For many of you, the issue of climate change and global warming will not be new. It is widely accepted by scientists and leading minds around the world, that our climate is radically changing and that we, humans, are primarily to blame.Greenhouse gasses and CO2 emissions are damaging our atmosphere, choking plants and animals and slowly raising the temperature of our planet. In addition, we have a finite amount of resources which we seem intent on consuming as if they were limitless.
However,despite painting a stark picture of the situation we find ourselves in, all is not lost. Governments around the world are becoming more and more aware of the plight of the planet and making difficult decisions today to preserve the world for future generations. Companies are becoming increasingly aware and concerned with their ‘Green Footprint’; how much impact their existence has on the planet. Oil giants are investing more and more time and money into looking forways we can overcome our insatiable hunger for fossil fuels which are set to run out in our children’s lifetime.
The UN held climate change talks in Copenhagen (COP15), in December 09, which was attended by a number of world leaders including US President Obama. The goal was to unite developing and developed countries in their quest for climate change,specifically by discussing and agreeing carbon emissions reductions targets.
On the surface, this seems like a simple goal but unfortunately we, in the western world, have all become addicted to energy and weaning us off of our need proves increasingly difficult. Take the US for example, which consumed 21% of the total yearly consumption of oil in 2007 and is well known to have a thirst for gasoline. However, even in these stark figures, there is positive change inmotion. Compare the 21% consumption figure in 2007 to the fact that in 2004,the US consumed 24% and you can see that even consumers such as the US aremaking positive steps to curb their demand. And incidentally, 3% ofapproximately 30 billion barrels is still a whole lot of oil that’s been saved.
The resulting Copenhagen Accord, despite not being the legally binding treaty which weexpected could supersede the Kyoto Protocol, is a framework for future UNClimate Change negotiations and national policies on climate change adaptation and mitigation. Overall, we’re optimistic about the achievements of the recent Copenhagen Climate ChangeSummit because what we do have as a result of the talks are commitments to:
- increase climate funds from $10bn to $100 billion
- limit increases in global temperatures to 2 degrees centigrade
- make deep cuts in GHG emissions (although the accord contains no country-specific, legally-binding targets for future GHG emissions reductions, we did get initial nods towards making a positive change in terms of reducing carbon emissions from important countries like China, India and the US - countries that had not previously made such commitments - ahead of the summit)
- devote senior-level time and energy to the issue from the various heads of state
- create a Technology Mechanism designed to accelerate the development and transfer of technologies to reduce GHG emissions and to help developing countries with their climate change adaptation efforts (although we await more details on this from the UN’s working groups)
So where does that leave us? The thing to watch out for now is whether or not the accord becomes something that is legally binding.Then, we can start pushing for a clearer legislation around climate change/carbon emissions reductions for business and the technology tools thatcan be used to facilitate this. We choose to believe that with the right resolve and funding invested in new technologies and manufacturing techniques that reduce emissions and energy consumption rather than add to them, we stillhave time to make things right.
Read the complete post at http://www.1e.com/bizblog/post/2010/02/11/The-Great-Green-Hope.aspx