European business is disappointed by the limited outcome of Copenhagen summit, according to BUSINESSEUROPE (*) which points out that companies need predictability to develop the new green solutions on which a future low-carbon economy will depend.
BUSINESSEUROPE welcomes that the Copenhagen Accord reinforces the political commitment by international leaders to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and, what is IMO very noteworthy, believes that it now has to "quickly lead to a legally binding agreement because companies need predictability to develop the new green solutions on which a future low-carbon economy will depend"
It strongly regrets, however, that the EU's major economic partners only repeated their limited mitigation commitments.
It notes that "therefore the Copenhagen Accord has not brightened the prospect for a global level-playing field in the future. On the contrary, European companies have to pay for their emissions under the EU Emission Trading Scheme and are as exposed to carbon leakage as they were before Copenhagen. More predictability should have been given on the future of private financing schemes like the Clean Development Mechanism"
(*) BUSINESSEUROPE (formerly UNICE: Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe) has 40 member federations from 34 countries, including the European Union countries, the European Economic Area countries, and some central end Eastern European countries.
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Note: The author was a permanent delegate at BUSINESSEUROPE (then UNICE) from 1991-1994, representing (and employed by) its member from Greece.
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