A global climate agreement could be an economic win

I am often asked if the international talks on climate change can have any real impact on changing the
course of climate change for the better. On occasions, I find myself wondering this too. To find an answer, we need to look at two trends.

In recent years we have witnessed a surge in climate and extreme weather events, along with analysis, projections and other data suggesting that the world is on an unsustainable course.

The other trend that we are seeing is ongoing global dependence on fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency recently reported that government subsidies for fossil fuels were six times those for renewable energy in 2011.

It was in this context that the talks in Doha over the past two weeks did achieve the basic goal of extending the Kyoto Protocol and moving countries onto a single negotiating track towards a new climate agreement by 2015.

This outcome can also be seen as a useful house-keeping job to assist the UN and the participating nations to move towards the next phase, a globally-encompassing agreement.

Also, the decision to establish an international mechanism for loss and damage, for example, is a ground-breaking one. In practical terms it could include a climate risk insurance facility. In that regard, the private finance sector is already available to build climate resilience in vulnerable countries. But finding more effective ways internationally of managing loss and damage will surely be an intrinsic part of any future solution.

That is why I always come back to the view, whatever its many flaws and they are apparent for all to see, that what happens in the global climate agreement process is crucial.

The UN is the only venue that brings all countries together and gives each one a chance to have a voice. It also provides a common platform that enhances transparency and accountability between and among countries. But at the same time, the UN’s effectiveness depends almost entirely on the political determination of its members and their communications channels.

With a UN-agreed focus on climate change, each country now needs to encourage and achieve renewed commitment, ambition and vigour from their national policy and law-makers.

Strong domestic government leadership that supports and inspires business and grass roots actions can and will instil confidence, help build momentum globally and maybe even re-elect achieving governments back home.

With the required critical mass of national leadership, the UN will be encouraged to move faster and take a bigger slice out of global emissions.

International and domestic lawmakers cannot solve this challenge on their own, which is why business leaders and community organisers need to step up, besides academic and scientific experts and the media as well. More and diverse voices now need to really join in the debate.

With a growing public understanding of climate change in a majority of countries and effective political leadership, there will be support for considered and monitored policy action.

These modest outcomes from Doha alone do not do nearly enough to address the main issue. But after the disappointment of Copenhagen in 2009, the outcome at Doha in 2012 does put countries back on track and gives them a real opportunity to increase their determination to find viable solutions to the greatest global challenge of our time. The critical question for business to address is whether it is challenging itself to find the opportunities that the international and domestic carbon policy signals create.

Andrew Petersen is the CEO of Sustainable Business Australia (SBA) and he recently led SBA’s delegation to COP 18 in Doha. SBA is a business think-tank and peak body that promotes the role of business in a just and sustainable world and advocates commercial solutions for a low-carbon Australia