COP16 begins today in Cancun, Mexico...so what?

Well, you won't see it on CNN's home page, and it's buried near the bottom of BBC's, but the COP16 climate talks indeed started today. While there is little hope for any real progress to come out of the first climate talks since the failed Copenhagen talks last December, there has been a shift in climate action strategy this past year, according to what I'm hearing at various events that I've attended. This article from The Guardian answers some basic questions about COP16, and mentions the big players who will be in attendance. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/08/cancun-cop16-climate-talks


In September I represented my company at the Carbon Disclosure Projects's Global Forum here in New York. The UN "Climate Chief", Christiana Figueres, is highlighted in this article and spoke to us at the Forum. She shared what's reported in the article today - that she holds little hope of significant action by governments at COP16 - but she added something that isn't in this article, and that offers a more optimistic view of climate action. In a nutshell, she and the other big players have now put their hope in corporations and in local government. In the last couple of years, many international corporations have identified “green business” as a huge opportunity, regardless of their personal views, and have restructured products and processes to be able show consumers that they are serious about sustainability and addressing the issue of global climate change. Financial institutions are also in the game, with top banks committing billions of dollars each in capital dedicated to climate change. Local governments, California being a prime example, have turned their back on the stalemate of federal government and moved forward with the most aggressive climate policy in the US.


All of this independent action confirms that what will ultimately drive climate action is, of course, money. The question is: who is going to be resistant to jumping on the bandwagon to capitalize because they’d prefer to point fingers at “activists, tree huggers, and alarmists”? While I personally wish that people would act because they understand the severity of the climate crisis, I’ll take the action any way I can get it.


One day I hope that the governments of the world will be able to agree to a binding treaty, but until then, I guess it’s up to us.


Lauren