The third annual Business and Climate Summit—the leading forum for business leaders, investors and policymakers on climate action—took place from August 31 to September 1 this year in New Delhi, India. The Summit showcased business leadership in addressing climate change and highlighted how business can help governments achieve climate objectives.
This year’s Business and Climate Summit in New Delhi delivered a powerful statement as private sector representatives from around the world gathered for the first time in an emerging country to showcase their commitment to tackling climate change. While the Paris Agreement aims to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C, current government pledges will only contain the increase in global warming to approximately 3°C. Business has already stepped up to bridge the gap, and the Summit aimed to highlight how.
Hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce and other partners, the Summit consisted of two days of high-level discussions across six plenary sessions and nine ‘focus sessions’, covering topics from urban mobility to energy security. The Summit hosted high-level deliberations to voice messages from businesses on private sector actions around climate change and future visions for a low-carbon trajectory.
“Business has a vital and constructive role to play in informing climate policy,” ICC Secretary-General John Danilovich said. “This year’s Business and Climate Summit comes at a crucial time and offers business the opportunity to show the positive steps we are taking towards a more sustainable economic future.”
Bharat Salhotra, managing director of Alstom India and South Asia, said, “The transport sector has a key role towards delivering the mitigation and adaptation objectives of the Paris Agreement. Getting city-dwellers out of their private fossil-fueled vehicles and into sustainable mass transport must be an objective of city authorities.”
The Business and Climate Summit brought together more than 70 high-profile speakers from around the world—comprising CEOs of top companies, ministers and high-level representatives of governments, international agencies and global climate-related organizations—with participation from more than 15 countries representing over 30 sectors of the economy. Participants aim to amplify key policy messages ahead of the UNFCCC’s COP23 meetings.
The New Delhi Summit is being shown a high level of support from the Indian Government, with key ministries such as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Ministry of Railways represented by speakers at the event.
