Business to go green

For me the green approach for business really makes sens. I completely agree with Ban Ki-Moon that business must invest now.

I think that the companies that will go ahead and be the leaders in being green will get a more lean business. As such they will be more competitive and others will follow. Also going green makes sens from a global point of view. Not only to save the environment but I believe that the impact of business to invest in green technology can help reshape the worlds economy and get it going again. However the ones that wont go green they probably will keep on going on the downward spiral.



"Ban Ki-Moon and Al Gore call on executives to take an active role in helping save the climate

More than 700 business leaders from around the world gathered in Copenhagen yesterday for the start of a three-day climate conference looking at the influence and effect of business on climate.

UN Secretary-General UN Ban Ki-Moon and former US Vice President Al Gore were in attendance at the conference and gave impassioned speeches about the need for action to the assembled delegates at the Bella Center venue.

In the process of organising the event, the Copenhagen Climate Council did its utmost to ensure that it was as climate friendly as possible, by using fuel-efficient cars to ferry the VIP guests to the venue, offsetting the carbon emission of delegates that flew with SAS and recycling 70 percent of waste from the event.

The summit is seen as an important prelude to the UN Climate Conference being held in the same venue in December where a successive agreement to the Kyoto Protocol is hoped to be reached.

In his speech, Ki-Moon highlighted the importance of taking action now, despite a global recession.

‘What we cannot afford is more short-sighted approaches,’ he said. ‘If we have learned anything from the financial crisis, it is that we must put an end to unethical and irresponsible behaviour and the tyrannical demand for short-term profit.’

Ki-Moon called for market incentives to promote long-term investment in clean energy and for the delegates to lobby their governments to ‘seal the deal’.

Gore made a welcome return to Denmark and urged delegates to act now, ‘because mother nature doesn’t do bailouts’.

Gore linked the three crises facing global industry – the climate, economic and energy security – to the ‘absurd overdependence on carbon based fuels’, and said that while the US has lagged behind in the clean energy sector he believed the latest landmark bill would pass.

The clean energy bill currently before the US Congress aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2020 in addition to creating jobs.

The World Business Summit on Climate Change was also attended by the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri. Speaking to The Copenhagen Post, Pachauri praised the efforts of Danish business in setting an example others can follow.

‘If you look at renewable energy technology, this country has really been ahead of so many others. The fact that they brought about a radical shift in the mix of energy supply in less than three years is a remarkable achievement,’ said Pachauri, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 on behalf of the IPCC.

Pachauri echoed the words of his fellow Nobel Prize winner Gore, when he said that the business community is not acting fast enough to stop the devastating effects of climate change and can benefit from becoming involved.

‘Unless they take action, the bottom line is also going to be affected and this is what I will convey to them,’ said Pachauri. ‘You’re not doing this as charity, you’re not doing this as corporate social responsibility, you’re really doing as part of your own business interests.’

The Copenhagen Post"
source: demark.dk