Environment Archives

USCIB Holds GED Dialogue at WTO on Green Benefits of Trade

Published on October 2, 2014

4848_image002As the United Nations designs its Post-2015 Development Agenda, international trade and investment will serve as powerful tools to disseminate technological innovation and environmental solutions.

USCIB and the Green Economies Dialogue initiative presented a Working Session on trade and development in Geneva on October 2 at the World Trade Organization 2014 Public Forum titled “The Role of Trade in the Post 2015 Development Agenda: Greening Growth and Disseminating Solutions – A Green Economies Dialogue Initiative Discussion.”

This year’s WTO Public Forum theme is “How Trade Benefits Everyone.”  USCIB’s Working Session presented perspectives on trade as a vehicle for technological innovation, global value chains, job creation and environmental solutions, all as they relate to the U.N. Post 2015 Development Agenda over the next year and half. Discussions highlighted the potential benefits and contributions that multilateral trade systems and approaches can deliver in developed and developing countries, especially through private sector technology and expertise relevant to environmental challenges via trade.

According to keynote speaker Christopher Wilson, deputy chief of the US Mission to the WTO, “for the U.S. Government, the crafting of a UN Post-2015 Development Agenda represents, we hope, a new opportunity to build bridges, reduce ideologically-driven divergences, and find common ground on the basis of facts, data and experience.”  He went on to reflect on how new trade-led initiatives on green, sustainable growth – such as the Environmental Goods Agreement — can contribute to this important global effort.

Brian Flannery, chair of the Green Economies Dialogue, noted that “trade and investment will be key enablers of the deployment of innovative technologies that will be essential to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, so it is essential to find ways to unlock that potential.”  The GED is currently developing peer-reviewed material and holding additional business-government dialogue sessions on business issues and priorities in the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda.

In July, USCIB joined with other business groups to form the Coalition for Green Trade, a group that represents a broad range of companies and associations that seek to remove global trade barriers to environmental technologies. USCIB also signed an open letter to WTO negotiators along with businesses from around the world calling for the swift passage of the Environmental Goods Agreement. On September 17, the Coalition for Green Trade hosted an event on Capitol Hill to celebrate the launch of the EGA negotiations in Geneva.

Other speakers at the GED working session included:

  • James Bacchus, chair of the International Chamber of Commerce  Trade and Investment Commission
  • Brian Fisher, managing director, BAE Economics
  • Orit Frenkel, senior manager for international trade and investment, General Electric
  • Norine Kennedy, vice president for strategic international engagement, energy and environment, USCIB
  • Steven Stone, head of the Trade and Economy Division, UN Environment Programme

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

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USCIB Convenes Forum on Private Sectors Engagement in UN Development Agenda

Published on September 29, 2014

More: USCIB Spotlights Sustainable Business Practices

USCIB’s Norine Kennedy delivers opening remarks at the UN doorknock on September 26 at Pfizer’s headquarters.
USCIB’s Norine Kennedy delivers opening remarks at the UN doorknock on September 26 at Pfizer’s headquarters.

Last week in New York, the United Nations General Assembly began its annual deliberations, convened an important Climate Summit and formally launched the process to complete the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda, including the formulation of ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to build on the earlier UN Millennium Development Goals. Among the numerous events that were held that week, USCIB convened a second annual Business UN door knock event, hosted by Pfizer at its New York headquarters.

The UN has invited business to the table during the SDG negotiations, and the views of the private sector are being increasingly heeded as the UN crafts the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

On September 26, USCIB joined with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to hold a unique business-convened forum on “Practical Private Sector Engagement in the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda,” at Pfizer’s New York headquarters. Other business partners included the Business and Industry Advisory Committee
to the OECD; the International Labor Organization and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.

Officials from UN member states and the UN secretariat joined executives from leading companies and members of civil society for an assessment of the practicality of the SDGs and what it will take to fully engage the business community as a partner in addressing future sustainable development priorities.

At the heart of this event was USCIB’s assertion that the success of the SDGs will depend on marshaling business input and support for the SDGs. UN and government speakers echoed this view. Louise Kantrow, ICC’s permanent representative to the UN, and coordinator of the Global Business Alliance for Post-2015, was on hand to make a strong case for the importance of the UN to the business community.

