"Bali offers a vital chance to change the world
" 
By HRH The Prince of Wales
(Copyright notice )
Today, more than 150 businesses from across the globe have joined
together to advocate bold action to tackle climate change. Led by my
Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change - in itself the result of
the past 15 years' advocacy by my Business and the Environment
Programme - these companies have signed a communiqué addressed to the
world's leaders who will meet in Bali next week to discuss climate
change. The signatories represent companies from Europe, the US, China
and Australia. Their message is clear. They believe climate change is
a reality, that continued economic growth depends on tackling it and
that the costs of inaction are too great. They believe that rigorous
targets must be set and be based on science and common sense, not on
the demands of short-term competitiveness. They also believe that the
industrialised countries will have to bear much greater cuts than
developing nations and want the certainty of a binding framework so
they can invest in new technologies and know that these will be good
for business.
This communiqué represents an unprecedented global corporate alliance.
These companies are showing remarkable leadership and I can only
congratulate them. It is the fervent hope of myself and the
signatories that it will strengthen the resolve of those in Bali to
make the tough decisions.
It is worth stressing that if action is taken now we can stop the
worst effects of climate change and do so at a cost that is a fraction
of the probable cost of inaction. But the window of opportunity is
small and growing smaller, and the threats are happening at a speed
that is causing real alarm to scientists. Let me give just one
example. Two months ago scientists noticed an unprecedented melting of
the north polar ice cap. About 43 per cent of the total ice cap
normally melts in the summer. This year 66 per cent melted.
The Ice and Snow Data Centre in Colorado predicts that within the next
seven to 23 years, the entire north polar ice cap will completely
disappear in summer. Why does this matter? A lack of sea ice means
that the world is no longer able to reflect as much solar heat as it
used to and so the rise in global temperatures will accelerate.
Despite this, there is no evidence that emissions are diminishing.
Indeed, at best it is business as usual; at worst emissions are
increasing because of economic growth and the burning of fossil fuel,
particularly coal.
What these signatory companies understand is that the effects of
climate change are irreparable and permanent. The floods, droughts,
rising sea-levels, spread of disease and poverty will be with us for
ever. It is why it will take a massive effort to tackle it and why so
much responsibility rests on the governments in Bali. They meet in the
knowledge that a broad spectrum of private sector interests is urging
them on. This is critical because we must harness the power of all
sectors, public and private. Of crucial importance is the role of big
capital providers, such as pension funds and insurance companies, and
their ability to direct their investments towards delivering a low
carbon economy.
One of the priorities must be to stop tropical deforestation, which is
estimated to be responsible for about 20 per cent of global greenhouse
gas emissions. Only the power generation sector releases more. These
forests are the greatest global public utility, regulating our
temperature, cleaning our air and producing our rainfall. As a matter
of urgency we have to find ways to make them more valuable alive than
dead. It is for this reason that, drawing on 23 years of involvement
in corporate social responsibility, I have asked 12 of the world's
leading companies to help find an innovative, equitable answer to this
highly complex problem.
Many of us fortunate enough to have lived in the developed world since
the second world war have grown up assuming that standards of living
will continue to rise generation by generation. But climate change
will not only halt this process, it will reverse it - and most
probably for ever. There is no doubt that the fate of our civilisation
hangs in the balance.
If I have grandchildren one day, I could not bear it if they asked me:
"Why did you not do something when it was possible to make a
difference?" These business leaders have asked themselves that same
question and have had the wisdom to recognise that we are doing this
for those who come after us. Let us all join them by "stiffening the
sinews and summoning up the blood" to overcome this unprecedented
challenge.
The writer is heir to the British throne
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007, 30 November, page 13
www.ft.com/climatechange
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