The Copenhagen Communiqué on Climate Change

This communiqué calls for an ambitious, robust, and equitable global deal on climate change that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crises facing the world today.

Economic development will not be sustained in the long term unless the climate is stabilized. It is critical that we exit this recession in a way that lays the foundation for low-carbon growth and avoids locking us into a high-carbon future.

These are difficult and challenging times for the international business community, and a poor outcome from Copenhagen will only make them more so, by creating uncertainty and undermining confidence.

In contrast, if an ambitious and equitable deal can be agreed upon, it will deliver the economic signals that companies need if they are to invest billions of dollars in low-carbon products, services, technologies, and infrastructure.

The basic shape of an agreement should be as follows:

The more ambitious the framework, the more business will deliver.

The problem of climate change is solvable. Many of the technologies required are available today, while others can be developed if the right incentives are in place. The policies needed are relatively clear, and the costs of transition are manageable, even in the current economic climate. The one thing we do not have is time. Delay is not an option.

The Copenhagen Communiqué on Climate Change is widely recognized as the definitive progressive statement from the international business community ahead of the United Nations climate-change conference in Copenhagen this December.

It has secured the support of more than 800 companies based in more than 60 countries worldwide, including the U.S., the EU, Japan, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and ranging from the world's largest companies and best-known brands to small- and medium-size enterprises.