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  Business Times 6 Apr 07
The tide is turning on climate change
Companies find it makes economic sense to be eco-conscious
says Pamela Chew

OF LATE, the business community has been abuzz with talk of going green. And the urgency to stem the dangers of global warming is driven not by a sudden corporate urge to support the green cause - but dollars and cents.

A new United Nations-backed global climate report says that if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are not reduced, the economical cost to countries could be huge. Carbon dioxide is mainly responsible for the greenhouse effect.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) study released today is the first extensive climate change report in six years. And it warns that Asia may be hardest hit if serious measures are not taken to curb GHG emissions.

The first volume of the report released in February said that the 'costs of major ( weather) events can range from several per cent of annual regional gross domestic product' for large economies to 'more than 25 per cent in smaller areas that are affected by the events'.

According to Global Carbon Project, a research organisation, 7.9 billion tonnes of CO2 was pushed into the atmosphere in 2005. Many variables go into calculating the economic cost but the IPCC report said that 'total economic impacts are estimated to be in the range of a few per cent of global product for a few degrees Celsius of warming'.

As an indication, AFP estimated in a report that economies could enjoy a 'benefit of US$3 per tonne of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere - mainly because warming would open up frozen lands in the northern hemisphere to agriculture - to a cost of more than US$400 per tonne'.

The IPCC foresees tropical countries from Africa to Asia bearing the brunt of climate change. And environmental group Friends of the Earth said that if measures are not taken to slow global warming, poorer countries will suffer the most as they are least able to adapt.

In the week leading up to the release of the IPCC report today, world leaders have been locked in a war of words over GHG emissions. The European Union has criticised the United States and Australia for not doing more to cut their CO2 emissions.

The world's biggest CO2 emitter, the US, and the second-largest coal exporter, Australia, are reluctant to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol - a climate change pact aimed at reducing GHG emissions. Eighty out of 174 countries and government entities have both signed and ratified the agreement.

But while their leaders shy away from the climate pact, US and Australian businesses are warming up to the idea of cutting emissions.

The Business Council of Australia and the Investors and Business for US Climate Action are lobbying for federal action to establish targets for cuts in carbon emissions.

Perhaps businesses have a better understanding of the dollar figure attributed to unabated global warming. The IPCC said in its draft report that sea levels could rise by 18 to 59 cm by the end of the century, with the figure boosted if icesheets melt more quickly. The report said a rise of one metre would cost US$944 billion with almost half that cost being borne in Asia.

Friends of the Earth International spokeswoman Catherine Pearce urged developed nations to take more measures to deal with climate change. 'The industrialised world must lead the way by making significant cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions and help less developed countries to develop sustainable, low-carbon economies,' she said.
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