|
November 01, 2000
Corporations Form Partnership for Climate Action
A coalition of industrial giants join Environmental Defense in initiating market-based reductions
to greenhouse gas emissions.
SocialFunds.com --
Many corporations have responded to the growing public concern about the impact of greenhouse gas
emissions on climate change by adopting policies that will reduce their contribution to the
problem. Now a coalition of leaders in this area have banded together to form the Partnership for
Climate Action, with the goal of reducing their aggregate emissions by 15 percent from 1990 levels
by 2010 using market-based mechanisms.
 The Partnership was recently announced by
Environmental Defense, the U.S. environmental advocacy group, which has joined forces with some of
the world's largest corporations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The companies involved are oil
giants BP and Shell International, DuPont, Suncor Energy Inc., Ontario Power Generation, the
Canadian aluminum company Alcan, and the French aluminum company Pechiney.
"The
Partnership for Climate Action shows that companies can cut greenhouse gas pollution while
continuing to provide products to customers and profits to shareholders," said Fred Krupp,
Executive Director of Environmental Defense. "The goal is to share learning and highlight the value
of solid, market-oriented rules, which will encourage even more companies to step forward and
reduce pollution."
The Partnership endorses market mechanisms to emissions reductions as a
more viable alternative to strict regulation of emission controls or "pollution taxes" that
penalize polluters. Market mechanisms, such as "emissions trading," are policies that link economic
incentives to pollution reduction objectives, encouraging cost-effective solutions to climate
change.
Emissions trading, in particular, creates a new value to controlling pollution
beyond the required minimums, because extra reductions can be taken to market and traded with other
companies that have higher control costs. This market incentive, according to the Partnership, will
encourage companies to develop new technologies, improved processes, and creative solutions that
deliver extra reductions.
"We are pleased to be working alongside other leading
organizations who share our belief in the power of market mechanisms to contribute to climate
change solutions," said Rick George, President and CEO of the energy company Suncor. "It is my hope
that by announcing our Partnership, we will send a clear message that it is possible for companies
to address climate change and still meet the growing economic, environmental and social
expectations of stakeholders."
Each company in the Partnership for Climate Action has
already set a firm target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, resulting in an annual reduction
of at least 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2010. DuPont, for instance, has
achieved a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 1991, and BP has pioneered the
concept of emissions trading within its global operations.
Along with the commitment to
greenhouse gas reductions is a corporate obligation to accountability and transparency, providing
the data to monitor their compliance with the Partnership goals. Each Partner is committed to adopt
best practice methods of greenhouse gas measurement and accounting for its particular operations,
and to document their methods and verify their performance with independent auditors.
The
Partnership does not officially endorse the Kyoto Protocol for greenhouse gas reductions, but is
making reductions in advance of the timetables called for by this international agreement. Their
position is that market mechanisms, one of the several steps called for in the Kyoto Protocol, have
the potential to lead to a cost-effective global response, and deserve more immediate demonstration
than can be achieved by international consensus.
"We believe that the Partnership will
demonstrate that market-based programs can provide the means to simultaneously achieve both
environmental protection and economic development goals," said Paul V. Tebo, DuPont Vice President,
Safety, Health and Environment. "It will provide a forum for emissions trading and sharing of best
practices to ensure that all of the members' goals can be met in the most cost effective manner,"
Never before have such a wide cross-section of industries and a major environmental
organization joined forces to institute such dramatic cuts in global pollution. Participants in the
Partnership for Climate Action encourage other corporation to follow their active leadership on the
issue, and further expedite the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Top
| 
