Sustainable Development

Andrei Marcu, Head of Regulatory and Policy Affairs at the Mercuria Energy Group, has been appointed Vice-Chair of the ICC Environment and Energy Commission.

The world’s leaders are at an important crossroads as they tackle the question of how to press forward following the worst recession in decades, according to experts at the ICC World Business Summit in Hong Kong today, organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

To mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council organized a series of events in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and across the country to celebrate the successes of Vietnamese women entrepreneurs and recognize their contribution to the country’s development.

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, challenged business to make itself more relevant to the international climate change debate and to offer clear products to address climate change, which he said business had so far failed to do, beyond a national level.

ICC hosted a side event on finance and climate change in Copenhagen to discuss concrete examples of the enabling frameworks needed to catalyze private sector investment in order to achieve deep long-term emissions reductions, including the reform and development of new market mechanisms.

With the largest business delegation ever seen at a UN climate change conference descending on Copenhagen over the next two weeks, ICC is hosting a number of events to help business representatives better understand UNFCCC processes and ICC’s special role at the conference.

The vast majority of economists polled in a worldwide survey believe the transition to a low-carbon economy will bring about new opportunities for many businesses in their country, and think clear and transparent guidelines would help companies innovate and invest in technologies designed to meet the challenges of climate change.

Following on the heels of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings in Barcelona, ICC has continued its intensive outreach programme to key government policymakers, meeting with top Swedish government officials last week.

ICC, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Energy Council (WEC) today called on government leaders to reach a climate change agreement in Copenhagen during final negotiations there in December on a post 2012 framework.

The G8 summit should resist pressures to resort to economic nationalism and should further strengthen international cooperation to meet the challenges posed by the global recession, climate change and product counterfeiting, ICC urged Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today.