26 May 2009: Speaking at the World Business Summit on Climate Change, which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 24-26 May 2009, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the over 500 participating business leaders to use their business acumen to urge government leaders to reach an agreement on reducing greenhouse gases at the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) in December 2009.

The Summit focused on exploring how the next global treaty on climate change could be shaped to encourage business action. Ban highlighted the “ingenuity and vision” of the business community and its potential to “lead by example where others – including governments – are lagging behind.” He suggested that they should tell their governmental leaders to “seal the deal” in Copenhagen.
On 26 May, participants in the Summit presented “The Copenhagen Call” to Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer. The Copenhagen Call sets out the elements business believes are required for an effective new global climate treaty. It stresses the need to implement the following six steps: agreement on a science-based greenhouse gas stabilization path with 2020 and 2050 emissions reduction targets to achieve it; effective measurement, reporting and verification of emissions performance by business; incentives for a dramatic increase in financing low emissions technologies; deployment of existing low-emissions technologies and the development of new ones; funds to make communities more resilient and able to adapt to the effects of climate change; and means to finance forest protection. [UNEP Press Release] [World Business Summit Website]