This is the second article in the five-part series
Beyond Kyoto: A Broader Policy on Climate Change

Among the opinions of heads of state, environment ministers, and NGOs, next week's climate conference will have to accommodate a relatively new force in such discussions: business leaders. Corporations, aware of the environmental and economic risks of a delayed response to climate change, and aware also of the potential opportunities for investment that mitigation technologies represent, have been increasingly vocal in urging U.S. and international greenhouse gas emissions limits.

A petition published today emphasized this point, with signatures from 150 global companies encouraging leaders at the Bali conference to adopt legally binding emissions regulations. The signatories--including Shell UK, GE International, Coca-Cola Co., Dupont Co., United Technologies Corp., Nestle SA, British Airways, and Volkswagen AG--span the globe, and their joint statement represents an "unprecedented coming together." The statement presses leaders to take urgent and drastic action to not only minimize environmental risk but also business risk, by allowing businesses to anticipate and strategically plan for the future.

A similar but more permanent collaboration is the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP). Founded in January 2007, the group now includes 27 of the world's largest companies, committed to a mandatory, economy-wide, market-driven approach to climate protection. Specifically, members say, U.S. and global cap and trade programs are key, and while that system is worked out, Congress should fast-track supporting measures including a uniform system to inventory emissions and aggressive research and development of new technologies.

Such strong commitments by large corporations make increasingly untenable the U.S.'s stated opposition to the Kyoto Protocol on the basis of economic harm. Rather, many corporations worry that delaying action will more seriously disadvantage them in the world marketplace, and are adding their weight in support of an ambitious post-Kyoto agreement beginning with negotiations in Bali.

OTHER ARTICLES IN THE SERIES
Beyond Kyoto: A Broader Policy on Climate Change:

Part V: U.S. Still Refuses Agreement on Binding Emissions Limits

Part IV: The Role of Deforestation in Climate Change

Part III: Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation

Part I: The Future of the Kyoto Protocol

Top photo by DavidGardinerGarcia on Flickr