Climate change is back in the news – back and not likely to be out of it, if dire predictions are to be believed, until we are all six feet under thanks to melting polar ice caps. George W. Bush’s re-election in November has caused renewed despair among environmentalists about go-it-alone attitudes. Meanwhile December saw the launch of a UK government consultation on its climate change programme.
The figures are stark. Now legally binding on signatories after Russia’s agreement, the Kyoto Protocol requires 5% reductions in green house gas emissions by industrialised nations from 1990 levels by 2008-2012, with the UK’s target at 12.5%. This is nowhere near what many experts say is necessary. So the UK government has set a 20% target by 2010 and 60% by 2050. The financial (not to mention human) costs of failure to act are alarming: $50bn in insurance claims, according to the ABI, with the OECD talking about $14bn to $73bn for remedial action.
Yet there is cause for muted optimism. As we report above, some companies are making big savings from reducing their inputs. Early movers like BT and CFS create momentum and build a critical mass that should reduce costs for others. In the US, whatever the politicians say, companies are addressing the issue, however hesitantly. But as the CBI pointedly says, while here industry has started to act (cutting emissions by 6% between 1990 and 2003) householders have actually increased theirs by 10%.
For CSR managers, a practical suggestion: in your next social report, clearly present how you are doing against Kyoto and national targets since 1990, and say what it would take to meet them by 2010 and 2050. Then put the focus firmly on that often under-reported facet, so-called ‘indirect’ impacts, ie how you can influence others to reduce their impacts too. It’s in the consumer marketplace where this whole question of global warming will have to be resolved.
The prize is huge, not least in reducing dependence on oil from the Middle East, with all that implies for geo-politics, terrorism and global stability. Only the most churlish would say anything other than “good luck” to Tony Blair, who is promising to make this crucial issue top priority when the UK assumes the presidency both of G8 and the EU in 2005. A happy and more sustainable New Year to all our readers.
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