Obama summed up the conclusion of the Copenhagen summit when he said "we have much further to go."
 
The final accord leaves business in a state of ambiguity. With no agreement on emissions cuts it has failed to deliver the certainty required to stimulate the level of investment we need to see in low carbon solutions. It has also not guaranteed the future of carbon markets.

This is not the clear direction that business hoped for.

What's more, business leaders were unhappy at being excluded from the negotiations. Lest we forget, it is private sector investment that will provide a significant proportion of the investment needed to drive us to a low-carbon economy. The accord states that developing countries will receive $100 billion by 2020 but while it does not provide any detail on how, it does reference a wide variety of sources including the private sector.

If business is expected to take significant action, make considerable investment and move us towards the solutions to tackling dangerous climate change then they need to be given greater inclusion.

The accord references the establishment of a high-level panel to study the contribution of potential sources of revenue. Lending a business voice to this panel would be a good place to start.

But there is good news too. While the agreement has unclear legal status, it's clear that we have just witnessed the birth of a new era in international climate change politics. For the first time it brings key countries in to the process who were, only a few years ago, inactive in this area. And while the accord is weak, the targets and financial contributions are certainly more ambitious than what was agreed at Kyoto.
 
The negotiations at Copenhagen have reached public awareness like no others before and, importantly, this agreement is not an end but a beginning. During 2010 we can expect to see a great deal of international government activity which aims to make sense of it and build on it.

Let's not forget the role that business will play in driving action. We are already witnessing business innovation and seeing leadership begin to emerge. Let us now hope that the political challenges that we have seen can be overcome during the coming year, so that a framework can be set which will enable business to move forwards and invest in a low-carbon society.

However things progress in 2010, it is clear that business needs to be a part of the process moving forward and, whatever the outcome, it is business that will be critical to making any agreement a success.


Paul Dickinson is the chief executive officer at the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Click here for full coverage of COP15 from the GreenBiz.com and ClimateBiz.com teams, including posts from Copenhagen by Executive Editor Joel Makower and Senior Contributor Marc Gunther, and from dozens of guest contributors from the business world.

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