Businesses leaders met in Denmark yesterday to try to unite behind a call for long-term climate policies on oil, power and technology ahead of a UN conference in December that aims to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Many companies want clearer carbon emissions rules to plan investments around the world and capitalize on green technology. Some shareholders also want more climate-friendly business.
“We need a global decision” in December, said Philippe Joubert, president of Alstom Power, the electricity generation arm of the French firm that makes components for coal, gas and renewable energy power plants.
“We have to address the Chinese, Russian, US, the German markets all together,” he said.
The meeting of business leaders was expected to call for a clear, long-term price on carbon emissions. Companies reliant on fossil fuels may lose out from measures to boost low-carbon alternatives and want to be prepared.
Not all businesses believe that fighting climate change meant higher costs, organizers said.
“You hear people saying, ‘Oh, we can’t agree, it will be bad for our business.’ Well, here is a business voice that doesn’t think so,” said Tim Flannery, an Australian scientist and chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, among organizers of the talks to be addressed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December aims to agree on a treaty for after 2012 when the terms of the Kyoto Protocol expire.
Environment experts and lobbyists say “green” spending can help rebuild a leaner economy run on wind and solar power and avoid a climate crisis even worse then the current financial crisis.
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