Bonn,
Germany: WWF urges delegates at the ongoing
UN climate talks in Bonn to find ways to
support a new class of climate entrepreneurs
as the main drivers for a future low carbon
economy.
New research by the
global conservation organization shows that
innovative technologies available today
can result in emission cuts of hundreds
of millions of tons through rapid growth.
The two new WWF reports
– including 17 case studies from developed
economies such as Sweden and emerging markets
such as India - show what works and what
doesn’t in bringing the power of innovation
to bear on the need to rapidly face the
challenge of climate change.
“There is immense potential
for both climate and business success in
technology innovations coming forward –
what we need to do is to remove obstacles
to successful commercialization and wide
diffusion that innovative entrepreneurs
and companies are faced with,” said Stefan
Henningsson, Director of the Climate Change
Programme at WWF Sweden.
New ways of bringing
natural light into large buildings developed
8 years ago by a Swedish construction consultant
in collaboration with an innovator could
save an estimated 220 million tons of CO2
equivalent in emissions per year, as well
as delivering huge savings in electricity
bills.
In another example,
systems for large-scale production and distribution
of district cooling, developed by one Swedish
innovator, are more efficient than traditional
cooling technology. A 25% expansion in the
share of district cooling on the European
cooling market alone would cut CO2 emissions
by up to 50 million tons each year.
In India, a company
setting out to provide LED-based solar powered
lighting to the rural poor is tackling sustainable
and climate friendly development on two
fronts. This and other examples show how
sustainable business and social entrepreneurship
can shape future economic growth.
“The Indian companies
featured in the WWF report reflect the incredible
potential that lie in the alignment of sustainable
development needs and business value in
developing countries – and the global solutions
they can provide,” said Henningsson.
The Swedish case studies
also identified the major obstacle to the
development and deployment of promising
new technologies at scale: continued high
levels of direct and indirect support for
incremental improvement of existing outmoded
production methods in larger companies.
“In planning policy
and public investment there is a tendency
to consult mainly with the big players in
business and industry who generally favour
traditional solutions,” said Henningsson.
“But often traditional solutions and improving
old methods simply are not good enough to
ensure the market transformations and emission
reductions we need.
“Even systems which
don’t discriminate against new ideas are
insufficient. Let’s embrace systems that
actively seek them out.”
While a co-ordinated
focus at high government levels on facing
the climate change challenge would be a
welcome first step to improve the environment
for innovations, WWF is also proposing the
creation of “one stop shops” for climate
entrepreneurs, where outstanding ideas could
be linked to public and private resources
for research, financing, commercialization
and export.
At the international
level, WWF is calling for Technology Action
Programmes to be established under the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
to speed up the development and demonstration
of new technologies and the better diffusion
of existing sustainable technologies.
“Majority of the ideas
are already out there and some of these
come from developing countries and others
from industrialised countries. “What we
lack are sufficiently efficient ways of
moving from ideas to working solutions past
the gaps and rigidities in our systems.”
+ More
Empire State to be Empire
Statement
The Empire State Building
in New York is to join a long list of international
landmarks to turn off lights during WWF’s
Earth Hour tomorrow night to make a statement
on the need for effective action on climate
change.
The 102 storey building,
renowned as the world’s tallest building
from its completion in 1931 until 1972,
is to be joined by several of its successors
in the role as thousands of global monuments
dating from the time of the Pyramids make
what has been termed “a vote for earth”.
Hundreds of millions
of people from more than 2000 towns and
cities in 84 countries are currently expected
to take part in the event, which started
two years ago with the citizens of just
one city, Sydney in Australia.
The global call for
action is directed to negotiators who need
to reach agreement on a new global deal
on climate change at a UN climate conference
in Copenhagen in December.
The recognized arbiter
on tall building claims is the Illinois
Institute of Technology based Council on
Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Also turning lights
off for Earth Hour are the Petronas Twin
Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, considered
the world’s tallest buildings from 1998
until eclipsed by the Taipei 101 building
in 2004, and still the world’s tallest twin
building.
Taipei 101, the current
world’s tallest building, is also to turn
off its lights, as is the taller but not
yet recognized Burj Dubai tower in the United
Arab Emirates, expected to take the title
when able to be occupied in about September
this year.
Leading global corporations
announce 50 million tons of emissions reductions
Washington, DC –Some
of the world’s leading companies and most
recognizable brands gathered on Capitol
Hill in Washington today to announce that
cutting greenhouse emissions makes business
sense.
The companies, all partners
in WWF’s Climate Savers Program, announced
an estimated 50 million tons of voluntary
emissions reductions by 2010 since the program’s
inception in 1999.
