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.