The invisible side of Bali (COP 13)

12 Dec 2007 – Geoff Lye

I have become increasingly struck by the extraordinary differences between the main conference and the so-called ‘side events’ which offer the chance for any group to share its thinking and experience – either to promote awareness and understanding or as a route of influence to the negotiating teams. There is a huge choice and I have tended to follow events held by those who have decided to move unilaterally on climate solutions whether countries, cities or corporations. In part, this is because I fully support the UN process but hold out little hope that it will deliver emissions reductions on the scale and speed the urgency of the situation demands. The unilateral players are likely to hold the key to whether we succeed or fail in meeting the challenge.

As my blog has reported, the level of commitment and vision which I have witnessed from country reports, NGO/business collaboration, policy experts and the huge array on interested individuals has been inspiring. On the other hand, moving back to the main conference, the mood is one of frustration, politicisation and game playing. It strikes me too that the outside world must be seeing almost solely those aspects of what is happening here in Bali.

There were, however, brighter moments today in the opening speeches of the High Level Segment – the point in the conference when country ministers pick up the process which has been handled by their delegation over the previous ten days. In spite of the sombre regrets of all speakers on the Algerian casualties, there were powerful statements of the need for the newly arrived ministers to bring the process to a positive conclusion. Direct appeals were made for the US not to block or stall the process. The new Australian Prime Minister having just handed over the Kyoto ratification documents to the UN’s Secretary-General, received round after round of applause from the assembly. It did feel as though we were witnessing a milestone in the race against time and human inaction. The next two days will show whether the necessary breakthroughs can be made.

Later in the day, I attended a side event which was a presentation by the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel on the 15 legally binding decisions adopted last week to put his country in the vanguard of climate protection. He was passionate and unequivocal in his view that a shift to a low carbon Germany would actually benefit the economy both in terms of job creation (estimated at 230,000); of lessened energy dependence; and of net economic gains (31 billion Euros of cost against 36 billion Euros of additional economic activity to 2020 – a picture which is even more positive with current high oil prices). He noted too that clean technologies were boosting German exports – 70% of wind turbines, for example, are exported. Also on the panel were John Schellenhuber with whom I had lunch yesterday, (Lord) Nick Stern, and Ricardo Lagos, ex-President of Chile and a UN Special Envoy on Climate Change. Altogether, very inspiring.

At a reception of the International Emissions Trading Association I met Nigel Sizer who heads the social enterprise group Rare’s Asia Pacific operations. They are committed to using the skills of social marketing to scale up entrepreneurial solutions to climate change (by deploying solar cookers, for example). Given the critical role of micro-finance in their business model, I introduced him to HSBC’s Nick Robins who is now head of the bank’s Climate Change Centre of Excellence. Nick’s previous experience with Hendersons where he headed the SRI team gave him insight into how global banks are able to integrate micro finance into their mainstream businesses. He cited Barclays as a good example of balancing traditional banking and risk management with the distinctively different micro finance business model.

In a taxi queue, Climate Change Capital’s James Cameron shared a similar sense of the starkly different moods between the main conference and its ‘sideshows’. It is so different from previous COPs – and certainly from the Delhi COP8 I attended in 2001 – that we thought it might be worth writing up our analysis back in the UK.

Back to the hotel where I spotted Michael Molitor of PwC. He and a colleague were just back from a meeting with Kevin Rudd still basking in the glory of the opening conference. An interview Michael gave on Monday on the question of whether Australia should sign up to the 25-40% emissions reduction target caused something of a storm, but back in my room I have just seen that PwC have now released a report emphasising the scale of reduction opportunities available. This is in today’s Herald Sun:

Many Australian businesses could slash their greenhouse emissions at virtually no cost, research has found.

A survey of Australian companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that only 8 per cent of businesses had an understanding of opportunities to reduce emissions.

Research conducted for the firm by consultant Michael Molitor found many companies could reduce emissions by about 30 per cent at no net cost.

Savings would come from measures such as improving insulation and more efficient lighting.

“PwC believes it is beneficial for the Australian economy as a whole, if low-cost abatement opportunities are understood by business,” the company said in a statement.

And so to bed. With 48 hours to go, we will watch with interest from the sidelines and the side events to see whether the invisible positive energy surrounding the conference can spur the breakthrough called for in the opening speeches.