Environment & Climate Friendly Business Action

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Ladies and gentlemen,

Climate change will affect us all. But we can prevent the worst outcomes and we can adapt.

Businesses will face climate risks. Recent reports document that floods, storms or drought cost money. They also affect customer spending. To be prepared, companies must review their climate readiness. A key part of corporate climate responsibility towards shareholders, workers, customers and society is :

• first of all, to be climate neutral
• secondly to have climate resilience 
• and finally, to create the new products and services we will need

This session will focus on climate change. But biodiversity and toxic emissions are also global concerns. We know that cutting down rainforests to fuel our cars with palmoil may only trade one problem for another. We know that CO2 free coalfires must also be free of mercury. Solid studies document the threats we face. For example,  the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment sets out what happens when we lose species. Analyses of pollution in the Arctic show that no part of the globe is free of persistent chemicals.

Governments map global threats and act on them. But we cannot act alone. Governments need businesses that take on the challenge. Technological innovation, sound environmental management and serving markets with more climate friendly solutions: all of this calls for partnership with the business community.

Products are often made in places far away from where they are bought. Two products may look the same, but have widely different environmental impacts. A  product may well be bought in countries that have strict obligations under the Kyoto protocol.  But it may have been made with emissions in places where laws are weak and enforcement even weaker.

Global trade and global production need global rules. Strong and stable regulation is the responsibility of governments. But reaching global agreement is a slow process.  In Rio in 1992 the framework convention on climate change was signed. In 2007 we still lack agreement on what to do after 2012. We cannot afford to wait for perfect global solutions.
 
We know that greenhouse gas emissions should be halved by 2050. We do not yet know what the future global rules to reach this climate aim will be. What we do know is that we all will have to adapt to climate change. We know that business must produce the technology we will need. It is companies themselves that are best placed to change their products and their supply chains to prevent and adapt to climate change. Governments should help make this happen.

In Norway we have seen how a tax on flaring natural gas has led to solutions. Regulation  does push innovation, but environmental innovation is good business as well.  The Norwegian government has set an ambitious aim; we want new gas fired power to capture CO2. We are not just demanding results. We are going into an active partnership for research and development. 
 
More ambitious aims than the law demands today can give strong market advantage. Using less energy and making energy efficient products, makes a company more robust in a world of rising energy prices. Wasted water, raw materials and energy is wasted money. Routines that give efficient use of natural resources go hand in hand with good control of the bottom line.

An open, well documented and good record of responsibility can benefit a company beyond the immediate results. A well regarded company will attract talented people. And innovative people make innovative firms.

As Minister of the Environment, I am concerned that the global environmental challenges of  biodiversity and persistent chemicals and climate should be at the core of corporate environmental responsibility. A survey of corporate reporting that the University of Oslo has done made it clear that companies could benefit from an overview of the field.

To help guide Norwegian businesses, we have established a website for finding relevant information on corporate environmental responsibility in one place. This site will be open from today.

Guidance and principles alone do not make better products and processes. Science, creativity and hard work does. Some companies have reviewed their own climate impacts. Comparing results with the best is a powerful tool.  Product design, procurement, production and transport, each step can use targets to improve.

Governments must set a clear, long term path for stronger regulations. But ministers of the environment do not design products and processes. So I hope that you can use this conference to share experience. How can the challenge of climate change be met by innovation? What do you expect from governments? Together we can improve the framework for corporate environmental responsibility. Then we can really build a partnership for sustainable development.

Thank you.