“Change is in the air,” declared Nikhil Seth, director of the UN’s Division for Sustainable Development. “The commitment to private-sector engagement is not the flavor of the day, but rather the flavor of the 21st century. Business is everywhere in the SDGs.” Other speakers echoed Seth’s sentiments, reinforcing the sense that shortcomings in the earlier MDG exercise would be corrected, with the private sector fully engaged and involved in the discussion.

L-R: Gisela Abbam (GE), Lilliane Kidane (GE), Emad Bibawi (KMPG), Claus Stig Pedersen (Novozymes) and Gerald Pachoud (UN Secretariat)
L-R: Gisela Abbam (GE), Lilliane Kidane (GE), Emad Bibawi (KMPG), Claus Stig Pedersen (Novozymes) and Gerald Pachoud (UN Secretariat)

Last month, the UN’s Working Group on SDGs identified 17 goals and 169 specific action items. These will form the basis for the final round of negotiations among UN members to finalize the SDGs by next year’s General Assembly opening.

While some in the business community have questioned the number of SDGs as too many, USCIB members took a practical approach. Business speakers at the forum stressed the importance of four key elements that they said would crystallize private-sector engagement and support for the SDGs: good governance, economic growth and empowerment, innovation and infrastructure. USCIB is preparing separate papers on each of these elements and will analyze key SDGs vis-à-vis their contributions to each of these 4 fundamental areas.

“We have entered a new era of industrial development, one that integrates sustainable development as a top priority,” said Tam Nguyen, global head of sustainability at Bechtel Corp. and co-chair of USCIB’s working group on the SDGs. “We in the business community are seeking to help countries and communities use resources wisely. The private sector is an innovator here.”

Other business speakers echoed Nguyen’s points, saying they were reformulating business practices to align more fully with the sustainable development imperative. Still others placed the focus on getting the SDGs right, especially when it comes to governance and the rule of law.

Adriana Machado, vice president for government affairs and policy in Latin America at GE, emphasized that many in the business community are “already involved in furthering the SDGs” She went on to say that the UN effort must address business’s involvement, not just as philanthropy or corporate responsibility, but in a holistic way. The meeting not only reviewed examples of how companies were furthering sustainable development, but also discussed how well-designed and accountable partnerships would be needed to supplement government action.

UN representatives welcomed the private sector’s engagement with the Post-2015 Development Agenda. During his concluding remarks, George Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, expressed thanks that businesses and governments were coming together in real terms to address sustainable development, and he urged businesses to seize the SDGs as an opportunity to revive multilateralism.

“Don’t wait for governments to get it all right,” Kell said. “See how the SDGs fit into your corporate strategy.”

The event included a Green Economies Dialogue (GED) presentation on metrics and indicators for the SDGs, and their relevance to business, by Anthony Janetos, of Boston University. The GED initiative is focused on contributing substantive peer-reviewed input on business relevant issues in the SDGs, and on continuing Dialogues started in the run-up to Rio+20.

Other speakers at the event included Americo Zampetti, EU Delegation to the UN; Claus Stig Pederson, Novozymes; John Sullivan of BIAC and the U.S. Chamber Center for International Private Enterprise; and Gerald Pachoud of the UN, as well as Congressman James Bacchus, chair of ICC’s Trade and Investment Commission, and Norine Kennedy of USCIB.

Read USCIB’s key messages on the UN Climate Summit.

USCIB Spotlights Sustainable Business Practices


The international business community plays a vital role in establishing the foundation upon which global sustainable development can be realized. Many global business leaders are supporting the tenets of the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda within their corporate strategies.

During the opening week of the UN General Assembly, USCIB partnered with Bloomberg Government and Accenture for an event about global sustainable business practices in the context of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which lie at the core of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The event took place on September 23 at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York City, and featured a conversation with Amina J. Mohammed, the special advisor to the UN secretary general on post-2015 development planning.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson participated in a panel about investing in global growth, in which he framed the discussion along four broad issue areas where business can contribute to the SDGs – good governance, economic growth, innovation and infrastructure. For the fourth item, he noted that infrastructure refers not only to physical assets, but to “the maintenance and management of the multilateral system.”

