Dear Open ATCA & Philanthropia Friends

[Please note that the views presented by individual contributors are not necessarily representative of the views of ATCA, which is neutral. ATCA conducts collective Socratic dialogue on global opportunities and threats.]

We are grateful to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and his Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change for their submission to the distinguished members and friends of ATCA and The Philanthropia from Clarence House, London, and The University of Cambridge, UK:

1. The Fate of our Civilisation hangs in the Balance;
2. The Bali Communiqué with 150+ Corporate Signatories; and
3. Invitation to support The Bali Communiqué by 5th December 2007;

on the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007, taking place from December 3 to 14 in Bali, Indonesia.

Dear DK and Colleagues

Re: The Fate of our Civilisation hangs in the Balance

Today, more than 150 businesses from across the globe have joined together to advocate bold action to tackle climate change. Led by my Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change - in itself the result of the past 15 years' advocacy by my Business and the Environment Programme - these companies have signed a communiqué addressed to the world's leaders who will meet in Bali this week to discuss climate change.

The signatories represent companies from Europe, the US, China and Australia. Their message is clear. They believe climate change is a reality, that continued economic growth depends on tackling it and that the costs of inaction are too great. They believe that rigorous targets must be set and be based on science and common sense, not on the demands of short-term competitiveness. They also believe that the industrialised countries will have to bear much greater cuts than developing nations and want the certainty of a binding framework so they can invest in new technologies and know that these will be good for business. This communiqué represents an unprecedented global corporate alliance.

These companies are showing remarkable leadership and I can only congratulate them. It is the fervent hope of myself and the signatories that it will strengthen the resolve of those in Bali to make the tough decisions. It is worth stressing that if action is taken now we can stop the worst effects of climate change and do so at a cost that is a fraction of the probable cost of inaction. But the window of opportunity is small and growing smaller, and the threats are happening at a speed that is causing real alarm to scientists. Let me give just one example. Two months ago scientists noticed an unprecedented melting of the north polar ice cap. About 43 per cent of the total ice cap normally melts in the summer. This year 66 per cent melted. The Ice and Snow Data Centre in Colorado predicts that within the next seven to 23 years, the entire north polar ice cap will completely disappear in summer. Why does this matter? A lack of sea ice means that the world is no longer able to reflect as much solar heat as it used to and so the rise in global temperatures will accelerate. Despite this, there is no evidence that emissions are diminishing. Indeed, at best it is business as usual; at worst emissions are increasing because of economic growth and the burning of fossil fuel, particularly coal.

What these signatory companies understand is that the effects of climate change are irreparable and permanent. The floods, droughts, rising sea-levels, spread of disease and poverty will be with us for ever. It is why it will take a massive effort to tackle it and why so much responsibility rests on the governments in Bali. They meet in the knowledge that a broad spectrum of private sector interests is urging them on. This is critical because we must harness the power of all sectors, public and private. Of crucial importance is the role of big capital providers, such as pension funds and insurance companies, and their ability to direct their investments towards delivering a low carbon economy.

One of the priorities must be to stop tropical deforestation, which is estimated to be responsible for about 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Only the power generation sector releases more. These forests are the greatest global public utility, regulating our temperature, cleaning our air and producing our rainfall. As a matter of urgency we have to find ways to make them more valuable alive than dead. It is for this reason that, drawing on 23 years of involvement in corporate social responsibility, I have asked 12 of the world's leading companies to help find an innovative, equitable answer to this highly complex problem.

Many of us fortunate enough to have lived in the developed world since the second world war have grown up assuming that standards of living will continue to rise generation by generation. But climate change will not only halt this process, it will reverse it - and most probably for ever. There is no doubt that the fate of our civilisation hangs in the balance. If I have grandchildren one day, I could not bear it if they asked me: "Why did you not do something when it was possible to make a difference?" These business leaders have asked themselves that same question and have had the wisdom to recognise that we are doing this for those who come after us. Let us all join them by "stiffening the sinews and summoning up the blood" to overcome this unprecedented challenge.

