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Gigaton Awards Highlight How Businesses Lead on Climate Change

<p>With the COP16 Climate Conference about to kick off in Canc&uacute;n, and with expectations set as low as possible for any outcomes, the first annual Gigaton Awards showcase the companies that are making the most difference in reducing emissions.</p>

The time for business to lead on climate change and sustainability -- while still making profits -- is now. Every year there are globally 50 billion tons of human generate CO2 emitted per year. By 2020 -- that number is expected to reach 60 billion tons. Who is out there doing the most to reduce this number in the business community?

In the wake of Copenhagen, it is clear that leadership needs to come from the business sector. The Carbon War Room will be hosting the Gigaton Awards to highlight businesses that are raising the standards of sustainability while reducing emissions per dollar of revenue.

The nominees include Global 1000 companies across six sectors of business: Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Industrials, Telecommunications, Energy, and Utilities. In each category, there will be five nominated companies based on those that have achieved the largest reductions in CO2e emissions between FY 2008 and FY2009.

COP16 Coverage at GreenBiz.com/COP16In analogy to the Oscars, the Awards recognize best performances by business in major sectors. The launch of the Awards will occur at the World Climate Summit: The Business Conference at COP16, an event hosted by World Climate Limited in partnership with CWR, among others. A pool of five nominees across each of seven major sectors will be selected based on quantitative data indicating emissions reductions on an annual basis.

The time to act is now, and the business community is creating moments of truth everyday that make far greater progress than the wrangling of national governments. With these awards, we are showing that while policy is necessary, it is not sufficient. We need to focus, instead, on making markets work and unleashing capital to more sustainable solutions. This is our great challenge and we need business leadership to address this. The consequences if we do not will be insurmountable.

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