London, 19 December 2009

Here is a quote from James Cameron, vice-chairman of Climate Change Capital, about what the accord means for business.

Certainly a new legally binding global agreement would have been the preferred option but there are hopeful signs. Countries have to submit their plans for cutting emission by the end of January and the Mexico talks might be brought forward. And now that President Obama is seen to have pushed through his health reforms perhaps he can now concentrate on climate change and push through his domestic legislation.

In the detail there are small encouragements in the reform of the Clean Development Mechanism which should make the process better - quicker, fairer and more effective at taking tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere. The legally binding Kyoto Protcol lives on, which means there is scope for further investment in reducing emissions in developing countries, and the big economies have made commitments to support investments in the areas that will produce good returns in both environmental and financial terms. There are also new sources of public money which will need to be well managed and combined with private finance which may provide opportunities for institutional investors.

Let us not forget that the UK’s national - and the EU’s regional – targets remain in place and that they are there to encourage investment in transforming our fossil fuelled energy infrastructure into a low carbon one. There is still every reason for investments to flow into areas such as solar power, waste generation and smart grids as well as cleaning up our domestic and commercial property. And for many producing renewable energy is driven by other factors which have not changed – security of supply, falling costs and the wish for ultimate sustainability.

Long term, though, the politicians have got to step up to the plate and realise that their national interests are only really going to be served by solving the problem. Copenhagen has shown us that the old way of negotiating is a failed model. With climate change it is selfish to share. Cooperation is a survival strategy. Intense competition to solve the problem faster is what the business community needs.

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