Björn Stigson

The times they are a-changin’

When Bob Dylan penned his iconic song in the early sixties,  he could not possibly have known that over forty years later his words would still  resonate with the listening public.

Yet, that is precisely what is happening. The relevance of  his lyrics is possibly more apt than ever when applied to the current global  situation. The sixties was a time of social upheaval: protest coupled with  hope, the end of an era and the start of a period of renewed anticipation. So  too is the end of the “noughties” as they are fondly dubbed. But the causes of  this upheaval are very different. This change and its global implications are  the subject of this year’s annual review.

Sustainable development has become the defining challenge of  our era. And what a challenge!

The global economy is being bolstered by the  rapid emergence of countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia and South  Africa with their large appetites for energy and resources. The world is faced  with seemingly competing challenges of meeting ever increasing demands for  energy while not adding to the volume of global GHG emissions.

The growing  global population, much of it in so-called developing countries, and the  attendant imperative of poverty alleviation, is putting added pressure on  already seriously stretched natural resources. The need to balance all these  seemingly contradictory concerns is both a huge and daunting challenge.

Business stepped up to the plate in Hawaii

Business played a crucial role in efforts to tackle climate change last month, thanks to an invitation to attend the second Major Economies Meeting convened by the Bush Administration in Honolulu.

In my capacity as president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), I was invited to represent the voice of business at the US-sponsored climate change meeting. This event, which took place in Hawaii on 30 and 31 January 2008, brought together delegates from 16 nations plus the European Union and the United Nations. It was aimed at improving understanding of how to develop a detailed contribution to take forward the Bali Action Plan.

This meeting gave me a first hand opportunity to put forward to the leaders of some of the world's largest economies the business case for action to tackle climate change. Increasingly, business in general – and our membership in particular – is aware that it both needs and wants to be part of any package aimed at tackling climate change.

The biggest contribution that business can make is by leveraging its expertise in those areas where it functions best; and business is the major source of innovation, technology and capital needed to achieve a sustainable world.

Welcome back to a new and exciting year!

Last year was something of a watershed for issues of sustainability. Energy and climate moved to center stage, a shift strengthened by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Vice-president Al Gore and the IPCC in recognition of their efforts to raise awareness of the seriousness of the climate change threat.

Similarly, ecosystems and biodiversity began to garner the attention they too deserve. Particularly, there was an increased awareness that the sustainable use of ecosystems – forests, oceans, mountainous regions – could help to alleviate poverty and mitigate the potentially devastating effects of climate change.

UNFCCC Secretary General Yvo de Boer addresses the Bali Global Business Day

By the end of 2007 the message was clear: the presence of climate change was clearly acknowledged by all sectors of society, including business, governments and civil society.

And so to 2008.

This year signals a new phase in the sustainable development journey. There will be more focus on solutions and implementation through technologies that can stimulate development, and policies that can facilitate dissemination of these technologies and influence consumption patterns.

The path to 2012 and beyond: business is a willing traveler

With the growing importance of the climate change issue, the 13th COP of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has taken on a new significance.

As Indonesia gears up to host this meeting in Bali and Government Parties prepare to attend, business too, spearheaded by WBCSD member companies, is getting ready to step up to the plate and make its contribution to creating the framework for discussions when the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012.

Leading businesses take climate change seriously. This is not simply true of companies in the energy sector or energy-intensive industries, but equally of service industries and those further down the value chain. These corporations understand that climate change poses a significant risk to society and consequently to business and are actively working to help manage their own emissions and carbon footprints.

WBCSD President Björn Stigson More WBCSD videos on YouTube

The biggest contribution that business can make is by leveraging its expertise in those areas where it functions best. Business can mobilize capital and resources; similarly it can develop new and low-carbon technologies; and it has experience of financial and systems’ management.

Given all these capabilities, large corporations are in a unique position to make an important contribution to policies that will help to govern emissions after 2012.

Business cannot do this alone. To be successful, it needs the necessary frameworks which only governments can deliver.

These include legislation about emissions to know which targets it is trying to meet, guarantees to ensure that there will be a return on investment, technology life-time assurances to ensure that technology will not be obsolete before it hits the market.

Above all, if business is to develop technology, manage it and roll it out globally, internationally-agreed emissions targets are a must. Business is willing to partner with governments and other stakeholders to create these frameworks.

In recognition of this, the WBCSD, in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)is organizing the “TRI HITA KARANA: Global Business Day” during the Bali Conference.

This event will take place on 10 December 2007. Significantly, the day on which the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Committee will award the prestigious prize to former Vice-President Al Gore and the International Panel on Climate Change for their efforts to raise awareness about climate change.

The Bali Business Day will bring together some 200-300 senior executives and decision makers at the highest level. It will provide a unique opportunity for business to show leadership and discuss with key negotiators and other stakeholders the role of business in energy and climate.

