Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
43
Agenda
What could trigger such a drive? Climate impacts are already
affecting just about every country on the planet, and the costs
of dealing with the havoc they create are rising. For example,
the United States spent $136 billion in two years on natural
disaster relief – a spike resulting from weather impacted by
climate change – yet action continues to fall far behind what
is needed. To deliver a safe climate, we need to keep warming
below 1.5 degrees Celsius and global emissions must peak by
2015
and decline every year after that until they fall 80 percent
below that level by 2050. While pockets of extremely enthusi-
astic climate activists are pushing for society to embrace this
goal and youth are struggling to have their concerns about their
future on this planet heard, business leaders – whose voices
are influential – remain largely silent. Businesses signing up
to such a goal – individually and collectively through the UN
Global Compact – and that are encouraging governments to
do the same will make a huge difference in the momentum
toward a safe climate.
Establishing strong domestic emission-reduction targets and
putting in place policies to meet global goals are the best
ways to drive the innovation we require to achieve this goal.
The countries that have driven action with targets that are
supported by strong climate policies are the ones that have
already benefitted from the new green economy. Since 2004,
investments in Germany’s clean energy sector have grown
by 122 percent, creating an industry that supports more
than 380,000 jobs. By driving down the price of electricity,
wind and solar have made Germany an attractive location
for energy-intensive industries – cementing their position
as a manufacturing powerhouse. Through policies to support
the solar industry, China has created the world’s largest solar
industry in less than a decade. A recent adjustment of these
policies to support feed-in tariffs will see China’s solar industry
consolidate and continue to grow. European states that are
otherwise in the midst of an economic crisis, like Spain and
Italy, have built solid renewable industries that are employ-
ing people. These new, green industries are likely to be the
best route out of the Mediterranean’s economic malaise. By
championing the implementation of the policies required to
make these changes happen, businesses play a key role, such
as supporting strong emissions-reduction and renewable-
energy targets as well as mechanisms that price carbon fairly.
Businesses thrive on certainty, and an international agreement
can help provide this certainty. An international agreement
Climate Change
Society, including business, works best when we jointly accept a challenge. One only needs
to think of the huge strides that governments and businesses – supported by the public –
made once nations had set themselves the task of landing a man on the moon. At the
beginning of the “space race,” it was not even clear that this technological challenge could
be met. Preventing catastrophic climate change will require a similar approach. Only when
every facet of society – including government and business – sets the collective goal of
ensuring our children inherit a safe planet will there be nothing to stop us.
By Julie-Anne Richards