HRH The Prince of Wales

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is heir to the British Throne. Alongside his work in other areas, The Prince has been an environmental leader for many years and he has been instrumental in establishing a number of programmes and initiatives to help protect the planet and prevent climate chaos. In 1990, he made a documentary for the BBC, titled Earth in Balance, which is a personal, impassioned call for a reassessment of man's relationship with the natural world. In the film, His Royal Highness considers some of the world's great environmental issues such as pollution, global warming, deforestation, the ozone layer and rapid population growth.

In 1994, The Prince of Wales's established his Business & the Environment Programme (BEP) at Cambridge University. The Programme helps senior executives explore the business case for sustainable development and integrate sustainability principles into their organisations. There are seminars held each year in Cambridge, New York, Seattle, Sydney, Salzburg and Cape Town which are attended by business leaders and representatives from the public sector and non-governmental organisations. The Programme has introduced over 1500 executives from over 400 organisations in more than 30 countries to the sustainability debate. One of the BEP's most effective initiatives is its Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, set up by the Prince to act as a powerful voice in the environmental debate. It is this group which has co-ordinated the Bali Communiqué. His Royal Highness is also working with the pensions and insurance sectors to encourage discussion in, and adherence to, business strategies which address climate change.

In January 2007, The Prince was awarded the 10th Global Environmental Citizen Award in New York from Harvard Medical School's Centre for Health and the Global Environment by former US Vice President Al Gore and actress Meryl Streep. In his speech, The Prince took the opportunity to call for 'urgent steps' to counteract climate change and warned that governments needed to help fight climate change. On 30th April 2007, Business in the Community (of which The Prince has been President for 22 years) was asked by The Prince to stage a May Day Business Summit on Climate Change. A gathering at St. James's Palace, attended by His Royal Highness, was accompanied by simultaneous regional events, linked by video, at which more than 1,000 business leaders came together to create and commit to a powerful agenda to tackle climate change. The companies attending were asked to make firm commitments on what they will do to tackle their contributions to climate change. 800 companies are now part of the May Day network and the event will be repeated next year. In October 2007, The Prince of Wales launched The Prince's Rainforest Initiative which will work collaboratively with the World Wildlife Fund to combat deforestation. Deforestation is likely to be one of the quickest and most cost-effective means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, destruction of the rainforests results in 20 per cent of total carbon emissions.

The Bali Communiqué

This communiqué comes from the business leaders of over 150 global companies. It is being issued in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007, taking place from December 3 to 14 in Bali, Indonesia. The scientific evidence is now overwhelming. Climate change presents very serious global social, environmental and economic risks and it demands an urgent global response.

As business leaders, it is our belief that the benefits of strong, early action on climate change outweigh the costs of not acting:

· The economic and geopolitical costs of unabated climate change could be very severe and globally disruptive. All countries and economies will be affected, but it will be the poorest countries that will suffer earliest and the most;

· The costs of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change are manageable, especially if guided by a common international vision;

· Each year we delay action to control global emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that will likely necessitate even steeper reductions in the future, causing potentially greater economic, environmental and social disruption; and

· The shift to a low-carbon economy will create significant business opportunities. New markets for low carbon technologies and products, worth billions of dollars, will be created if the world acts on the scale required.

In summary, we believe that tackling climate change is the pro-growth strategy. Ignoring it will ultimately undermine economic growth.

It is our view that a sufficiently ambitious, international and comprehensive legally-binding United Nations agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will provide business with the certainty it needs to scale up global investment in low-carbon technologies. We believe that an enhanced and extended carbon market needs to be part of this framework as it offers the necessary flexibility, allows for a cost-effective transition and provides financial support to developing countries.

