G8 leaves climate change up to future generations

So, in 42 years' time, will you remember the names of the G8 leaders who came up with the latest "breakthrough" agreement on climate change? Well, they're reckoning on not being around. Or, if they are, that you won't look back to today and point the finger.

The G8 have just committed to halving carbon emissions by 2050. It's pathetic in itself as a target and would not require less than a 2% per annum reduction on a compound annual basis. In fact, funnily enough, the "leaders" have not committed to doing anything at all, since there is no intermediate target. You can look these fellows up in 2020 and ask them how it's going and no matter where things stand, they can happily say, "we're on course". Indeed, the US has no intention of reducing emissions before 2020.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Amory Lovins, says that CEOs should think of energy and resource efficiency as a key source of competitive advantage. He comments in the McKinsey Quarterly*:

In my team’s latest redesigns for $30 billion worth of facilities in 29 sectors, we consistently found about 30 to 60 percent energy savings that could be captured through retrofits, which paid for themselves in two to three years... The real leaders are going to be smart companies that see the competitive advantage in leading energy transformation in their sectors.

Suppose then, that our G8 leaders went back home and encouraged their CEOs to do just this instead of subsidising inefficient practices, what then might happen?

Just a thought.
Lord Goring

*An interview with the Rocky Mountain Institutes Amory Lovins, McKinsey Quarterly, July 2008