Recently, ACCO hosted the EPA Climate Protection Award Winner Roundtable.  Each year, the EPA honors companies, organizations and individuals for extraordinary efforts in response to climate change.  This year, for the first time, EPA invited all winners past and present for a special networking event that would enable them to participate in discussions on climate change policy and related issues.  Rajendra Shende, Head of the OzonAction Branch at the UN Environment Programme (Division of Technology, Industry and Economics), wrote the following in his blog in summary of the event:

In a single day I heard so many important speeches and was part of discussions at the round table. A Senator, a Governor, senior officers of the Environmental Protection Agency, White House Staff of Environmental Council, a Mayor of Berkeley city, NGOs, officers from regional EPAs including those from California, Vermont and Maryland, young and experienced administrators…the list was long. They had one message in common, one resounding and resonating tone that echoed all the time. That message and that tone were of optimism. The fall of climate change was over. It was definitely a new beginning that heralded the big bounce and lively leap into spring.

The program’s plenary session was headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who shared with the attendees his perspectives on the need for a comprehensive bill.  Nikki Roy from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change talked about the likelihood of a climate bill passing through Congress this year, and Durwood Zaelke highlighted tipping points and areas where we could easily address reducing the more potent greenhouse gases (e.g. black carbon).  The second half of the program was oriented toward breakout sessions where the award winners collaborated on issues of interest.  There were some interesting assessments and “next steps” identified by the group, which included:

• State/Municipal Leadership: Incubators to Inform State and Federal Action - Members of state and municipal government were joined by industry and NGO representatives on this topic.  Their conclusions included the need for states and municipalities to coordinate protocols and provide sound information, as well as to engage and empower one another.  Their focuses included building and strengthening cross program working relationships, maintaining federal/state/municipal partnerships, and continuing conversations with states and climate professionals.
   
• The Ozone Story: Using the Montreal Protocol to Inform the Kyoto Process - In a speech given just before the G20 meetings in Bonn, Todd Sterne referred to the Montreal Protocol as the model for future climate change agreements.  A group of award winners, many of whom worked directly on the Montreal Protocol, described the strengths of that process ... focused, obligated, financed, clear and fast, collaborative and practical.  Secondly it gathered capable representatives from strategic jurisdictions and empowered them to lead the effort.  Finally, once approved, the success in the Montreal Protocol was its immediate implementation — "now, not later."
   
• Industry: What Incentives are needed? What’s working? What else do we need to do? - Representatives from companies such as AMD and Honda discussed the current business climate and identified their greatest challenge being the inability to anticipate where policy and the markets will be in a year.  Their comments included:
  • Without stability in policy and incentives, larger businesses are consequently unable to develop plans that can be effective in responding to climate change and taking advantage of opportunities that can or should be in place. 
  • They suggested that government and industry need to work together to facilitate interactions between entities and industries with synergies (e.g. the semiconductor industry has significant synergies with the PV industry that may result in enhanced flexibility enabling a company to produce both semiconductors and solar cells based on market demand). 
  • Industry and government cannot take steps to move forward simply for the sake of moving forward … those steps must be strategic, sound and ultimately, successful.  In order to ensure that is the case, we need productivity metrics, case studies, best practices and other related information to demonstrate ROI to industry and government leadership.  Additionally, it was pointed out that not every company is fortunate enough to have a climate change or sustainability professional — thus, it is imperative that there be a resources to obtain that expertise.
  • Incentives such as the tax credits for purchasers of hybrid vehicles over the past few years will improve consumer demand for "green" products and will help to influence the culture change necessary for this transition to a "greener" society to be successful.

• Energy Security & Climate Change: Key Leverage Points - Tom Morehouse (a member of the ACCO advisory board and an EPA Climate Protection Award Winner) joined a group of defense community award winners on this issue.  As this is an emerging area (thanks in large part to the papers Tom wrote for the Institute for Defense Analyses over the past few years), the following questions were posed (and will be addressed by this group on an ongoing basis):

  • What is energy security?

  • How do you get it?

  • How is it linked to climate change?

  • How can it change the world?

• Efficiency First: Creating Simultaneous Energy Efficiency & Economic Gains - Energy efficiency is an area where we may see the most immediate impact on greenhouse gas emissions resulting from our efforts as a society.  In order for that to be realized, the working group reported that we need:

  • Better programs on social marketing for and education on energy efficiencies.

  • Programs such as EnergyStar are successful, good branding and should be expanded upon.

  • To prioritize discussions on energy efficiency and separate it from conservation.

  • To develop incentives that enable phasing out of old, inefficient energy-consuming products.

  • Good documentation on the business case behind pursuit of efficiency measures.

  • Information on experiences shared with developed and developing countries.