In order to avoid dangerous climate change, the overall targets for emissions reduction must be guided primarily by science. Even an immediate peaking in global emissions would require a subsequent reduction of at least 50% by 2050, according to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, and the later the peak in emissions, the greater the required reduction. All countries will need to play their part but we recognise that the greatest effort must be made by those countries that have already industrialised.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December in Bali, Indonesia, countries will have an opportunity to agree a work-plan of comprehensive negotiations to ensure such an agreement can be signed in Copenhagen in 2009, to come into force post 2012.

We urge world leaders to seize this window of opportunity.

In return, we pledge to engage positively with governments to help develop the policies and measures that are needed internationally and nationally for the business sector to contribute effectively to building a low carbon economy.

 

Signed by members of the UK and EU Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change:

· Ron Teerlink, Member of the Managing Board, ABN AMRO

· Nicholas Walsh, Executive Vice President, AIG

· Clement Booth, Member of the Board of Management, Allianz SE

· Jonson Cox, Chief Executive Officer, AWG

· Peter Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer, Axa Insurance

· Ian Cheshire, Chief Executive Officer, B&Q

· Stephen Nelson, Chief Executive Officer, BAA

· Ben Stimson, Director of Responsibility & Reputation, BSkyB

· Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive Officer, Centrica

· René Obermann, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Telekom AG

· Andrea Valcalda, Chief Coordinator of the Environment and Innovation Project, Enel

· Paul Golby, Chief Executive Officer, E.On

· Alain Grisay, Chief Executive Officer, F&C

· Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis

· Neil Carson, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson Matthey

· Ray Baker, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Kingfisher

· Truett Tate, Group Executive Director, Wholesale & International Banking, Lloyds TSB

· Garrett Forde, Chief Executive Officer, Philips Lighting, Philips

· Bart Becht, Chief Executive Officer, Reckitt Benckiser Group

· Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric

· James Smith, Chairman, Shell UK

· Stuart Graham, President and Chief Executive Officer, Skanska AB

· Mervyn Davies, Chairman, Standard Chartered

· Trude Sundseth, Senior Vice President for Environment and Climate, Statoil Hydro

· Kim Jones, MD UK & Ireland, Sun Microsystems

· Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Executive Director, Tesco

· Patrick Cescau, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever

· Simon Lewis, Group Corporate Affairs Director, Vodafone

The Bali Communiqué has also been signed by:

· Roderick Munsters, Chief Investment Officer, ABP

· Richard Lawn, Chair of the Green Committee, Access Accounting

· Juan Ramón Silva, General Manager, Acciona

· Frank Henke, Global Director - Group Social & Environmental Affairs, Adidas

· Andre Veneman, Director Corporate Social Responsibility, Akzo Nobel

· Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive Officer, Anglo American

· Peter Norman, Executive President, AP7

· Terry Hill, Chairman, ARUP

· Mr. A J Devanesan, President, Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings

· Michael O'Sullivan, President, Australian Council of Super Investors

· Rafael Codoñer Seguí, Chief Executive Officer, Bancaja Habitat

· Marcus Agius, Chairman, Barclays PLC

· Frank Chapman, Chief Executive Officer, BG Group

· Silla Maizey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, British Airways

· Cassandra Gardiner, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Cable and Wireless

· Todd Stitzer, Chief Executive Officer, Cadbury Schweppes

· John Chiang, California State Contoller, California State

· Russel Read, Chief Investment Officer, CalPERS

· Jack Ehnes, Chief Executive Officer, CalSTRS

· Christine Hodgson, UK Finance Director, Capgemini

· Frank Pegan, Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Super

· Manuel de Melgar y Oliver, Corporate and Public Affairs general manager, Cementos Portland Valderrivas

· Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Coca Cola

· Manfred Wennemer, Chief Executive Officer, Continental AG

· John Smith, Director, CP Holdings

· Ivan Mišetic, Chief Executive Officer, Croatia Airlines

· Elliott Mannis, Chief Executive Officer, D1 Oils plc

· Will Peskett, Head of corporate citizenship, Diageo

· Nigel Knowles, Joint Chief Executive Officer, DLA Piper

· Charles Holliday, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dupont

· Nicholas Cox, Managing Director, Earthcare Products Ltd

· Andy Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, EasyJet

· Tod Cohen, Vice-president GR and general Counsel, ebay

· Mark Prior, Regional Managing Director, EC Harris International

· Ignacio Heudet de Vigo, Chief Executive Officer, Elcogas

· Jose Casas Marin, Deputy Vice-President, Endesa

· Fiona Wain, Chief Executive Officer, Environment Business Australia

· Peter Young, Strategy Director, Enviros

· Robin Bidwell, Executive Chairman, ERM

· Arantza Laskurain Artetxe, Director of Foundation, Eroski Foundation

· Niall McCarthy, Director, Eureka Funds Management

· Richard Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Eurostar

· Dr. Peter Schnurrenberger, Head of Corporate Safety, Health and Environmental Protection, F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

· José Mayor Oreja, Chief Executive Officer, FCC Construcción, FCC Construcción

· Valentin Alfaya Arias, Quality and Environment Director, Ferrovial

· Mr. Alexander M. Kloosterman, Member of the Group Executive Committee, Fortis

· Dan Henkle, Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility, GAP

· Nani Beccalli-Falco, President & Chief Executive Officer, GE (International)

· Karl E. Watkin, Chairman, Green Antlantic Partners Ltd

· Alex Worrell, Chairman, Helius Energy

· Colin Melvin, Director - Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment, Hermes Investment Management Ltd

· Anne-Marie Corboy, Chief Executive Officer, Hesta

· David Hall, Chief Executive Officer, HFL Ltd

· Stephen Green, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bank

· Michael Hawker, Chief Executive Officer, IAG

· Damian Moloney, Chief Executive Officer, Industry Funds Management

· Abdallah Nauphal, Chief Executive Officer, Insight investments

· Daniel T. Hendrix, Chief Executive Officer, Interface Inc.

· James Flanagan, Head of Communications and Investor Relations, International Power plc

· Christine Poon, Vice Chairman, Johnson & Johnson

· Edward Bonham Carter, Chief Executive Officer, Jupiter Asset Management

· Ioannis Alafouzos, Vice President, Kathimerini

· Greg Batts, UK Country HSE Director & EAMER HSE Operations Manager, Kodak

· John Griffith-Jones, UK Chairman, KPMG

· Greg Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, Lend Lease

· Joana Marfoh, Head of treasury and pension fund management, London Borough of Islington Pension Fund

· Jean-Paul Agon, Chief Executive Officer, L'Oreal

· James A Quille, Chief Executive Officer, Macquarie Global Property Advisors

· Stuart Rose, Chief Executive Officer, Marks and Spencer

· DK Matai, Executive Chairman, mi2g

· Andrew Honey, Chief Executive Officer, Microgeneration

· John Stewart, Group Chief Executive Officer, National Australia Bank

· Peter Brabeck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nestle SA

· Thomas Di Napoli, NY State Comptroller, New York State

· Rachel Webber, Director, Energy Initiatives, News Corporation

· Mark Parker, President & Chief Executive Officer, Nike Inc

· Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Chief Executive Officer, Nokia

· Simon Beresford-Wylie, Chief Executive Officer, Nokia Siemens Networks

· Lise Kingo, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, Novo Nordisk

· Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer, NXP Semiconductors

· Helen Wright, Head of Environment, O2

· Mr. M. Rasheed Jung, Managing Director, Pak-Arab Refinery Ltd.

· Jalees Ahmed Siddiqi, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Pakistan State Oil Company

· Wilem W Frischmann, Chairman, Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers Ltd

· Steven Kline, Vice President, Corporate Environment and Federal Affairs, PG&E

· Dr. Francesco Gori, Managing Director, Pirelli Tyre

· Roger Saillant, President and Chief Executive Officer, Plug Power Inc.

