ICC meets with rotating EU Presidency ahead of Copenhagen climate summit

The officials, whose country currently holds the rotating Presidency of the European Union, met with Laurent Corbier, Chair of the ICC Commission on Environment and Energy and Agneta Rising, Chair of ICC Sweden Environment and Energy Committee, to discuss the latest developments in the framework discussions and to listen to the views of business.

The visit was organized by ICC Sweden and follows similar recent discussions with government officials from Thailand and the Netherlands.

During the two meetings with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Prime Minister’s office, the ICC delegation discussed various key business issues, including technology transfer, intellectual property rights, market mechanisms, and reform of the clean development mechanisms.

“Business strongly supports the UNFCCC process and hopes to see an agreement in Copenhagen that will enable a transition towards a low-carbon economy,” Mr Corbier said.

The delegation stressed the need to continue to improve the existing flexible market mechanisms and to develop new practical and simple instruments to provide offset allowances and other means to work with carbon markets and stimulate increased private sector investment.

However, ICC stressed that any new mechanisms, especially sector-based ones, should be complimentary to national actions, assure environmental integrity, and work harmoniously with economy-wide programs.

While there has been significant discussion in recent weeks of a range of possible outcomes in Copenhagen, ICC has strongly expressed the need for government policy makers to provide business with a clear and predictable framework to contribute solutions to climate change by stimulating investment and deployment of existing and advanced technology on the necessary scale to enable a transition towards a low-carbon economy.

ICC and ICC Sweden emphasized that regardless of the specific outcome in Copenhagen, it is clear that business needs to be more deeply involved in the elaboration of action on climate change, particularly in the post-Copenhagen implementation phase.

ICC will be present in Copenhagen throughout the two week UNFCCC Conference of the Parties meeting and is co-organizing the Copenhagen Business Day on 11 December with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Confederation of Danish Industry, which will demonstrate firsthand how global business is leading action on climate change.

In addition, ICC will be undertaking a number of other activities both within the UNFCCC discussions as the official UNFCCC business and industry focal point and by presenting a wide range of business solutions through activities in the Copenhagen city centre. More information on the full ICC programme will be forthcoming.