Prior to Robinson’s panel, Louise Kantrow, the International Chamber of Commerce’s permanent representative to the UN, and Georg Kell, the UN Global Compact’s executive director, gave the audience a status report on the SDGs. “Business has demonstrated that it’s part of the solution,” said Kantrow, referring to the private sector’s engagement with the UN’s development agenda. “In every goal, there’s a huge opportunity for business.” They explained that economic growth is now a UN objective, and that sustainable business development is a force for good.

Mohammed concluded the event by noting that the SDGs provide the UN and global business the opportunity to mutually reinforce each other. Business is at the table during SDG negotiations, and the UN is committed to understanding what the right incentives are to get companies to invest in the developing world.

“Business is not a charity,” Mohammed said. “But there’s a win-win there.”

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy and Ariel Meyerstein

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USCIB Activity During the Opening Week of the United Nations General Assembly

Published on September 19, 2014

4836_image001As the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicks off this week, USCIB and its global network are involved in a slate of conferences and programs focused around UN climate talks and the core of its Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to address development, lifestyle and equity issues through international commitments, finance and partnerships.

USCIB’s President and CEO Peter Robinson and Norine Kennedy, vice president for strategic international engagement, energy and environment, will attend the UN Climate Summit on Tuesday, September 23.

Tuesday, September 23

Employment and Decent Work for Inclusive and Sustainable Development
3:00 – 6:00p.m.
Ford Foundation
320 East 43rd Street
New York, NY

The International Labor Organization and the Ford Foundation will convene business executives, senior government officials and UN representatives to discuss how to create decent and productive jobs in the context of the UN’s development goals. Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, will be in attendance.

Bloomberg Government Briefing and Reception on Sustainable Business Practices
4:30 – 8:00p.m.
Bloomberg
731 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY

This briefing, presented by Bloomberg Government in partnership with USCIB, will review progress on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, the Post-2015 Development Agenda and efforts to promote corporate sustainability more broadly. Amina Mohammed, special advisor to the UN secretary general on post-2015 development planning, will be among the speakers at the briefing, which is timed to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly and the UN Climate Summit. USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and Louise Kantrow, ICC’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, will also give remarks. The event is underwritten by Accenture. Register for the event here.

Wednesday, September 24

Business Call to Action Annual Forum 2014
8:00a.m. – 7:00p.m
730 Third Avenue
New York, NY

The Business Call to Action’s fifth annual forum will bring together chief executives from prominent BCtA member companies as well as senior representatives from governments, bilateral donors, civil society and the United Nations. The forum will focus on sustaining the momentum of inclusive business in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, particularly in light of pressing issues such as climate change. The agenda includes a breakfast session, three plenary sessions, two breakout sessions and a closing reception. View the full agenda and registration info here.

Ensuring a Positive Contribution of Trade Policy to Climate Action towards COP 21
12:30 – 3:30p.m.
Yale Club
50 Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY

The International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development and the Guarini Center of NYU Law will convene a dialogue to explore the potential of the Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations to foster trade as a tool for enhancing climate action and to discuss how this could help support climate negotiations towards Lima and Paris. Invited Speakers include Ambassador Michael Froman, James Bacchus, Chair of ICC’s Trade and Investment Commission and Ann Condon, chair of USCIB’s Environment Committee. Register for the event here.

Business Consultation with UN Representatives of the Climate Technology Center and Network
4:30 – 6:15p.m.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue
New York, NY

Business representatives will meet with officials from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Climate Technology Center and Network to discuss current activities, projects and opportunities for private-sector engagement. Kindly RSVP to Kira Yevtukova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org).

Friday, September 26

Practical Private Sector Engagement in the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda
9:00a.m. – 4:00p.m.
Pfizer
235 East 42 Street
New York, NY

Business input is critical for the success of the United Nations’ Post-2015 Development Agenda. USCIB and ICC organized a “door knock” convening global business leaders and government representatives to discuss the private sector’s role in the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda. Business representatives will present concrete examples of the private sector’s diverse contributions to sustainable development and highlight the importance of creating the right enabling frameworks for the SDGs from the business perspective. Speakers will include Louise Kantrow, ICC’s permanent representative to the United Nations, George Kell, executive director of the UN Global Compact, and many representatives from USCIB member companies. To register, please contact Lea Felluss at (LFS@iccwbo.org) or Kira Yevtukhova at (kyevtukhova@uscib.org).

