Peter Bakker’s letter of 27 April 2016 entitled ‘Business stands ready to implement the Paris Agreement’ to World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Partner Members (including the Sustainable Business Council), following the 22 April 2016 signing of the Paris Agreement.

Last
Thursday and Friday marked two more historic days in the global effort to
address climate change and ensure the sustainable development of our world.
First, on Thursday, 21 April the President of the UN General Assembly organized
a series of well-attended high-level thematic debates on achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals. Then on Friday, 22 April many heads of state
attended the ceremony to sign the Paris Agreement.

HIGH LEVEL THEMATIC
DEBATES ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

Aside from the fact that this ceremony marked the first critical step taken
after Paris; my main take-away was different from many of the other
participants’.

I see that times in the United Nations are changing. And I don’t just mean the
upcoming changes in the leadership of the UNFCCC, the UNEP or the UN Secretary
General itself, which in a place like the UN New York results in a lot of
speculation.

The change that I feel setting in to these high-level conversations, much
deeper than before, is the need for a system change. A deep change in the way
our economies work, and in the way our energy, mobility, urbanization, food and
other systems contribute to the goals for 2030.

But more than that, there is also the overwhelming recognition that we only stand
a chance of realizing our goals if we all work together: government, cities,
business, civil society and individuals.

In the majestic hall of the
General Assembly, next to Presidents, the Secretary-General and celebrities, we
witnessed Mr. Sunny Verghese, CEO of OLAM International, deliver a keynote
address to the General Assembly on how business has a key role to play to
integrate the SDGs into business models and strategy.

And it did not stop there. For the first time in the history of high-level events
of the UNGA, business, government and civil society sat together at the same
tables, discussing how to advance objectives towards the SDGs. Participating
WBCSD members included Accenture, ENGIE, EY, Iberdrola, IKEA, Kellogg’s, Natura
Cosméticos, Novozymes, Olam International, Tata Group, Total, the US BCSD,
Unilever and Yes Bank.

In my talk before the Heads of State over lunch, I repeated my message for the
day: “The SDGs are the best gift the UN has given to the world in a long
time. The 17 goals are a clear and comprehensive framework that give all
countries and all stakeholders a clear agenda for development towards
2030.”

However, I also cautioned the UN officials that there are very few CEOs in the
world who wake up in the morning and think: “today I will work on goal 2
of the SDGs,” for example.

Instead, business will approach the SDG agenda by thinking about how to improve
the crucial systems in the world – such as cities, energy and food. These may
well be the key systems where business will invest its resources, finance and
innovations to come up with better solutions. When implemented at scale, the
solutions can help deliver the vast majority of the SDGs by 2030. We’re working
towards the same goals, through a different lens.

Business will also drive the agenda in the coming years when it comes to
transparency and accountability. I called on Governor Carney, urging that after
the “Taskforce for Climate Related Financial Disclosures” completes
its work, we should create a new taskforce that will look at “SDG-related
Financial Disclosures.”

THE PARIS AGREEMENT
SIGNING CEREMONY

The date chosen for the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement could not have
been more fitting. April 22 was Earth Day. Everyone, including NYC cab and Uber
drivers, knew what you were talking about when you opened the conversation with
“Happy Earth Day.”

This symbolism wasn’t lost on the world leaders from 175 countries, who
gathered in the hall of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The day commenced with a series of speeches, most passionately by Prime
Minister Trudeau of Canada, and a return to the stage by Leonardo DiCaprio for
a call to action. The speech by Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of China was
especially noteworthy, as he promised that China would finalize the legal
approval of the agreement before the G20 meeting in September this year.

In his opening address, French President François Hollande called loudly for
all countries to get serious about carbon pricing. Here, it’s clear that the
great work from the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition is beginning to
translate the same loud and unanimous call from business leaders into a debate
with policy makers at the highest levels.

In addition, on 15 April Mr. Feike Sijbesma, CEO of DSM, chaired a meeting in
Washington DC with the UN SG, World Bank Group President, IMF Managing
Director, the OECD Secretary General and the President of COP-21, coming
together to urge countries and companies around the world to put a price on
carbon.

On 22 April, again, two speakers from business were asked to address the many
world leaders. In the General Assembly, the Chairman and Managing Director of
Mahindra Group from India, Anand Mahindra, spoke about how this coming together
of governments and corporates was the first step towards aligning the interests
of the world. Later, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and WBCSD Chairman, made a
speech in which he stressed the importance of implementing the solutions and
commitments that companies and governments made in Paris, immediately.

By the time the Paris Agreement signing ceremony was complete, 175 countries
had come to the podium. This milestone elevates the Paris Agreement to an
entirely new level: from this moment forward, signatory countries will begin
mobilizing investments toward the low carbon economy.

THE ROLE OF BUSINESS

Leaders from around the world have openly acknowledged that state actions alone
will not be enough to deliver the transformation that is inevitable,
irreversible and irresistible. Business is now ideally positioned to become the
implementation partner of choice for the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable
Development Goals.

Business stands ready to support governments around the world as they begin to
translate their NDC climate commitments into tangible actions. We are taking
the lead in technological innovation and development.

National and local governments can and should turn to business – the world’s
most powerful economic force – and use this capability to help make their
emissions reduction targets a reality. The solutions delivered by business will
help each country deliver their NDCs even ahead of the review and ratchet
mechanisms in 2018 and 2020 of the Paris Agreement.

The opportunity has never been more obvious or more relevant, and it makes the
role of business more important than ever. It is both our responsibility and
our advantage to deliver the solutions that will accelerate the transition to a
sustainable world.

Business will be held accountable for the promises governments made in Paris.
We must do everything we can to mobilize companies in support of the Paris
Agreement and the SDGs, and to capture the value that scalable business
solutions offer to customers and shareholders.

I look forward to collaborating with each of you as we pave the way towards the
next major climate milestone together.

Let me remind you of two important events which signal the next opportunity for
business to engage.

On May 5 and 6 at the Climate
Action Summit in Washington DC, leaders from around the world will meet to
discuss solutions for climate action with the UN SG and leaders from the US and
other governments. Shortly afterwards, WBCSD will host the fifth global LCTPi
roundtable on the eve of CEM7, the Clean Energy Ministerial in San Francisco from 1-2 June 2016. The WBCSD team stands ready to help you with invitations, speaking slots and
logistics support for these events.

Let’s make more historic moments this year.

Warm regards,

Peter Bakker
President & CEO, WBCSD

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