Policy directions to 2050: a business contribution to the dialogues on cooperative action

This report asserts that the only way to combat climate change is through decisive, concerted and sustained actions between governments, businesses and consumers, and identifies policy options to achieve this. It explores policy ideas and concepts which will allow to sustain economic growth while transforming the way society accesses, produces and consumes energy. It calls for the development and deployment of leading-edge technologies through partnerships and incentives and an approach to mitigate long-term market risk and deliver secure benefits for large-scale, low-carbon, new-technology projects.The report argues that international efforts on climate change must recognise the sovereignty of national energy policy decisions, but at the same time provide the necessary global context for those decisions and the tools to optimise GHG emissions management. Systematically decarbonizing the global energy mix will require a broad and efficient mix of policies and programs, and there is a need to learn from current approaches and instruments that are being used and continue to evolve at international, regional and domestic levels.The publication puts forth four policy priorities:a quantifiable, long-term (50-year) global emissions pathway for the management of GHG emissions established by 2010 which will help build confidence to support technological development and business actionestablishing an international framework to close the gap that will exist after 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol expires), using the existing international framework as a basis, and modifying it to build up from local, national, sector or regional programmesat national level, developing programmes to encourage energy efficiency, broaden fuel choices and boost incentives for low-carbon consumptiondeveloping and commercialising low- and zero-GHG technologies (e.g., nuclear, renewables, fuel cells, clean coal and CCS) over the coming decades. These will require supporting policies and programs to address technical and cost challenges