ITCandor Opinion
So the Copenhagen Summit failed – the governments of the world could reach no legal agreement on limiting carbon emissions, although they did adopt the aim of keeping the increase in global warming to below 2oC degrees. For now it’s as if someone put up a ‘don’t walk on the grass’ sign on a public lawn, but employed no one to stop us from doing so.
There will now be less thought about the consequences of globalisation – in particular about the actual destruction of local environments through changes in climate conditions or the shifting of manufacturing to lower cost economies and the consequential increases in carbon emissions.
I believe that the format of the Summit has proved old-fashioned and ineffective. Whether or not the Chinese veto was responsible for the failure, it doesn’t seem right that such an important agreement should be dependent on a last minute ‘all or nothing’ agreement. It’ll be interesting to see if effective changes can be introduced for the 2010 meeting in Mexico.
In the absence of legislation our behaviour as individuals and organisations – in relation to the environment – becomes more important as a result. For ITC suppliers developing successful Green CSR strategies to appeal to consumers and businesses will be harder, but potentially more rewarding, than regulatory compliance. For CIOs monitoring, metering and controlling energy is still necessary to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs, especially given the ever-increasing costs of electricity.
ITC Suppliers Need To Put A Stronger Emphasis On Climate Change In CSR Strategies
When talking to the UN earlier in the year I discovered a couple of general trends. In particular:
- Much public money promised in overseas aid was not being delivered and
- Private organisations (in this case HP) are taking over from governments as investors in development projects
Last week the summit announced funding by developed countries to poorer countries ‘approaching’ $30b to help address the impact of climate change in the 2010-2012 timeframe. It also announced the ‘goal of mobilising’ $100b a year by 2020 to support developing countries. Without a legally binding agreement it will be left to the developed countries to make up their own minds on how much (if anything) to provide, whether this is in addition to the sums already announced (if not already delivered) and whether or not they actually deliver the new sums committed. I expect large commercial organisations will take a bigger role as a result of these wishy-washy government commitments.
ITC suppliers in particular should shore up their CSR strategies to address the environment as a stakeholder, not least because there are a huge number of existing and potential customers and share-holders who will now realise that it is their behaviour – and not legislation – which will mark their impact on trying to address climate change in coming years.
CIOs Now Have Longer To Think About Carbon Taxes
Without legally binding agreements on carbon emissions from the Summit, the introduction of carbon audits and associated taxes will take a back seat in most government legislation for now. I believe that those taxes already imposed by the UK in advance of a global agreement will now need to be mollified if British industry is not to suffer in the absence of similar laws in other countries. It’s not that such taxes will not become important over time, it’s just that the result of the Summit demonstrate that overcoming the recession is more important for now.
I expect all CIOs to continue to address energy efficiency and associated cost savings through pursuing data centre consolidation, modernisation and virtualisation strategies where they can – but for their own sakes and CSR strategies, rather than in advance of imminent taxation. I expect the more advanced 10% of end-users will continue to investigate alternative energy, advanced cooling and similar approaches. As an industry I believe it is now more important than ever to look into how these activities can help ITC reduce its own impact on carbon emissions and help in their reduction in other areas.
Some Conclusions – The Recession Takes Precedent For Now
In the last 18 moths most governments have had immediate concerns about the banking sector, inflation and employment – forcing them to put the issues of Climate Change on the ‘back burner’. Many have introduced re-generation projects, which may have some positive effects on the environment, even if primarily designed to provide economic stimuli at a time of slump.
I’m surprised that very few scientists have mentioned the positive effect the recession is having in reducing carbon emissions – just think about the suspension of car production by many of the largest car producers last year. In fact Manufacturing and Distribution have been the worst affected sectors in terms of ITC spending – even worse than Finance, pointing to the devastating effect the downturn has had on production.
Over all I’m disappointed in the failure of the Summit. I suspect that in the past long-term objectives were signed up for by politicians whose own political careers would be over before the need to introduce unpopular legislation to control energy usage. I expect the issues will become more important once the worst of the recession is over. Perhaps when they do we will be able to focus more short-term activities which can be measured more effectively.