[pima.nius] Global Business Leaders Commit to a Low Carbon Future

GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADERS COMMIT TO A LOW CARBON FUTURE

• THEY CALL UPON GOVERNMENTS TO LEAD ON CLIMATE POLICY

MEXICO CITY, October 5th, 2010 – Business leaders from influential
Mexican and global corporations committed to reducing their emissions
in the energy, information and communication technologies (ICT), and
buildings and construction sectors at the Business for Environment
(B4E) Climate Change Summit held 4th and 5th October in Mexico City.

Energy companies present agreed that 100% renewable energy by 2050 is
achievable and something they work towards as a sector. ICT companies
agreed to reduce 7.6 Gigatons of CO2 emissions by 2020. Building
sector representatives commited to reduce emissions 40% by 2020 in new
buildings and improve energy efficiency by up to 40% in existing
buildings.

The business leaders called upon governments to move forward
international negotiations to ensure an ambitious outcome at the
Cancun Climate talks (16th Conference of the Parties) which are being
organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
later this year. Business stressed the need for a global leveled
playing field that would enable these commitments and mainstream green
entrepreneurship among and across industry sectors.

Companies acknowledged that entrepreneurial action to address climate
change can play a critical role in stimulating a smart global economic
recovery, creating new jobs and building more sustainable and
resilient, low-carbon societies.

"It is possibly the first business summit ever to recognize the role
of companies as solution providers. We all now recognize the huge
problems that climate change is posing for our societies. We should
now step up, lead and be part of the tidal wave of companies that
bring the solutions our societies need", said Barbara Kux, Chief of
Sustainability of Siemens.

Companies also recognized their role in changing conducts and values
for a more equitable future. "We recognize the role that big
corporations have in changing supply chains so that small and medium
enterprises can fully participate in the green economy", said José
Luis Prado, President of Gamesa.

"We recognize the possibility we have in changing behaviors, starting
from our companies. We can walk the talk and enlist the hundreds and
thousands of employees that work for our companies as solution
providers", said Magnus Kuschel, Managing Director Commute Greener,
from the Volvo Group.

The event, which pinpointed that the global green race has begun, was
also unique in acknowledging the role that civil society and business
can have in making those solutions more visible and tangible.

UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner,
said, "Many businesses including those at the B4E Summit are signaling
leadership and seizing the opportunities of the climate change
challenge. Why? Because many see rising risks to profits from the
impacts of rising greenhouse gases but also an opportunity to become
far more resource efficient and innovative enterprises. Governments at
the UN climate convention meeting in Cancun and beyond have a
responsibility to support these aims and actions by signaling their
determination to set the kinds of national and global policy
frameworks able to accelerate and sustain these transformations".

"Civil society and business can both take a role in speaking-up so
that the right policy-frameworks are put in place as well as in
communicating the solutions which are already available", said James
Leape, Director General of WWF-International. "We should all recognize
that international negotiations on climate are not moving at the pace
needed. This business summit, held immediately before Cancun, should
stimulate all governments to act in order to unleash business
potential to transform our economies", he added.

"While governments hold the key to setting the right signals and
incentives, it is business that provides the solutions we need," said
Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. "Now is the
time to support the many efforts that already exist, to ensure that
low-carbon innovation is shared widely and to mobilize those still
sitting on the fence. We cannot afford to wait any longer."

In this unprecedented declaration, company leaders agreed that in
order to avoid a major climate crisis – that comprises economic,
political, health, environment, safety and other dimensions- , the
creation of global policy and strong national legal frameworks is
needed.

Among the national policy instruments countries should put in place
according to companies are: i) financial mechanisms to offset initial
costs and reallocate total costs along the life cycle of buildings,
ii) the phasing-out of fossil fuel subsidies, iii) soft-loans on
climate solutions, iii) smart-grids, feed-in tariffs and buy-downs in
energy that send the right signals to the marketplace.

In his key-note speech Al Gore, former US Vice-President and Nobel
Prize said "We need the good companies to put pressure on all
governments to lead by example and step-up their domestic and global
commitments."

The Mexican Minister of Environment Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada said:
"The private sector has much to offer in the global fight on climate
change. We do not want that the conclusions and recommendations of
this event remain in a drawer. We want to take them to Cancun, to
enrich the negotiations."

About the Event
The event was hosted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
Mexican Ministry of Environment, the Mexican Ministry of Energy,
United Nations Global Compact, Global Initiatives and WWF

Company participants included Walmart, The Coca-Cola Company, Grupo
Bimbo, PepsiCo, Hewlett Packard, AP Moeller Maersk, Cemex, Tata and
Sons, Acciona, Siemens, Nestle, McKinsey, Volvo Group, British Telecom
Group, amongst other.

Speakers included Al Gore, the former US Vice President and global
advocate for climate action, Barbara Kux, Chief Sustainability Officer
at Siemens AG; Claus Conzelmann, Vice President, Head of Health,
Security & Sustentability, Nestlé; Daniel Servitje, Chief Executive
Officer, Grupo Bimbo; Brent Constantz, CEO for Calera; Antonio Noyola,
Director Energy and Planning from CEMEX; John Kornerup Bang, Director
Corporate Sustainability at AP Moeller Maersk; George Kell, Executive
Director of the UN Global Compact; Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada,
Secretary of Environment of Mexico and James Leape, Director-General
and CEO of WWF International.

About B4E
B4E, organized by Global Initiatives is the main conference on Global
Business Dialogue and action on the environment and is intended to
shape proposals on climate change by the global business community.
For more information see: http://www.b4esummit.com/

The business summit is organized by Global Initiatives, the United
Nations Programme for Environment (UNEP), the United Nations Global
Compact, and WWF.

Contacts:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesman, +254 (0)733632755 or +41 79 5965737,
nick.nuttall@unep.org
Shereen Zorba, UNEP Newsdesk, +254 713601259, shereen.zorba@unep.org
Jatziri Perez, Communications Coordinator, WWF-Mexico, +52(55)
52865631 Ext 223, jperez@wwfmex.org
Valerie Benguiat, Climate Change Comunicator, WWF-Mexico, +52(55)
52865631 Ext. 225 vbenguiat@wwfmex.org
Mónica Echeverría, Comunications WWF-US, (202) 4954626,
monica.echeverria@wwfus.org

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pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
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