Geneva - Last week's G20 summit delivered the global consensus that to ensure economic recovery and future global prosperity, a high-growth and low-carbon global economy is needed. To deliver this new economy, policies and incentives are urgently required to help remove obstacles to more low-carbon technology and finance, but business has to be involved. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is working with leading global CEOs to support negotiators in this process by recommending specific policy mechanisms that might contribute to a cost-effective and environmentally sound future climate framework.

The WBCSD's new publication, Towards a Low Carbon Economy, aims to share business experience in technology development and deployment, finance and carbon markets, cooperative sectoral approaches and adaptation and proposes policy recommendations for a future agreement.

The Bali Action Plan, agreed at the 13th climate change conference in Indonesia and advanced at the negotiations in Bonn this week, outlines technology, finance and adaptation as key elements of the negotiation process leading to a new climate agreement.

These issues are at the core of business activity. An effective international climate change framework that leverages business engagement is, therefore, essential and the WBCSD and its members see a significant opportunity to contribute to the solutions.

The WBCSD summarized its recommendations as follows:

• A future framework must enable countries to collectively work towards a low-carbon economy with the urgency needed. This includes emissions reduction targets for developed countries and supporting infrastructure to enhance the financial and technology flows to developing countries to slow emissions growth and work towards net emission reductions in the longer term.
• Low-carbon technologies exist and have the potential to significantly reduce global emissions, but enabling frameworks and specific policy responses are needed to support their rapid deployment, in developed and developing countries.
• New technologies will also be needed. A future framework must facilitate the scale-up of research, development and demonstration of clean energy technologies through new financial mechanisms and international cooperation.
• A future framework must unleash large-scale private and public investment by enhancing carbon markets and effectively using public funding to leverage private finance.
• Financial flows to developing countries need to be enhanced by addressing investment barriers, extending and streamlining the Clean Development Mechanism, and establishing new mechanisms to drive large scale investments.
• Collaboration between developed and developing countries on sector-specific mitigation and adaptation activities can enhance actions and increase financial flows to developing countries.
• A future framework should enable the establishment of strong, integrated infrastructure planning and policy environments to promote adaptive capacity and resilience planning.

For a copy of the report, click here.

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