| |
In This Issue
Editor's Note
Meeting the Climate Change Challenge
Following our feature last week on why climate change matters for every company, this week we look at the role of business in addressing three key climate change challenges: gaps in public knowledge, company action, and real results.
Some companies—including Apple, which joined a growing list of businesses expressing their dissatisfaction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's position on climate change—are taking a lead on this front. As BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer recently wrote, this kind of company action raises "the likelihood that smart climate policy will emerge from Washington and help lead to an agreement in Copenhagen."
How companies can meet the climate change challenge is one of the major themes of the BSR Conference 2009, happening in San Francisco next week. Don't miss our sessions on the potential impact of global climate change policy and the nexus of climate change and human rights. If you can't make the Conference this year, be sure to read the summary notes of these sessions posted at www.bsr.org/session-summaries on Tuesday October 27.
 |
In Depth
Minding the Gaps: Three Unmet Needs for Climate Leadership
By Besty Fargo and Ryan Schuchard
Despite the growing number of advocates for climate change action, business must overcome three obstacles that could prevent us from achieving climate stability: gaps in public knowledge, in company action, and in real results.
Read more →
|
Spotlight
Indigenous People and Business: Meeting Expectations
By Chris Nolan, Associate Director, Advisory Services, BSR
With 370 million indigenous people worldwide, international standards defining the basic rights of these people—including the ILO 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the International Finance Corporation's Performance Standard 7—are increasingly relevant for industries such as extractives, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture.
BSR will explore the nexus of indigenous rights and business at the BSR Conference 2009. We recommend that companies take the following steps to meet the growing international expectations:
- Identify how indigenous rights issues—including rights to self-determination and intellectual property—intersect with your business.
- Incorporate recognition, understanding, and respect for indigenous rights into your operations.
- Engage in a culturally informed manner with indigenous communities and local governments.
- Maintain free participation and transparency during consultations over land and resources.
- Establish clear commitments with and seek broad-based support from communities.
- Support the development of indigenous communities through programs, products, and services.
For more information, please contact Julia Nelson, Manager, Advisory Services, BSR.
On the Record
Apple Opposes U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Climate Policy
When Apple Inc. resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, the company joined Exelon Corp., Nike, PG&E Corp., and PNM in opposing the Chamber’s position on U.S. climate change policy.
According to Apple's resignation letter:
"For those companies who cannot or will not [reduce greenhouse gas emissions], Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort."
—Catherine A. Novelli, Vice President, Worldwide Government Affairs, Apple Inc. (October 5, 2009)
The position of the Chamber, which opposes the U.S. Waxman-Markey bill but supports "strong federal legislation" and a "binding international agreement" on climate change, reads in part:
"Some in the environmental movement claim that, because of our opposition to a specific bill or approach, we must be opposed to all efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, or that we deny the existence of any problem. They are dead wrong."
—Thomas Donohue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO (September 29, 2009)
|
|
|
