Copenhagen is a "business opportunity" says EC president

Barroso: Businesses will benefit from Copenhagen

UN climate change talks in Copenhagen in December will provide European businesses with a unique chance to prepare to compete in the low-carbon markets that will emerge over the next decade, according to European commission president José Manuel Barroso.

In a speech delivered at the BusinessEurope Conference on Climate Change in Brussels this week, Barroso referred to some of the tensions around the Copenhagen talks – including the level of subsidies which should be made available to developing countries to meet climate change targets – but also pushed home the message that environmental progress does not mean punishing businesses.

"Copenhagen is important because it represents a business opportunity. By moving towards a more sustainable economy, we will unleash a surge of innovation and investment in clean technologies and products. New sectors will provide 'green collar' jobs and become sources of sustainable growth for the future," said Barroso.

The EC president illustrated his argument by claiming that European authorities have committed to doubling use of renewable energy in the region to 20 per cent by 2020, which could generate some €90bn (£80bn) of additional investment in renewables, and some 700,000 new jobs. The cost of importing oil and gas could be cut by about €45bn a year, he added.

"There is going to be a lot of healthy low-carbon competition in the next couple of decades and European businesses must be ready," said Barroso. "Green growth is not just a distant vision. We can do it, and in concrete terms, we are already doing it, now, in Europe. Our emissions per capita are now less than half those of the US – at the same level of output."

But despite the optimistic rhetoric from the EC, some member states – including the prime minister of host nation Denmark – are not so hopeful about the prospects of a deal at Copenhagen.

"We do not think it will be possible to decide all the finer details for a legally binding regime," said Lars Loekke Rasmussen, speaking ahead of the BusinessEurope conference.

For his part, Barroso admitted some concern that Copenhagen might not conclude with a definitive agreement on climate change to succeed those laid down in the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.

"Even with such compelling arguments – scientific, moral, and economic – I remain worried about the prospects for a successful conclusion of the Copenhagen Conference. Because despite all the evidence of existing green growth and innovation and paradigm shifts, despite the renewed political commitment at leaders' level that I have seen, for example, in New York, we still need to seal the deal at Copenhagen," he said.

One of the main sticking points which could derail talks at Copenhagen is the question of how much developing countries should be compensated for meeting climate change targets.

"A global deal is also needed because the developed world has to put money on the table in Copenhagen – not just for adaptation to climate change, but to help finance developing countries' mitigation efforts. Our estimate is that by 2020, developing countries will need about €100bn a year extra to tackle climate change," said Barroso.

The EC believes European member states should pay up to €15bn a year from 2013 to developing countries, but some environmental campaigners believe the figure should be considerably higher.

"As it stands, Europe's lack of ambition in terms of cuts in carbon, and its non-existent commitment to providing money for developing countries to adapt to climate change, means we are further than ever from a real breakthrough in Copenhagen," said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace.

The EC believes that by 2020, about €22bn to €50bn a year will need to come from Europe's public sector but the rest will be made up by contributions from the carbon market and cap-and-trade schemes.