Bruno Berthon

Targeted public investments in infrastructure projects could bridge the funding gap in sustainable investments.

The summit showed how the confluence of an economic crisis and feckless negotations are making it harder for governments to commit to sustainability. But business still has a role.

Among the many gracious, insightful and charismatic leaders among the South African hosts of the latest UN climate summit, perhaps none has made a bigger impression than Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the president of COP17.

The still-unproven carbon capture and storage technology is one of the most controversial topics among the business community at COP17. Will the ability to sequester emissions from fossil fuels save us, or doom us to rapid climate change?

Every COP gives us a chance to recognize key figures in the climate change debate. The Cancun climate change negotiations are no different, but many of the key players have changed since Copenhagen, and there is a stronger representation from emerging markets.

Cities are the place where so much of the climate change solution lies, which is why mayors are making their voices heard at the Cancun climate summit. They are committed to finding sustainable solutions and keen to criticize national governments for not helping them to succeed by continuing, for example, to subsidize fossil fuels.

Although the overall scene in Denmark was somewhat subdued as everyone reflected on the first week of negotiations, a panel highlighting business solutions to climate change yielded a sense of a different kind of progress.

The Copenhagen climate change conference is already a milestone for putting the issue on the map for nearly 200 world leaders, but it has the potential to become a historic moment if they can find enough common ground and secure these five elements needed to launch a low carbon future.