Climate change

Business and industry groups call for inclusion in Paris Agreement

  • 8 December 2015
ICC Environment and energy

The business and industry NGO (BINGO) constituency at the UN climate talks has today called on all negotiators to explicitly recognise the positive role of business and establish a defined and recognized role for business engagement in the final Paris Agreement.

As governments begin work on the newly-adopted negotiating text – the BINGO group urges Ministers to include an explicit reference to business in the preamble to the final Agreement . Such a reference would reinforce business actions to support the global climate agenda – including by recognizing and leveraging business expertise in the development of international climate policy through the UNFCCC.

Although the current text contains a number of limited references to business in the draft decisions, (see note 1), the groups said that this should be extended to the over arching and long-term Agreement in order to reflect business contributions in driving emissions reductions, building climate resilience, and the knowledge and capability business brings to the table.

In particular, business plays a significant role in: research and development; deployment of low-carbon technologies; investment; trade; finance; measuring, reporting and verification of emissions; and risk management. In further elaborating and implementing the Paris Agreement, governments can draw on the experience and expertise of the private sector to help inform next steps and strengthen mitigation and adaptation action.

“We’re here, we’re involved, and we’re in it for the long haul,” said John Danilovich, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce which acts as the focal point for business in the UN climate talks.

“Business matters for the success of any international climate change agreement – but we need the right long-term policy signals to enable us to do more. Including business in the outcomes of the Paris talks would be a significant leap forward in the way we approach the shared challenge of climate change.”

The past 18 months have seen an increasing amount of action and investment by businesses and entrepreneurs around the world, which are willing, ready and able to do their part in driving the low-carbon economic transformation. Recognized business engagement will support the development of effective climate policies by providing first-hand insights on the workings of markets and value chains—as well as enabling policymakers to leverage private sector expertise and experience.

NOTES

1 In the negotiating text, as adopted on Saturday, the private sector is mentioned in options for decisions relating to technology development and transfer, pre-2020 action and increased action.