5 February 2009: Addressing a breakfast meeting of Chief Executive Officers, which took place ahead of the opening of the 2009 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, in New Delhi, India, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited business community leaders to become “leaders to become pioneers in leading on climate change issues.”

He underlined that it will take “leadership, imagination and a commitment to new ideas” to invest in new, emerging technologies in the fields of energy and the environment. He stressed the need for the business community to encourage governments to work for an agreed outcome in Copenhagen, adding that “a policy framework with the right incentives for a low-carbon future would provide the signal that industry needs.” In concluding, he stressed the essential role businesses play in the New Green Deal, and underscored that they too need an ambitious agreement in Copenhagen. [The Statement]