Business airs policy vacuum fears

A group of 99 companies is calling on world leaders ahead of the Japanese G8 Summit later this month to speed up the delivery of a global carbon market.

The companies, including BA, EDF, Deutsche Bank and Shell, have compiled a report on ways to tackle climate change while also helping the failing global economy. The recommendations were given to Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, to be implemented after the Kyoto Protocol which is due to end in 2012.

The report, CEO Climate Policy Recommendations, argues that cutting emissions must carry economic advantages through the introduction of a global carbon market.

Willie Walsh, CEO of BA, said: “Businesses can’t operate in a policy vacuum ­ we need strong leadership from governments”.

The report listed these among others as recommendations:
• All major economies, including developing ones should be included in the post-Kyoto deal, with richer countries committing to deeper and earlier emissions reduction;
• Governments should aspire to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;
• Governments and businesses should urgently explore bottom-up approaches to reducing emissions;
• A global carbon trading system should be established as soon as possible; and
• Emissions caps should be applied flexibly across industry, with some sectors allowed leeway to preserve competitiveness.

Walsh added: “It’s important that the business community demonstrates a desire to work with governments to tackle the challenge that climate change represents.”

The recommendations are based on a year’s worth of discussions facilitated by the World Economic Forum and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Useful links
To read the report, go to www.weforum.org and click on climate change under initiatives.

To watch the discussions on the report, go to http://technorati.com/videos and search for CEO climate recommendations.