The New International Deal

With the eyes of the world on the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) this week in Copenhagen, members of the global community wait with a range of expectations for some meaningful agreement on how to begin to address the planet's increasingly urgent environmental and climate issues. Throughout the course of the week, there have been ups and downs, progress and setbacks, agreements and stalemates.

China claimed its place in the global spotlight by committing to cut CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by up to 45 percent by 2020. Japan strengthened its global environmental leadership position by pledging $19.5 billion to combat climate change. Countries such as Australia, Britain, France, and Norway committed $3.5 billion for forest protection across the globe. And the U.S. offered to take the lead in raising an additional $100 billion to assist developing countries in combating climate change, as long as fast-growing economies like those in China and India accept binding commitments and verification processes for emissions reduction programs.

But tension around unsettled issues is mounting, and there are open questions as to whether or not global leaders can marshal the political will to implement the extreme measures necessary to reduce our collective global impact. In an impassioned statement, U.N. climate chief Yvo De Boer declared that we're in an "all-or-nothing situation", and that unless global leaders reach consensus this week, it is possible that we'll face dire consequences as nature unleashes her fury against our current levels of pollution, waste, deforestation, and ecosystem destruction.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of climate change, there is more at stake from the results of COP15 than carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and clean technology targets. Climate consciousness has become an unavoidable pillar of our global conversation, and now, whether or not we can agree on its causes or effects, it is shaping current and future decisions about business, politics, regulation, and the economy. If we want to have an individual, national, or global influence on the outcome, we simply cannot opt out of the discussion.

As environmental accountability becomes increasingly intertwined with corporate, political, economic, and social strategy, the chess game of sustainability becomes multi-dimensional—allowing each of us to strategically execute our gambits to enhance our personal, corporate, and national competitive advantage.

In the end, the only way we can achieve environmental sustainability is if there is financial incentive to do so. There is no longer a division between carbon consciousness and job creation. Sustainability must be compatible with profitability. If we're smart, we can leverage climate change solutions not only to clean up our planet, but also to streamline our businesses and realign international political goals.

The main objectives of COP15 are to reach agreement about carbon reduction strategies and to determine guidelines for providing aid to developing countries. If those goals are achieved successfully, we can expect future climate conferences to focus on other accompanying challenges and opportunities, such as revolutionary technological innovation, massive infrastructure investment, transformational financial growth, and fundamental social behavioral change.

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