Big business concerned over climate change effects

By Reino Gevers

THE HAGUE (DPA): With politicians in The Hague haggling over a deal on curbing greenhouse gases a growing number of big business firms have announced plans that could result in far higher reduction of carbon dioxide emissions than the Kyoto Protocol.

Major insurance companies are seriously concerned over the effects of climate change and are strongly lobbying governments to accept stronger climate protection measures.

Insurance companies are already running out of money in covering damage caused to property by climate-change related disasters, according to Andrew Dlugolecki, a senior director of CGNU, one of the world's six major insurance groups.

"We have got to get a lot more radical," Dlugolecki said at a press conference in The Hague. He pointed out that damage caused by climate change was increasing by an average of ten percent a year and would surpass global economic growth by the year 2065.

Oil companies such as Shell and British Petroleum (BP) are steadily increasing investment in renewable energy. BP has launched a campaign called "Beyond Petroleum".

BP is the largest single producer of solar power equipment and announced that it and a group of other multinationals would cut Greenhouse gas emissions deeper and faster than the Kyoto Protocol.

Industry is heavily represented with numerous exhibition stands inside the conference center. They include both multinationals and manufacturers of clean energy products.

Maurice Strong, the first executive director of the United Nations Environment Program who also organized the first Rio Earth Summit on climate protection in 1992, says corporations are moving ahead of governments on the issue.

"In some respects business leaders are ahead of governments. They have moved ahead by recognizing that there are new opportunities for business," he said.

Klaus Toepfer, director of UNEP, said over 250 leading banks and insurance companies recently pledged to adjust their portfolios to help mitigate climate change. He predicted major financial shifts as services with renewable energy gained ground.

The Kyoto Protocol, often criticized as falling far short of what is necessary for climate protection, calls for all nations to reduce their Greenhouse gases to below five percent of 1990 levels.

But scientists warn that greater reductions in Greenhouse gases -- as much as 60 percent -- will be needed to turn back the effects of global warming.

"We have already done things that are irreversible. What we can do today is for our children and grandchildren," Dlugolecki said.