Overview

Create and fund an R&D organization to undertake and disseminate credible and independent studies of the economic impacts of climate change on business sectors and specific businesses at a level of detail sufficient to affect decision-making. The organization would complement this data by also offering credible information on available solutions, especially energy efficiency investments with rapid paybacks and high rates of return.

Participants | Objectives | Related Initiatives  

Objectives

  • A credible information base.Climate change has been an issue fraught with relatively superficial messaging battles, and it is important to establish an information base that will allow all players, especially business leaders, to go deeper to a level of practical action and problem-solving. The proposed R&D organization, if created, would be consistent with this emphasis and would provide critical support to businesses seeking to implement the eight principles.
  • Methodologies.A variety of methodologies would be used, including scenario analyses of different energy prices and regulatory developments, pro forma P&Ls reflecting different carbon prices, and others that would assist businesses and investors in making more informed decisions. In particular, these efforts should produce greater clarity on what carbon price levels globally would trigger different strategic decisions about capital investments, so that businesses would have greater comfort that they understood the regulatory implications of different outcomes (e.g., at a carbon price of $20/ton, would a given utility find coal gasification plants a good investment?).
  • Build on high-quality work of others.On the solutions side, this organization would promote and build on findings from creative organizations that incubate or spotlight low-carbon alternatives, such as the Rocky Mountain Institute and The Climate Group.
  • War chest to defray first costs.Some portion of the organization’s funding could be dedicated to a “war chest” for funding grants to help specific businesses defray first costs associated with energy efficiency and other emissions-reductions investments identified or promoted by the R&D organization. This part of the organization’s finances could become selffunding if the initial investment was repaid during the payback period and reinvested.

Related Initiatives

  • ClimateBiz.com - A ‘one-stop’, comprehensive online resource for businesses, including small- and medium-size firms. Covers climate change science basics, rationale for business involvement, and guidance on actions to take. The best site of its kind; accessible without being superficial. ClimateBiz provides more ‘nuts and bolts’ for individuals at all levels in the for-profit sector. ClimateBiz is an online resource only.
  • The Climate Group - an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing business and government leadership on climate change. We are based in the UK, the USA and Australia and we operate internationally.
  • The Partnership for Climate Action - Forward-thinking companies that have recognized there is sufficient scientific evidence to warrant immediate action on climate change, and believe that investments to reduce emissions achieve the most impact when harnessing market forces, have joined with Environmental Defense to form the Partnership for Climate Action (PCA). Together they are working on effective strategies to cut industrial pollutants such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gas emissions (or GHGs).

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