Contraction and Convergence calls for corporate support

The Global Commons Institute (GCI), the group campaigning for the adoption of the Contraction and Convergence (C&C) methodology for curbing global carbon emissions, will next month launch a logo-based accreditation scheme that will allow firms to signal their support for the concept.

Developed in the early 1990s, C&C has been widely praised as potentially one of the most effective and equitable means of cutting carbon emissions. The methodology proposes setting a global carbon budget based on the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that scientists deem safe and a date by which we have to reach that level.

That budget includes a figure for the amount the world can safely emit to achieve that stabilisation goal and that figure is divided by the expected population in the target year to get a per capita emission entitlement. Each country can then work out its national allocation based on the size of its population. Countries would then be able to trade carbon credits based on their allocations as each country's emissions converge towards a common per person target.

The proposal has secured widespread support from a number of political groups, including the African Group of Nations and the Indian government, and now the GCI is seeking corporate support for the idea as it seeks to get the model adopted as part of the post-Kyoto agreement currently being negotiated by the UN.

Under its new Carbon Countdown initiative, firms will be able to sign a declaration of support for C&C and in return will be licensed to exhibit the C&C logo as an endorsement of their position and a means of encouraging members of the international community similarly support the model.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Aubrey Meyer, the founder of the GCI and the man behind C&C, said the logo would provide firms with a means of demonstrating that they are serious about tackling climate change.

"CSR can be seen as a bit of a toothless lion," he said. "But this is a way for the commercial sector to demonstrate a commitment to collective corporate responsibility and indicate that they realise we can't go on picking [carbon reduction target] numbers out of a hat and need a serious science-based approach [to cutting emissions].

He added that the scheme had already secured support from the Eden Project, the Findhorn ecovillage development, the All Party Group on Climate Change and the Royal Institute of British Architects. He also revealed that the GCI was currently in talks with a number of "big institutions" in the building and brokerage industries.

The accreditation scheme comes as signs are beginning to emerge that C&C is being taken increasingly seriously by the UK government as a means of managing emission reductions. Whitehall has been hostile to the idea in the past with figures such as the author of the Stern report, Sir Nicholas Stern, dismissing the idea, but according to Meyer there are signs its position is shifting.

While the government is still not publicly endorsing, a recent paper by Stern outlined plans for "an equalisation of per capita emissions" by 2050 that Meyer insists represents C&C in all but name.

"We are beginning to see a significantly increased focus on the idea from policymakers," he said.