicate on this on
a regular basis, starting in July 2008.
Also at the Leaders Summit, the UN Global
Compact, UNEP and WBCSD jointly launched
"Caring for Climate: Tomorrow's Leadership
Today", which provides a collection
of case studies of good practices by companies
taking climate action.
