2degrees network

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) of Germany has just released an interim report about environmental and economic effects of the Copenhagen pledges and more ambitious emission reduction targets.

This report explores the environmental and economic effects of the pledges submitted by industrialized and major developing countries for 2020 under the Copenhagen Accord as quantifiable emission reductions or as NAMAs. 

The emission reduction targets of the world’s major CO2 emitters under the Copenhagen Accord are not yet sufficient to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. Doing more will not necessarily cost us more, however. 

This new study – prepared by Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI and Virginia Tech University - shows that economic costs in terms of reduced gross domestic product (GDP) compared to baseline GDP in 2020 are no higher than 0.25 percent, assuming that emission allowances are traded globally. If the EU reduces its emissions by 30 percent (instead of by 20 percent) by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, the reduction in GDP growth will be marginal.

CEOs and boards of major companies remain committed to sustainability.  The Cisco 2degrees Sustainable Business Confidence Barometer shows that, despite economic uncertainty, most large organisations expect to increase their investment in sustainability.

2degrees and Cisco are pleased to release the results of a new survey of 500 organisations of more than 1,000 FTE.  This Confidence Barometer has been developed to act as a twice yearly measurement of prevailing levels of commitment and confidence to sustainable business strategies.

Sabien Technology has been awarded a contract valued at over £250,000 to supply its M2G intelligent boiler load optimiser to 45 buildings operated by Greenwich Borough Council.

These are the the slides from the presentation by David Bent, Head of Business Strategies at Forum for the Future on 7th July 2010.

Tomorrow’s challenge is to extend sustainability strategies beyond simple cost and carbon savings and transform them into a new generation of broader, more interactive assets that deliver energy availability and resilience at optimum performance.

Linked to local energy communities the decentralised energy infrastructure will be developed to meet more than just the individual need. Those who contribute most to the solutions will be positioned to thrive in the future.