World Business Summit on Climate Change - 24-26 May 2009, Copenhagen

Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power President, calls upon governments at the
World Business Summit: Tackling climate change is our responsibility
towards future generations and it means decarbonizing power generation.
The industry will deliver the technologies, but their start-up and
large-scale deployment require in the short term the funds and in the
long term the legal framework only governments can provide.

At the World Business Summit on Climate Change from May 24th to 26th, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, global business leaders are taking part in an interactive debate on Shaping the new green economy. With one objective: listing solutions and needs to turn climate change challenges into opportunities.

Governments are the only ones who can ensure the legal framework the private sector needs to do what it is able to do best innovate in a cost-effective way to ensure decarbonised power. 

In order to help limit CO2 emissions and temperature rise by 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 and develop a business model to further promote low-carbon technologies, the Power sector needs the leadership from governments to provide clear targets and incentives.
In the Power sector, investments are always heavy and long-term, specifies Philippe Joubert. Therefore, governments must act to provide: 

• Long term robust framework for carbon pricing and intellectual property protection. And one that is global, in order to drive the market for clean technologies. 
• Immediately available public funding, to allow the start-up and the deployment of clean technology innovation. 

From the supply side, Alstom Power is working on emission levels using 3 main levers:

• Technology mix 
• Production Efficiency (on new and installed base)
• Carbon Capture and Storage 

Alstom Power spent several hundreds of million euros on R&D last year, with a major focus on additional investment in CO2 capture solutions, on these 3 fronts.
We propose the complete portfolio of technologies to make power clean today, and all of it will be needed, unless we accept a major setback in demand levels, which seems pretty unlikely, says Philippe Joubert. We believe that continuous innovation holds the key to a long-term solution to the environmental and economic challenges, through a range of technologies enabling more efficient and more sustainable power generation. 

Limiting CO2 emissions and temperature rise to 2°C by 2100 will require a coordinated global effort by governments, industry and consumers to address the huge challenge of climate change. Power generation is the main contributor (41%) to CO2 emissions. In 2006, the sector has been responsible for 11 GT/year of CO2 (Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2008). If nothing changes, these emissions will reach 18 GT in 2030, as we increase our demand for electricity.

It takes more than a generation to replace the capital stock of power generation, therefore if nothing is done now, we will delay the change for yet another generations investment decision, declares Philippe Joubert. It is a global problem with no local solutions. Therefore, Alstom Power believes that it is our common responsibility to act today. 

Alstom participates and supports the World Business Summit. The World Business Summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark from May 24th to 26th will be a one-time opportunity for companies, economists, and other leading thinkers, to make decisions on the role of the global business community into the Climate Change thought process started in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio. It will give birth in December 2009 to an international agreement that will shape Climate Change management from 2012, impacting economic growth, business practices and regulatory processes on a global scale.
For more information, please see http://www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/ 

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