“The business sector wants long-term rules”

Published: 15 December 2009 y., Tuesday

Ekonomistai
How can companies and industry help to stop climate change? This is one of the questions on the table when Sweden’s Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson attends the climate change conference in Copenhagen on Monday and participates in a panel discussion organised by Businesseurope. Businesseurope represents some 40 industry and employer organisations in 34 countries.

What is the purpose of Monday’s seminar?

“The seminar will provide an opportunity for the business sector, politicians and society in general to meet and discuss issues relating to climate change and how we can develop sustainable products. This is an important discussion, which we must conduct together, on how far we are prepared to go.

“And from my experience, there is a shared interest in tackling these issues. I think it is very encouraging that there is such a strong interest from the business sector. The business sector wants clear, long-term and global rules. And it wants strict rules. The business sector is in favour of carbon dioxide taxation, which shows its commitment to the issue. Even businesspeople have children and grandchildren.”

How important are theses cross-border discussion to resolving the issue of climate change and how important is it that the business sector is involved?

“It is crucial. We as politicians can set ambitious goals and give our support to research and development, but it is the companies who will develop the products, who will come up with the IT solutions and the clever solutions to climate change. It is the companies who will develop zero-energy houses – houses that produce as much energy as they consume – and environmentally friendly car tyres that reduce fuel consumption. This is the task of the business sector. Our role is to point them in the right direction.”

You have previously spoken of the need for a transition to an eco-efficient economy. How will you bring this into today’s seminar?

“This is what I will be speaking about. When I took up my post as minister, I discovered that you cannot simply talk about the environment for the environment’s sake. Then, very few of my colleagues cared. But they became interested when we linked it to other issues, such as the economy and the possibility of environmentally friendly economic growth. And now we see many countries beginning to catch on to this. Now we need to quickly establish that this is the direction in which we must go.

“This is on a par with the industrial revolution, when we took a giant step forward for public welfare. Now we will take the next giant step and we will do it in an intelligent manner.”

Have you any practical examples of companies that are working eco-efficiently today?

“There are unendless examples of companies that are already developing climate friendly products. For example, General Electric is investing billions in developing and producing a range of environmentally friendly solutions. Another example is Skanska, who have said that they want stricter rules for the building industry.”

What else will you be doing while you are in Copenhagen?

“There will be a range of different activities. I will be there to support Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren. And I will participate in a seminar arranged by the International Energy Agency, IEA, on energy efficiency. It is exciting to see how energy has been emphasised as a key to solving the problem of climate change. No-one talked about this three years ago. While I am here I will also hold a telephone discussion with a school where I will talk about the climate change conference and answer the pupils’ questions. I think it is very important that we also inform people about what we are doing.”

Šaltinis: europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Commission approves amendment to Lithuanian crisis measure allowing small amounts of aid

The European Commission has approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, an amendment to a Lithuanian scheme allowing aid to be granted of up to €500 000 per company, initially approved on 8 June 2009. more »

The EU and Russia reinforce the Early Warning Mechanism to improve prevention and management in case of an energy crisis

As agreed by the President of the European Commission and the President of the Russian Federation during the last EU-Russia Summit in Khabarovsk, the EU and Russia have strengthened the current dispositions under the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue to prevent and manage potential energy crises, with an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism. more »

EU provides EUR 1 billion for trade facilitation in developing countries

The European Union has today presented to the World Trade Organization the trade facilitation projects it has financed between 2006 and 2008. more »

Commission approves Romanian state guarantee to Ford Romania

The European Commission has authorised, under the EC Treaty’s rules on state aid, a planned state guarantee by Romania to enable Ford Romania SA to access a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). more »

Getting out of the red

The economic crisis has left many countries with budget deficits well over the 3% limit. The commission is proposing deadlines for reducing the gaps. more »

In October 2009 prices for consumer goods and services went down by 0.4 per cent

Statistics Lithuania informs that in October 2009, against September, prices for consumer goods and services went down by 0.4 per cent. more »

Lithuania and China aim at strengthening economic and trade dialogue

Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Šarūnas Adomavičius took part in bilateral political consultations with representatives from foreign affairs, commerce and transport ministries of the People’s Republic of China. more »

Excessive Deficit Procedure steps: the Stability and Growth Pact as the anchor for fiscal exit strategies

Under the budgetary surveillance powers conferred by the EU Treaty, the European Commission today proposed to the Council to set 2013 as the deadline for the correction of the budget deficits in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Portugal. more »

World Bank and Moldova Join Forces to Fight Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture

A joint partnership between the World Bank, the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and the Ministry of Environment was launched in Moldova’s capital in the late days of October. more »

World Bank Group President Zoellick Launches Global Urban Strategy at Inaugural Infrastructure Finance Summit

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick today joins senior officials from the Government of Singapore to launch a new global urban strategy that will guide Bank advisory services and financing in the sector over the next decade. more »