Related coverage of the UN and the environment:

USCIB Marshals Business Input for UN SDGs (July 22)

Coalition Endorses Environmental Goods Agreement(July 9)

USCIB Attends 1st UN Environment Assembly(June 30)

USCIB Delivers Business Views at Climate Talks(June 5)

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy and Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

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The Role of Trade in the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda

Published on August 26, 2014

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) and the Green Economies Dialogue initiative (GED) will host a Working Session on October 2 during the 2014 WTO Public Forum:

“The Role of Trade in the Post 2015 Development Agenda: Greening Growth and Disseminating Solutions – A Green Economies Dialogue Initiative Discussion.”

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The theme of the 2014 WTO Public Forum is “How Trade Benefits Everyone.”  The ambition of the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda is to enhance and integrate economic, development and environment considerations while broadening benefits to all through inclusive growth and shared prosperity.  Trade is a powerful vehicle to advance this.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Christopher Wilson, deputy chief of mission, U.S. Mission to the WTO
  • Steven Stone, head, Economics and Trade Division, U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP)
  • Brian Fisher, managing director, BAEconomics Pty Ltd

The USCIB/GED Working Session will:

  • present perspectives relevant to trade as a vehicle for technological innovation and its dissemination, global value chains, job creation and environmental solutions, as they relate to the formulation of the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda over the next year and half.
  • highlight the benefits and contributions multilateral trade systems and approaches deliver via trade in developed and developing countries, especially through private sector technology and expertise on environmental challenges such as climate change.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

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USCIB Marshals Business Input for the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Published on July 28, 2014

green buildingsThe United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda will be an ambitious, internationally endorsed and holistic framework for achieving global prosperity. At the core of this new UN-wide program, the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) aim to address sustainable development, lifestyle and equity issues through international commitments, finance and partnerships.

Last week, the UN concluded the final session of its SDG Open Working Group process, delivering an outcome document that proposes 17 goals and no less than 170 targets. Member states were generally pleased with the targets but remained concerned about certain items. Louise Kantrow, the International Chamber of Commerce’s permanent representative to the United Nations, coordinated business input during the process through the Global Business Alliance for Post 2015.

Broadly, the UN SDGs are designed to complete the unfinished business of the UN’s earlier Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as to respond to new challenges and catalyze the action of non-state actors such as business.

Unlike the MDGs, the new goals are being negotiated with a broad consultation, and they apply to all countries, not just developing ones. The goals are defined as inspired global targets, with each government setting its own national targets, taking into account particular capabilities and circumstances.

The Post-2015 Development Agenda process will culminate in September 2015, during a summit where heads of state will adopt the agenda, including the SDGs.

“USCIB maintains that in order for the SDGs to succeed, governments must build in a strong business role in the UN deliberations on sustainable development,” said USCIB’s Norine Kennedy, vice president of strategic international engagement, energy and environment. “Effective partnership and substantive dialogue with the private sector are indispensable.”

USCIB in partnership with the International Organization of Employers (IOE), the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) and others, will convene a business UN “Door-knock” meeting in New York on September 26 with participants from government, business and NGOs. This unique business-organized event will demonstrate private sector experience and knowhow in addressing sustainability and development challenges. It will underscore the need for the right enabling frameworks to catalyze business contributions to advancing sustainability through good governance, innovation, infrastructure investment and economic growth and empowerment.

The proposed UN Sustainable Development Goals:

  1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
  2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
  3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
  4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all
  5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
  6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
  7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
  8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full of productive employment and decent work for all
  9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
  10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
  11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
  12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
  13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
  14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
  15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
  16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
  17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Staff contacts: Norine Kennedy and Ariel Meyerstein

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Coalition for Green Trade Endorses WTO’s Environmental Goods Agreement

Published on July 9, 2014

4779_image002USCIB joined with other U.S. business groups to form the Coalition for Green Trade on Tuesday to support new negotiations by World Trade Organization (WTO) members that would remove trade barriers on environmental technologies.

