A first-hand account on last week's Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, from M Institute co-founder Paul Druckman, who is also chair of the Accounting for Sustainability Group led by the Prince of Wales.
My main recollections from the 2009 World Business Summit on Climate Change coalesce around a few key themes: engagement from the great and good; the Copenhagen Call; an immersion in USA-centric Americans; a lost opportunity to engage with the delegates; but a great initiative that should be applauded and advocated.
The summit opened with Al Gore delivering a performance that we have come to expect, but he did hit the spot, in my view. His perspective is that business can only operate on the rules constructed by the world’s politicians, who need to reward good corporate behaviour by accounting for externalities. A great quote from his session: “Mother Nature does not do bail outs.”
Throughout the summit the focus was on China and the USA because they have such dominant markets but also because they are the new dimension to these talks compared to Kyoto, with both governments becoming major forces for change.
The aviation session left me cold, I am afraid, mostly because of their goal to have “carbon neutral growth” – notice the word growth in that statement. They just have not got it.
For me, the key speech in the politicians' session was from the Chinese Minister who gave a stern warning to the developed world to maintain the “principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.” His main position was that current negotiations have still not reached substantial progress, because of some countries trying to change this fundamental principle and others setting new processes in train, which the Chinese are very concerned about. EU President Barosso responded later in the conference by saying that climate negotiations for COP15 are tough, but the USA is a really positive contributor this time around.
The Canadian Environmental Minister did make points not raised elsewhere about green protectionism, especially in the USA, but then blotted his copybook in my view with the unequivocal statement that “the challenge before us is all about technology." Harish Hande, of SELCLO-India, a social entrepreneur, really challenged the mindset later in the conference, with his repeated plea to the world business leaders for business to be more focussed on consumer, rather than wants. He created a dimension in the behavioural change aspects that I did not hear at all from others, much less expect in a dinner conversation around the table.
The Business action session was entertained by the contribution from Shai Agassi, once the darling of German software giant SAP and now at the sharp end of technology change with his fledgling electric car company. A great quote from Shai: "the one thing we can’t say to God is that we got the carbon pricing wrong." Shai, though, did bring some more reality to the proceedings by referring to behavioural change in stating that “this is not Google or the iPod which creates a new market. This is changing the economies and the businesses – get the incentives right.”
David Blood from Al Gore’s Generation investment vehicle couldn't understand why investors in the major capital markets continue to invest in high-carbon companies - instead, he points to low carbon businesses as the future.
I was looking forward to the communications session and was poised with my laptop keyboard to gather some words of wisdom. Let me say I was somewhat underwhelmed, only absorbing that new media is important and that perhaps people do not respond to fear but to disgust.
The closing session brought attention to the need to be quick, and on a global scale. Of the developed world, Australia has seen the effects of climate change at first hand and has it as a current imperative. For other developed countries, it is a message of potential problems rather than having to deal to current disaster - getting the right kind of attention is a challenge, as a result. The Copenhagen Call was the finale, important but unfortunately not done with style or any expertise.
