Companies prepare for emission reduction
Companies prepare for emission reduction
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Voluntary initiatives from major corporations around the world to address the problem of climate change are needed in a time of lack of commitment from governments to do so, according to the World Economic Forum.
World Economic Forum spokespersons said on Friday that they had been organizing a multi-stakeholder partnership to design and operate a global register of voluntary corporate green house gas (GHG) emission reduction commitments since January this year.
The partnership was being held in consultation with companies, environmental organizations and governments.
The purpose of the initiative was to facilitate voluntary early action by corporate polluters to inventory and reduce gas emissions, said Richard Samans, one of the directors at the World Economic Forum.
"The participants, especially the companies, might be more inclined to take early action to inventory and to set voluntary targets to reduce the green house gas emission if there is a global commitment for that, in the form of partnership," Samans told the participants in a discussion held on Friday by the World Economic Forum here.
The discussion, entitled the Global Greenhouse Gas Register of Voluntary Corporate Commitments, was a side event to the preparatory committee (Prep Comm) meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The launch of the first registrations for companies to participate in the gas reduction partnership program is expected to be held at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in January 2003.
Tahar Hadj-Sadok, a UN executive, welcomed the initiative. However, he warned that voluntary registration by the companies should be followed by legally binding commitments by the companies so that it would be enforceable.
"The initiative should also be followed with the establishment of a credible institution to monitor and intervene the implementation of the initiative," Sadok, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said at the discussion.
Some companies have declared their intention to join the registration process. They include Shell International, British Petroleum and others, despite financial costs as a result of their participation in the initiative.
Reduction of gas emissions has been a contentious issue for most corporations since it would increase overhead costs for them. However, companies are being encouraged to join the initiative since it could also produce benefits for them in terms of good reputations.
"The green house gas emission reduction could produce good public relations for the companies," Dirk Forrester, the managing director of the Natsource Inc., told The Jakarta Post after the discussion.
Meanwhile, Antonio LaVina, a senior fellow with the World Resource Institute, said failures to address the problem of climate change would have an adverse impact on the public.
"That will claim people's lives, create frustration to farmers due to low agricultural productivity, affect the eco-system and many other natural disasters including flooding and drought," LaVina said.
According to the United Nations Environment Program, the number of people affected by natural disasters jumped from an average of 147 million a year in the 1980s to 211 million a year in 1990s.
Global financial losses from the natural disasters were, in 1999, estimated to cost over US$100 billion.
In addition, climate change also affects human health in three major ways: the increased rates of infectious diseases from insects and rodents, respiratory illnesses related to increased air pollution and deaths related to thermal extremes, according to a U.S.-based non-governmental organization Redefining Progress.