The coalition has called on members of the WTO to negotiate an ambitious Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), which would eliminate trade barriers on a broad range of environmental goods, such as solar panels and recycled materials.

In addition, USCIB joined with a broad range of business associations and companies from around the world in calling for an EGA. An open letter to WTO negotiators signed by USCIB stated: “We are committed to working with governments around the world to ensure a commercially meaningful Environmental Goods Agreement that promotes economic growth, improves environmental outcomes and advances innovation.”

Global trade in environmental goods is estimated to be $1 trillion annually, and trade in environmental products more than doubled from 2001 to 2007. An EGA would further increase global trade in environmental goods and lower the cost of addressing climate challenges by removing steep tariffs, the groups said.

“EGA is important in its own right, and can also act as a stepping stone to lower tariffs in other sectors and value chains associated with environmental technologies,” said Eva Hampl, USCIB’s director of investment, trade and financial services.  “A high-quality agreement would advance global innovation and be flexible to permit new entrants and commitments to keep pace with new technologies.”

The Coalition for Green Trade is co-chaired by USCIB, the National Association of Manufacturers  and the National Foreign Trade Council, and its  steering committee includes the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Coalition of Service Industries, Emergency Committee for American Trade, Information Technology Industry Council, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Semiconductor Industry Association, Solar Energy Industries Association  and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The first round of EGA talks are scheduled to begin this week in Geneva. Representatives from NAM, NFTC and USCIB are leading a U.S. business delegation to participate in events and meetings on the sidelines of the official negotiations.

Staff contacts: Norine Kennedy and Eva Hampl

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USCIB Promotes Business Innovation at Historic UN Environment Assembly

Published on June 30, 2014

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Norine Kennedy (USCIB) speaks at the UN Environment Assembly’s side event on the roles of UNEP, the sustainable development goals and business.
Norine Kennedy (USCIB) speaks at the UN Environment Assembly’s side event on the roles of UNEP, the sustainable development goals and business.

USCIB and its business network took part in the first-ever UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) last week in Nairobi.

UNEA is the governing body of the UN Environment Program, meeting for the first time since it was created by the UN General Assembly.   This principal UN environmental body has a membership of all 193 UN member states, making it the only “universal” body of the UN aside from the General Assembly. Over 1,200 participants, 170 national delegations, and 80 ministers were on hand for the five-day event from June 23 to 27 at UNEP’s HQ in Nairobi, Kenya.

USCIB representatives in Nairobi included Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for strategic international engagement, environment and energy, who serves as a co-chair of the UNEP coordinating group for non-governmental interests.  The UN Environment Assembly’s agenda and outcomes included decisions on illegal trade in timber and wildlife, air quality and chemicals. During the five day meeting, UNEA also convened symposia on “Financing the Green Economy” and “The Environmental Rule of Law.”

The Green Economies Dialogue (GED) held a side event on June 26 in Nairobi on “The Role of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Business.”  Held during the first ever U.N. Environment Assembly, this business event was co-hosted with the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the International Council of Chemicals Associations.

The side event discussed new green growth challenges and priorities linked to the SDGs relevant to UNEP’s environmental mandate, which include economic growth, jobs, sustainable consumption and production, resource efficiency.  Business speakers highlighted the necessary enabling frameworks in trade, investment and innovation that must be reflected in the SDGs to support private sector contributions to economic and environmental progress.

The GED project is now focused on the “green economy” and “green growth” aspects of the U.N.’s Post 2015 Development Agenda and related UNEP and OECD efforts.  GED is a project under the auspices of the U.S. Council Foundation that was launched to inform the Rio+20 policy debate.   GED developed information, tools and a platform for business to engage with national governments, thought leaders, academics and others on the way to Rio+20. These included Dialogue events in Washington, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo and Brasilia, and a set of peer-reviewed papers published in Energy Economics that provided academic Green Perspectives on many business-relevant issues.

