Business leaders feel powerless over outcome of Copenhagen

International legal practice Norton Rose Group has issued the results of a survey entitled 'Hopes for Copenhagen' based on more than 100 individual responses from business people involved in environmental, sustainability and climate change issues in their firms.

The online survey, which took place from November 2 to 13 2009, was designed to canvas the views of climate change business stakeholders in more than 30 countries on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference, which begins in Copenhagen in just over one week.

World leaders have called for a comprehensive, ambitious and fair international climate change deal to be reached at Copenhagen. And the importance of the negotiations appears to be undisputed among business people, with 94 per cent of respondents saying the UN conference could have a significant or very significant effect on combating climate change.

There is a clear consensus among those questioned on the degree to which climate change will affect business interests, and almost all respondents agreed that carbon change matters have created business opportunities. More than 95 per cent see business opportunities in their country as a result of the drive to reduce emissions, while 92 per cent see business opportunities for their organisation as a result of the drive to cut emissions. Unsurprisingly, 90 per cent of the business people questioned said their organisation was committed to combating climate change.

Significantly, though, the survey revealed that 71 per cent believe that their organisation can ‘not really’ or ‘not’ influence the outcome of Copenhagen.

Anthony Hobley, head of Climate Change and Carbon Finance at Norton Rose, says this reveals a fundamental problem. He argues that it is crucial that political leaders pay attention to those in the business community. “If any agreement, in whatever form, post-Copenhagen is to be successful it will require the private sector to provide up to around 85 per cent of the funds necessary to tackle climate change,” he said.

“The overriding insight we gained is that whilst business is committed to combating climate change, the negotiators are not adequately engaging with them to ensure the regimes that result from the negotiations are sufficiently attractive to private sector finance,” said Mr Hobley.

He believes that it is imperative to actively involve business in the negotiating process. “Without the business community mobilising sufficient funds, any agreement will not be capable of being effective and the necessary global reduction in emissions will not be achieved,” he explained.

Many of those questioned believe climate change to be the single most significant global issue, with 60 per cent of respondents agreeing that it should be a higher priority than the global economic crisis. “Both are equally important in the short-term, but climate change is much more important in the mid- and long-term,” according to Sevastos Kavanozis, Director, Deutsche Bank AG.

But while the G20 has agreed a stimulus package for the global economic crisis, the same coordinated approach has not been possible for climate change. The overwhelming majority of respondents feel that governments should prioritise climate change, and there is nearly 100 per cent belief that strong political leadership will be required to tackle the issue successfully.

The survey reveals a degree of pessimism in the business community on the eve of the UN conference. With indications that the chief negotiators will struggle to reach agreement in Denmark, 72 per cent of those surveyed believe the Copenhagen negotiations will not reach beyond a ‘compromised success’, and 26 per cent predict outright failure.

The position of the US is clearly a concern, and nearly three-quarters of those questioned believe the US government’s position is the most significant barrier to an agreement being successfully reached at the UN conference.

Perhaps most worryingly, the results of the Norton Rose survey indicate a degree of disquiet among businesses at the long-term prospects for the global economy should a deal on climate change fail to be negotiated by the politicians. “While the global economic cycle will turn, the environment won’t” was a succinct observation of John Westmacott, managing director of Land Energy.

An unclear outcome on some of the climate change proposals to be negotiated would "hinder new projects", according to William Pazos, managing director of Carbon Organizations and Finance at Standard Bank.

His view was supported by more than three-quarters of respondents, who agreed that business will suffer should negotiations fail in Copenhagen. Moreover, some sectors of the business community clearly believe that climate changes transcends financial and political issues. “Combating climate change has a moral, economic and political imperative”, according to Karla Bell, vice president of Government Affairs, Carbonflow.