by Rebecca Walker — May 29, 2009—Business leaders from around the world issued a manifesto advocating an international climate change treaty that will offer certainty, jump start investment and help rev up the ailing global economy.
The group issued “The Copenhagen Call” on the last day of the World Business Summit on Climate Change, an event exploring how a future treaty can be crafted to encourage business action.
“Business wants a global deal on climate change that is long, loud and legal: Climate policy must create clear long-term certainty on incentives, targets and time lines for unleashing the private sector strategies and investments needed to make a low-carbon economy possible,” Steve Howard, The Climate Group’s CEO, said in a statement.
On Sunday, Al Gore and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon challenged attendees to push governments to reach an agreement on cutting emissions.
“We have to do it this year. Not next year. This year,” Gore said. “The clock is ticking, because Mother Nature does not do bailouts.”
Ban encouraged businesses to adopt “The Copenhagen Call,” which includes six tenets vital to a climate change treaty that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol, such as establishing a pathway to reach GHG reduction targets in 2020 and 2050 that will limit temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius or less. The statement supports global emissions reductions of at least 50 percent by 2050.
The Copenhagen Call, which was presented by the Copenhagen Climate Council, a group formed to raise awareness of the December climate treaty talks, also advocates unified emissions measurement, reporting and verification standards that will lead to mandatory reporting. It wants financial incentives to help finance low-carbon technologies, such as the harmonization of national and regional carbon markets and using public funds to spur private investment.