Speakers at the GED event included:

Simon Darlington, President, East Africa,  Alstom

Charles Arden Clarke, U.N. Environment Program 10 Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production

Helen Marquard, executive director, the SEED Initiative

Weru Macharia, Kenyan representative, IOE

Brian P. Flannery, Chair, International Business Green Economies Dialogue

 

Staff Contact: Norine Kennedy

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USCIBs Kennedy in Germany for UN Climate Talks

Published on June 6, 2014

4750_image001Ahead of a planned global climate agreement in Paris next year, government negotiators have assembled in Bonn, Germany from June 4 to 14 for the next round of UN climate talks. These June sessions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) focused on “raising ambition in areas of urbanization and land use.”

Negotiators have been tasked with designing the 2015 agreement and finding ways to raise ambition to address climate change before 2020.

USCIB’s Norine Kennedy, vice president for strategic international engagement, energy and environment attended the Bonn climate talks and spoke on behalf of business and industry groups.

“We want to work with you so we can achieve a deal that involves all countries, motivates all actors, and delivers economic and environmental benefits to all,” Kennedy told government officials at the meeting.

She stressed that governments will benefit from listening to what business considers priority elements that should be reflected in the 2015 climate agreement. Kennedy noted that the agreement should work with markets on issues such as carbon pricing, and she urged governments to build flexibility into the treaty so that states can adjust to future scientific, technological and economic innovations. Due to limited resources, Kennedy said the final agreement should promote cost-effective, market-based actions.

“The UNFCCC’s attention to non-state actors, such as business, has opened a promising area of cooperation and further work to supplement and amplify government efforts,” Kennedy noted.

Progress Report

Kennedy reports that the talks on a new UN post-2020 agreement have reached the halfway point, after meetings on June 8 concluded with an impasse.  While governments have committed to agree to “elements of a text” at the next Conference of Parties in December in Lima, they cannot reach any consensus on their starting point text for discussion.  The new agreement will include sections on mitigation (greenhouse gas reduction commitments), adaptation to climate change impacts, technology and finance for developing countries, transparency and reporting, and “nationally determined contributions (NDCs).”

NDCs are a U.S. proposal backed by most countries to allow each country, whether developed or developing, to set out its pledges for action.  This is a departure from the previous Kyoto Protocol approach, which was built on “top-down” targets.  Business representatives in Bonn are seeking to better understand where the private sector would weigh in during the national and international stages of this pledge and review oriented approach.

The first half of the week was dedicated to ministerial discussions and a full-court charm offensive by the incoming president of the UNFCCC negotiations, the Peruvian Environment Minister, Manuel Pulgar Vidal.   Preparations for the Lima COP have gotten off to a slow start, with construction of the conference venue delayed.  This raises the possibility that the number of government and non-governmental representatives allowed to attend will be quite limited.  Lima is expected to indicate whether governments can agree on the form of targets and funding commitments and thereby to be on track to reach the final agreement in Paris in 2015.

USCIB has met with members of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and with the “Umbrella Group” (a coalition of countries including the U.S., Canada, Norway, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Russia) to discuss information needs from business for the NDCs, the future of carbon markets and the Clean Development Mechanism, and the role of business in the new climate treaty to be finalized in Paris. USCIB is working with the Major Economies Business Forum (BizMEF) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) which serves as the official business focal point for the UNFCCC.

“So at the half-way point, the process is facing some major hurdles,” said Kennedy. “However, delegations are feeling the pressure of expectations on them to reach an outcome in Paris that will pass muster with domestic stakeholders, so failure is not an option.”

Read Kennedy’s full remarks.

Follow Kennedy on Twitter @USCIBKennedy

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

 

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Bonn Meeting Sets the Stage for New, “Bottom-Up” Climate Regime

Published on April 3, 2014
USCIB’s Norine Kennedy speaking at last month’s UN climate change talks in Bonn
USCIB’s Norine Kennedy speaking at last month’s UN climate change talks in Bonn

While political disagreements continue to bedevil the development of a long-term, post-2020 global agreement to address climate change, meetings last month in Bonn, Germany, held under the auspices of the UN Framework Agreement on Climate Change (UNFCCC), made some progress in practical areas, notably on how a “bottom-up” approach could be the basis for the new UN climate regime.

