A vision for our low-carbon future

Earlier this month I was in India for the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. This is an interesting event that each year brings together opinion leaders from around the world for an exchange of views.

This year, hardly surprisingly, there was much discussion about the global economic downturn, stimulus packages, the future of sustainable development, and fairness for developing countries in climate negotiations.

But there was talk, too, about how we all suffered from a lack of vision for a better future, that our discussions were based on fear, not desire for something better. A positive vision, it was felt, would encourage humans to “stop surviving and start living”.

I think this is how we should think about sustainable development, as an opportunity to do something better in future. I am often asked whether companies can still afford to invest in sustainable development. Of course they can. They are.

But the more positive approach would be to ask what opportunities sustainable development creates for us.

“Today, with the economic downturn and climate change, the stakes for companies have never been higher,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told the World Economic Forum at Davos last month. “But for businesses with vision the rewards are equally high.”

He's right. As we move towards a low-carbon economy, jobs will be created. Investment in sustainable technologies will create business opportunities; the technologies, once deployed, will need skilled workers to operate and maintain them, and this will create jobs.

The challenges ahead of us are huge. Governments and business will have to work together to achieve the kind of transformational change that will be needed. That partnership must be based on trust, and must be able to provide to the broader public a vision of what a sustainable future will look like, so that they trust and support the actions of that partnership in the challenging times ahead.

Business clearly sees the shift to a low-carbon economy as a significant opportunity. But the real challenge to growth will not be the global financial turmoil; rather, it will be the lack of a regulatory framework that allows business to invest with confidence.

That is why we must get things right in Copenhagen. And there is hope that we will. A big international effort is under way. The Obama administration in the US has clearly signaled its willingness to engage in the climate negotiations, China is making its own moves towards a low-carbon economy, and among other developing nations there is general agreement that they must be part of the solution, even if there are differing views about what that solution should be.

So here is my vision for the future: I see a world where we are well on track to big cuts in our greenhouse gas emissions, where business has a clear idea of what's needed and is encouraged to invest, where technologies such as carbon capture and storage are trapping harmful gases, where all countries are part of a new global agreement on climate, and where green jobs abound. I believe it can be done.

Comments

[Paulo Silva Curto]

Another one who shares your vision! Count on me.

The time where we feel positive and compassionate about living and letting other human beings live, is the time where we can "save the planet"...

Good luck for all!