The independently estimated
reductions are equivalent to the annual
emissions of Switzerland.
Companies in the WWF
Climate Savers Programme include The Coca-Cola
Company, Catalyst, The Collins Companies,
Elopak, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Hewlett-Packard,
Lafarge, Johnson & Johnson, JohnsonDiversey,
Nike, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Novo
Nordisk, Polaroid, Sagawa Express, Sofidel
Group, Sony, Spitsbergen Travel, Tetra Pak,
Xanterra Parks and Resorts.
Senior executives from
a dozen of the companies will tell attendees
of a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by the
U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee that climate protection and profitability
can go hand-in-hand. While the businesses’
reductions are significant, the current
climate emergency also demands the implementation
of comprehensive climate policies at both
national and international levels .
"These 21 Climate
Savers companies have proven that greenhouse
gas reductions and strong economic performance
are not an either/or proposition,” said
WWF-US President Carter Roberts.
“This is a critical
moment to communicate this message to policymakers
because voluntary action will not be enough
to achieve the carbon dioxide reductions
needed to protect the planet from the ravages
of climate change. A global challenge like
this calls for both domestic legislation
and a strong international treaty.”
“Environmental protection
and sustainable business performance are
inextricably linked,” said Muhtar Kent,
President and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
“Governments, NGOs and businesses have unique
roles, but we must work more closely together
to address climate change. A key part of
our role is to drive the Coca-Cola system
to achieve and surpass the targets we have
established in partnership with WWF and
Climate Savers."
WWF works closely with
Climate Savers companies to develop action
plans to achieve aggressive emission reduction
targets. Overall, the companies say these
efforts are resulting in greater operational
efficiency and significant cost reductions.
As Climate Savers marking
its 10-year anniversary, some member companies,
such as Lafarge, and Johnson & Johnson
are currently surpassing their targets.
WWF also announced that Fairmont Hotels
& Resorts and Elopak would become the
newest members, with both companies setting
ambitious emissions targets:
• Fairmont Hotels & Resorts signed an
agreement with WWF to cut its emissions
by 20 percent below its 2006 levels by 2013.
• Elopak, a leading beverage packaging company
with customers in 100 countries, will reduce
CO2 emissions 15% from 2008 levels by 2011.
As an additional effort,
WWF officials said it will organize a contingent
of Climate Savers companies to attend upcoming
international climate talks in Copenhagen
in support of a treaty.
Many Climate Savers
companies have previously offered public
support for a declaration calling for action
to limit the global average temperature
increase to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius
compared to pre-industrial levels, and have
affirmed an Inter-governmental Panel on
Climate Change report’s conclusion that
global emissions must be reduced to half
of 2000 levels by the middle of the 21st
century.
The companies also declared
that they would widen the scope of reduction
activities by partnering with other businesses
and champion best practice by sharing their
methods with more sectors and in more regions
around the world.
+ More
Act on Earth Hour call,
UN climate chief tells delegates
Bonn, Germany – UN climate
chief Yvo de Boer today urged delegates
to crucial negotiations starting today to
take heed of yesterday’s Earth Hour call
from hundreds of millions of people wanting
decisive global action on climate change
this year.
The head of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had
earlier received a symbolic blue Earth Hour
ballot box of “votes for earth” from a group
of German scouts.
Taking the ballot box
into the opening session of the climate
talks, de Boer told delegates from nearly
190 nations meeting to negotiate towards
a new global climate agreement due to be
decided in Copenhagen in December that they
should heed the voices of millions.
"Around the world,
millions of people in thousands of cities
switched their lights off last
night in order to send a clear message that
we must act on climate change," he
said.
"Earth hour was
probably the largest public demonstration
on climate change ever. Its aim was to tell
every government representative to seal
the deal in Copenhagen.”
If concluded, a Copenhagen
agreement would provide the basis for global
action on climate change causing emissions
past the 2012 expiry of the current – and
clearly inadequate – Kyoto Protocol.
From the Sydney’s Harbour
Bridge soon after WWF’s Earth Hour commenced
to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge shortly
before it concluded, lights went out around
the globe as hundreds of millions of people
from around 4000 towns and cities in 88
countries voted for earth with their light
switches.
“The world’s concerned
citizens have given the negotiations an
additional clear mandate,” de Boer said.
Throughout the session
the blue box remained standing on the main
negotiation table, visible to all delegates,
observers and journalists from around the
world.
“The suggestion that
government delegates should take heed of
their population’s voice and concerns on
climate change is very heartening ,” said
WWF’s global climate initiative leader Kim
Carstensen.