The Bali Global Business Day will make it clear that business wants a successful completion of a new global Climate Change Framework, valid beyond 2012, which includes a clear and ambitious long-term global Carbon-GHG pathway.
It will also demonstrate the capacities and commitments of leading companies and business sectors to provide solutions to the climate challenge.

Finally, it will highlight the policies and financing requirements that will enable companies and markets to successfully develop and disseminate the technologies and practices required by an ambitious global mitigation plan.

The path to 2012 and beyond will not be smooth but business is a ready and willing traveler. If we all journey together we can make headway and get to the same destination together.

Corporate leadership in global development

Poverty remains the main challenge  facing the countries that will be the home of 85% of the world's population in  the decades to come. Some 2.7 billion people worldwide continue to subsist on  less than US$2 per day.

The challenge facing the global  community is to eradicate extreme poverty and to foster economic development  that benefits all, while preserving natural habitats and biodiversity. Business  is a core human activity, and it will be instrumental in bringing about  sustainable development.

In a recent post I  discussed the importance of developing small and medium enterprises, which form  the backbone of nations' economies. In this post, I would like to refer you to  the latest WBCSD publication on the topic of business and development. Titled  Doing Business with the World - The  New Role of Corporate Leadership in Global Development, the report shows how companies can contribute to global  sustainable development through their core businesses in ways that are profitable  for the companies and good for development.

Bridging the divide: sustainable mobility for economic growth

There is growing realization  that the challenge of sustainable development can only be met through  collaborative action among governments, business and civil society; within a  framework where each brings its expertise to the table to try and solve some of  the problems confronting us. Civil society can supply knowledge, business can  bring technological innovation and capital, and governments need to provide  enabling frameworks.

The need for such collaboration  was very much in evidence at the recent stakeholder dialogue organized by the WBCSD  and its regional network partner organization, The Energy Resource Institute  (TERI), in Bangalore, India, around the topic of Mobility for Development.

“An old man’s right to safely cross a road is just as valid as the  executive who wants to drive to work”, said Madhukar Shetty, Deputy  Commissioner with the Bangalore Traffic Police, in summing up the needs of the  population. However, this is far from a reality in India’s fastest growing  city.

Climate change is also about world peace

By awarding the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize  jointly to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Nobel  Committee has acknowledged that climate change has an implicit bearing on  global peace and stability.

This is the second year in succession that  the Committee’s choice has fallen on a candidate whose chosen contribution to  human well-being does not, at first glance, seem to be about peace per se.

Climate change: long-term framework conditions are needed now!

I have just returned  from Asia, a region abuzz with talk of energy and climate as it gears up to  host the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations  Convention on Climate Change later this year.

The year 2007 has  been something of a watershed for issues of sustainability, especially climate  and ecosystems and the wider impacts for human activity.

Today, no-one should  be in any doubt that climate change is upon us. The science is clear. The  effects are becoming increasingly apparent as evidenced by extreme weather  patterns and a growing number of natural disasters. Climate change has entered  the mainstream. It has made its way on to the agendas of global conferences;  the media publish climate-related stories daily, and progressive business is  becoming a leading advocate for action.

The big question now  is how we are going to respond. If  globalization has taught us anything over the last two decades, it should be  that we are all inextricably linked and that our actions all impact upon one  another. Nowhere is this truer than with climate change. Rising to the  challenge therefore will require coordinated policies and actions by society as  a whole, including governments, business and civil society. This will be no  small task.

Green Buildings: They don’t cost THAT much!

A group of our members working on  energy efficiency in buildings recently released a report that said, based on a  global survey, that key players in the real estate and construction businesses  tend to overestimate the costs of ‘green’ buildings by 300%. 

Respondents to a 1,400-person  global survey estimated the additional cost of an energy-efficient building at  17% above conventional construction, more than triple the true cost difference  of about 5%. They also put greenhouse gas emissions by buildings at 19% of  world total, while the actual number of 40% is double this.

It is startling that the  professionals can be so wrong. It is even more startling that the press release  we issued on the report got far more hits on our website than any other press  release we have ever issued.

Could it be that the public – and  their servants, the journalists – have finally understood the huge role that  our present stock of buildings play in climate change, and the fairly simple  things we can do to stop buildings from being climate villains?

A Business Tool to Manage Water

Water is essential to life. It can also be a dreary topic.

More than a billion people do not have access to improved sources of freshwater; that is, they use rivers, creeks, open wells, etc, from which they draw both water and bacteria. Some 3,900 children die every day due to dirty water or poor hygiene. And more and more people live in areas where there is simply not enough water, even bad water.

These statistics can be numbing, leading to a what-can-only-one-person or what-can-only-one-company do syndrome.