UN negotiators have set a deadline of December 2015, when leaders will gather in Paris, to reach agreement on the new treaty. According to Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for strategic international engagement, who attended the Bonn sessions, a new climate agreement is likely to be based on nationally defined targets and other actions taken by individual countries, with reporting and review to track progress and determine overall adequacy.

Kennedy was joined in Bonn by a number of USCIB members. The meetings included a session of the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC), which promotes the deployment in developing countries of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help countries adapt to the effects of climate change. The TEC, comprised of government representatives from the United States, China, Norway, Mexico and other influential countries, provides policy advice and technology “roadmaps” that support technical assistance.

“USCIB has identified technology innovation and dissemination as a priority for its advocacy in the development of the new long-term UN climate agreement,” said Kennedy. “USCIB members have encouraged the UNFCCC to focus on fostering conditions to enable greater technological innovation, emphasizing the private sector’s critical role in developing and disseminating new climate-friendly technologies.”

In Bonn, TEC Chair Gabriel Blanco of Argentina indicated his intention to involve experts from non-state interests, including business, in the TEC’s ongoing work. USCIB will follow the ongoing work closely to provide business expertise.

Lingering apprehension from Copenhagen

Following the TEC meeting, UN negotiators met to deliberate the drafting of concrete treaty text, with fundamental disagreements persisting among parties over how to begin. According to Kennedy, developing countries support an approach which compiles all government proposals, while developed countries favor an edited and streamlined beginning text, prepared by the negotiations’ co-chairs and drawn from government proposals.

“While this might appear to be a minor procedural point, it presents a fundamental challenge: to reach a simplified text, with a small number of outstanding issues that can be finalized by ministers in Paris,” said Kennedy. “Many governments are still haunted by what happened in Copenhagen in 2009, when new treaty text was introduced at the last second as the result of high-level negotiations among a small group of governments.”

Other discussions in Bonn addressed: energy efficiency and renewable energy; sources and measuring of funding commitments for greenhouse gas reductions, and adaptation to climate change impacts; and response to the anticipated release (which took place this week) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report.

The next UN climate negotiating meeting takes place June 4-15 in Bonn, and will include a ministerial segment in the first week. Governments also agreed to an additional negotiating session in October in Lima, prior to the next major conference of parties to the UNFCCC, which will be held in December, also in Lima. USCIB will be covering all these meetings, so stay tuned for additional reports on these critical UN negotiations and related developments on global climate change.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

 

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UN Welcomes Business as It Plans for Global Environmental Assembly

Published on March 31, 2014
USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (third from left) with members of the U.S. delegation attending the Nairobi sessions
USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (third from left) with members of the U.S. delegation attending the Nairobi sessions

For the first time, the UN Environment Program’s Committee of Permanent Representatives (UNEP OE CPR) allowed non-governmental and business representatives to attend a preparatory meeting in Nairobi, from March 24 to 28. The meeting discussed proposed decisions for the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) to be held in Nairobi in late June.

USCIB Vice President Norine Kennedy represented U.S. business at the week-long meeting, where she also serves as co-chair of the Stakeholder Coordinating group for UNEP. Joining Kennedy was Weru Macharia of the Kenyan Employers’ Organization. Business submissions to UNEP can be found here.

Government representatives at the UNEP session considered new international policy efforts on:

– air quality, proposed by the United States

– strengthening scientific assessments by UNEP

– chemicals and waste, and

– non-governmental stakeholder engagement.

USCIB will be preparing for the June UNEA in order to communicate member priorities and views to the U.S. and other government representatives that will attend. UNEA will lay the groundwork for environmental considerations in the UN Post 2015 Development agenda, and extend UNEP influence into scientific assessment and agenda setting for international policy.

UNEP is the recognized central UN agency for environmental issues, comprising several multilateral environmental agreements, international chemical regulatory policy, green economy and scientific assessment. At last year’s Rio+20 meeting and UN General Assembly, governments agreed to expand UNEP’s membership to include all 193 country members of the UN, and to give it primary authority for environmental policy. USCIB has had consultative standing with UNEP since 2010.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

 

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