It is a cold wait for new arrivals at COP15 as week two begins. It has begun much as week one ended, with the need for greater urgency in reaching a compromise so that the world, business included, can get on with building the underlying infrastructure and making the right investments. It will be business innovation which will deliver the solutions to climate change and which hold the key to a successful low carbon economy.
Climate change is often viewed as a business risk, we hear from climate change skeptics that the cost to business of reducing emissions will be too big to bear, but if you look at the evidence across the whole of business, this just doesn’t stack up. The commercial opportunities in helping to solve the challenges of climate change are enormous.
Take the carbon footprint of many office-based companies. Business travel, along with energy use, are major contributors to a corporate carbon footprint. Now, the best way to cut emissions through business travel is by limiting it. Companies such as TNT have invested in travel substitution technologies and have significantly cut their business travel, cut their carbon footprint as a result and saved money.
Investment in telepresence systems, which enables videoconferencing to replace a proportion of inter-continental business flights have delivered these reductions. Companies such as AT&T have spotted how important such developments are as we transition to a low carbon economy and are now delivering telepresence solutions to companies globally that wish to reduce their business travel.
The transportation sector is also focusing on the opportunities. The auto industry is capitalizing on the increasing demand for low energy cars. The Toyota Prius, a hybrid, has flourished, backed by the slogan "The Bandwagon." Renault has pledged to deliver the next generation of low energy vehicles, the electric car, by 2012.
We are also seeing the high intensity sectors playing a major role. The energy and utilities sectors will need to transform the way we generate power and some are already investing considerable sums in developing technologies which will help companies and individuals reduce their emissions. Low energy boilers, smart grids and smart controls all enable reduced energy use.
Driving energy efficiency is one of the first key steps to reducing emissions and in order to reach the carbon reductions required to stop dangerous climate change, we will not only need to drive significant energy efficiencies globally, but also transform both our energy supply and our transportation systems. This will require new technologies and innovations, which will be created largely by industry.
Climate change represents the first ever predictable industrial revolution. The business community will play a critical role in making a success of any global deal as it develops new ideas and technologies and at COP15 we can see evidence emerging of businesses leadership and innovation. As the economic opportunities from climate change hot-up, those businesses that stay out in the cold risk being left behind.
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.