· Kieran Poynter, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers

· Antonio Calvo Roy, Corporate Responsibility and Industrial Relations Manager, Red Electrica de Espana

· Antonio Brufau, Chief Executive Officer, Repsol YPF

· Charles Blundel, Director of Public Affairs, Rolls Royce

· Bridget McIntyre, UK Chief Executive Officer, Royal & Sun Alliance

· Barbara Kux, Member Group Management Committee and Chair of the Sustainability Board, Royal Philips Electronics

· Du Yingzhuo, Managing Director, Ryle Technology

· Julius Brinkworth, Head of Energy and Environment, Sainsburys

· Alan Brown, Chief Investment Officer, Schroders Investment Management

· Jose Luis Del Valle Doblado, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Power

· Christopher Kirk, Chief Executive Officer, SGS

· Fan Xiaohong, Senior General Manager, Sewind Co Ltd, Shanghai Electiric

· Paul Dougas, Chief Executive Officer, Sinclair Knight Merz

· Ioannis Alafouzos, Chairman, SKAI

· Sebastian Escarrer Jaume, Chief Executive Officer, Sol Melia

· Jeremy Leggett, Chief Executive Officer, Solarcentury

· Mr Hideki Komiyama, President, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications

· Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Suez

· Brian Robins, Chief Marketing Officer, Sungard

· Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Suntech Power Holdings

· Jonathan Maxwell, Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Capital LLP

· Leo Johnson, Co-Founder, Sustainable Finance

· Ivo Menzinger, Managing Director, Sustainability & Emerging Risk Management, Swiss Re

· Cecily Joseph, Head of CSR, Symantec

· Robert Berendes, Head Business Development, Syngenta International

· Claus du Rietz, Vice President Environment, Tetra Pak

· Peter Saunders, Chief Executive Officer, The Body Shop

· Ian Morrice, Chief Executive Officer, The Warehouse, NZ

· Simon Fineman, Chief Executive Officer, Timbmet

· Joan Bavaria, President and Chief Executive Officer, Trillium Asset management

· Thomas Leysen, Chief Executive Officer, Umicore

· George David, Chief Executive Officer, United Technologies

· John Barnes, Environment and Sustainability Director, United Utilities plc

· Peter Moon, Chief Investment Officer, Universities Superannuation Scheme

· Sir Richard Branson, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin

· Jurgen Leohold, Head of Group Research, Volkswagen

· Colin Byrne, Chief Executive, UK & Ireland, Weber Shandwick

· David Raymond Morgan, Chief Executive Officer, Westpac

· Chris Cole, Chief Executive Officer, WSP Group

· Haiyan Liu, Managing Director, Wuxi Ryle Zhufeng Technology Ltd,China

The Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change gratefully acknowledges the support in engaging such a wide range of global businesses in the Bali Communiqué:

· The World Business Council for Sustainable Development

· Mike Mason, Chief Executive Officer, Climate Care

· Sebastian Gallehr, Chief Executive Officer, European Business Council in Sustainable Energy

· Nigel Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, Green Light Trust

· Tom Flood, Executive Officer, BTCV

· Daniel M. Kammen, Founding Director, Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory, Berkeley University

Invitation to support The Bali Communique by 5th December 2007

The Bali Communiqué, for international business leaders, is attracting widespread support from CEOs and Presidents of large multinational companies and we would welcome support from international leader represented within the ATCA 5000 and The Philanthropia. The communiqué will be presented directly to political leaders at the start of the UN Climate Change summit in Bali, hence the deadline for signatures is 5th December.

We would also be delighted to have support from any other big companies you have in your network who may also want to be included. We have 150 signatories so far, and the list of companies is growing each day. We look forward to hearing from you. Please write in the first instance to intelligence.unit@mi2g.com and if you meet the stipulated criteria we will forward your message appropriately.

[ENDS]