Environment

BSR COP21 Daily Dispatch: Day 4

Dec 3, 2015 9:30 AM ET
3-D-printed electric car on display at COP21

Editor’s Note

“It’s the economy, stupid.” That quote symbolized Bill Clinton’s winning campaign strategy in the 1992 U.S. presidential elections, but it could just as easily have been the theme for the third day of COP21.

With the opening of “Le Galerie des Solutions” yesterday, innovation and action by the private sector was on grand display, with demonstrations on everything from a solar road to a 3-D-printed electric car showcasing how business can take the lead on climate solutions. This is important because, without action that stimulates the real economy, we cannot make the progress we need on climate.

At BSR’s event on the agriculture sector yesterday, we were fortunate to have a special guest presentation by COP21 President and French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius. In his address, Fabius complimented the business community on its climate action and promised government leadership to follow: “We are behind you—not only the French government, but all of the international community—to reach positive negotiations,” he said. “You have done your job, and it’s up to us to do our job.”

Fabius’ comment underscores what has become one of the unique aspects of COP this year: increased collaboration between business and policymakers. We are on the same page—quite literally: Together with We Mean Business, BSR is hopeful that climate negotiators will adopt key text in the final Paris Agreement that will catalyze ambitious action by business to ensure a low-carbon future.

And that’s what matters most. After all, it’s the economy, stupid.

What's Important Now

To ensure a thriving, clean economy, we must scale up climate finance. The satisfaction of the Copenhagen pledge to mobilize US$100 billion per year of climate finance by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries is key to an ambitious deal in Paris. But building the low-carbon economy will take trillions—not billions—of dollars in climate finance. To shift these trillions, the Paris Agreement will need to improve the predictability of financial flows, improve domestic enabling environments to facilitate climate investment, and direct international support toward low-emission and climate-resilient investments.

Low-carbon investments are already taking place. Almost 150 investors with assets under management in excess of US$19 trillion have already made commitments to climate action through the We Mean Business campaign. As donors fulfill their promises to deliver public climate finance, it will be possible to leverage and multiply that finance many times over.

BSR's Climate Insights

With the Lima-Paris Action Agenda focused on transportation today, we are sharing our content related to transportation:

  • New Guidance: How Commercial Trucking Can Improve Fuel Sustainability: Read more
  • The Corporate Renewables Movement Needs to Include Transportation: Read more
  • How to Be a Smart Freight Leader: Read more
  • How BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group Helps Shippers Improve Environmental Performance: Read more

​What We're Reading

Here’s the latest blog from We Mean Business, on the importance of ensuring five-year climate commitments: Ratcheting Carbon Goals in 2020 Will Help Unleash Business Ambition.

And if you haven’t already, please read the We Mean Business Business Brief: Shaping a Catalytic Paris Agreement, which outlines eight key policy requests from business.

Also for today’s reading, here’s a look at how global media outlets are covering COP21:

  • United States: Businesses Awaken to the Opportunities of Action on Climate Change | NPR | December 1, 2015: Read more.
  • Brazil: Agriculture is an Alternative for Carbon Capture | Valor Econômico | December 2, 2015: Read more
  • India: Mind Your Carbon Footprints, Give Us Space to Grow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rich Nations | Times of India | December 1, 2015: Read more
  • China: Paris Climate Deal "Built": Still Need Ambition and Compromise | 21st Century Economic Herald | November 19, 2015: Read more
  • France: Fabius Puts Pressure on COP21 Negotiations | Les Echos | December 2, 2015: Read more

Events

With so many events and activities taking place in Paris throughout COP21, here’s a short list of events BSR is hosting and where we will have speakers:

  • December 3, 3-4:30 p.m., in the Conference Center (Blue Zone) at Le Bourget, Observer Room 3

    BSR’s Managing Director of Partnership Development and Research Edward Cameron will speak at “Scaling Up Private-Sector Financing for Adaptation Projects,” hosted by Canada’s International Development Research Centre, the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance, the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Partnership, and the International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer.
     
  • December 4, 3-4:30 p.m., at the Grand Palais
    BSR Senior Vice President Eric Olson will speak at the CDP-L’Oréal supply-chain event, which will showcase the related global benefits of meeting ambitious supply chain targets. For more information, visit wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/events/cdp-supply-chain-event-loreal.
     
  • December 4, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Grand Palais
    BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer will be speaking about digital carbon disruptors at a side event organized by Accenture, “Transforming Business Models to Benefit Both Customers and the Climate.” For more information, visit www.accenture.com/us-en/cop21-agenda.aspx.
     
  • December 4, 3-6:15 p.m., in the Conference Center (Blue Zone) at Le Bourget

    BSR will host “Short-Lived Climate Pollutants” as part of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda. BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer will provide an address and showcase companies that have pledged to reduce emissions from short-lived climate pollutants, as well as private-sector initiatives led by the UNEP-Climate and Clean Air Coalition. BSR will also preview reports written on the topic with the UNEP-Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which will be released in early 2016. For more information, visit newsroom.unfccc.int/lpaa/events/#COP21.

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