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At the Investor Summit Pledges to Invest for Sustainable Development and Take Needed Steps to Deal with Climate Change

Some 450 global investors gathered last week at the UN headquarters in New York for Investor Summit on Climate Risk and Energy Solutions, UN reported. At the press conference after the Summit, Global Head of Deutsche Asset Management Kevin Parker said that investors' recognition of climate risks took "hold" as it had never before. Mr. Parker also noted that they have never been closer to taking steps needed to deal with climate change.

Vice-President of General Electric's Ecomagination Mr. Mark Vachon told reporters that investments in sustainability were no longer a peripheral element in the "corporate landscape;" quite on the contrary, companies that are not "on board" are at risk of "becoming irrelevant."

According to the Deutsche Asset Management study released at the Summit, 30 out of 40 countries had implemented strong environmental measures and policies, noted Ceres President and Director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk Mindy Lubber; however some nations were still lagging, among them the United States.

Chair of the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Change Donald MacDonald pointed out that solutions to climate change were in most likelihood to start slowly and take on speed as they advanced. Namely, "we" are not in a "sprint," we are in a "marathon," he underscored.

And Policy Analysis head at Bloomberg New Energy Finance Ethan Zindler said that in 2011 clean energy investments increased 5% to some $260 billion, with solar power technology leading the way having surged 36% representing more than $137 billion in investments.

In his message to Investor Summit, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon asked investors for their support to sustainable development programs and initiatives to tackle climate change and provide efficient and economical energy solutions, according to the UN.

Efforts of the public sector alone are not "sufficient," Mr. Ban Ki-moon said while also reminding the investors about his Sustainable Energy for All Initiative that seeks to mobilize private sector resources to forge clean-energy economy over the next 20 years.

For the three global objectives--universal access to energy, doubling the improvement rate in energy efficiency and doubling the renewable energy share in the worldwide energy mix-- "everyone" needs to be "at the table," from investors to governments and civil society and they all need to work together "in common cause," Secretary General underscored, as reported by the UN.

To obtain commitments for his objectives, Mr. Ban Ki-moon has created high-level group that is developing Action Agenda for this June Rio+20 Summit  and is co-chaired by the Bank of America Chairman and the chief of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Secretary General also praised investors who are more and more evaluating businesses and companies on their energy and climate footprint and pushing them to improve their energy efficiency.

Source: UN