There are a lot of business interests here at the Paris COP, and a lot of different views on a whole range of matters, but one area where the business community has found unanimity is the need to establish an more formal relationship between the business community writ large and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The business community has a broad array of expertise—everything from finance to innovation to management—that will prove extremely useful to the parties as they implement the Paris agreement.
A press release issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, which garnered the support of the entire business delegation here in Paris, made the case for an enhanced level of engagement with business in the final agreement.
“The business and industry NGO (BINGO) constituency at the UN climate talks has today called on all negotiators to explicitly recognise the positive role of business and establish a defined and recognized role for business engagement in the final Paris Agreement.”
The business community is not asking for a role in the negotiations—that’s not our job. But whether at the institutional level, or across the UNFCCC, business input could be developed and communicated by business itself, through a process that represents all sectors and nationalities, on a voluntary basis designed to solicit and convey the full range of responsible views, something that isn’t happening now.
The UNFCCC now has a significant opportunity to tap into the business community’s unique operational expertise and understanding of various types of policy mechanisms , and its technological, investment, and management expertise. We hope the UNFCCC takes business up on the offer.