Poznań is a city with an interesting heart. Its cobbled streets and historic market square rest at its core, deflecting with quiet dignity the bustle around it.
In the 10 th century the city was Poland's capital; today, it is Poland's fifth largest city and fourth largest industrial centre and a fitting place for the WBCSD to hold its Poznań Global Business Day.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference was in town, bringing with it some 11,000 participants, all adding to the bustle, and all there to try to help the world reach an agreement about how to fight climate change after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Under the umbrella of the conference and along with the International Chamber of Commerce, we held the Business Day to bring together more than 200 business leaders, governments, negotiators and representatives from civil society and other groups for face-to-face talks about the way forward.
It was our third Business Day – we had held one in Bali in 2008 and one in Johannesburg before that – and had some high-level turn-out, including Byron Blake, ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda and chairman of the G77 countries, Harlan Watson, US ambassador and special envoy for climate change, Kazuhiko Hombu, director-general of Japan's Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry, and Brice Lalonde, France's ambassador for climate change negotiations.
It was a fairly intense day, full of debate and opinions. But I was impressed by the willingness of speakers to invest their considerable intellectual capital in helping to find a solution to one of the world's most pressing problems.
Later in the week I was able to present the key messages of the Business Day to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, 20 ministers and other senior government representatives at a ministerial breakfast co-hosted by the WBCSD and the UNFCCC.
Much was discussed in Poznań but I came away with a firm conviction that business stands ready to work with governments to define a new public-private partnership for action on climate change.
Climate change is a fundamental issue for business. It will have major impacts upon how business does business. It is therefore right and proper that business has strong views on the global policy framework needed to address climate change.
We are fully aware that Poznań is not the end of the discussion. Much needs to be said before the next climate change conference in Copenhagen. And even more needs to be done.
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