In December, international leaders will be gathered in Paris at the Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21) event to agree on binding national carbon reduction targets post 2020.
The good news is that over 190 governments internationally agree that we must take action on climate change to limit our temperature to two degrees relative to pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. This means that our carbon emissions must peak around mid-century and then decline. It's amazing to think that this can happen in our lifetime. It’s also a huge responsibility.
Future generations will judge us on the decisions that we make this year.
Internationally various jurisdictions have carbon mechanisms in place - China is piloting seven Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) in an effort to implement one ETS this decade.
In Australia we have the Emissions Reduction Fund, a $2.55B fund which will enable organisations to bid for funds for their carbon reduction projects, the main instrument for Australia to meet its 5 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020.
Australia and New Zealand’s commitment post-2020 will be announced by their respective Governments in the coming months, in the lead-up to the Paris event. As the largest emitter of carbon per capita in the world, Australia’s contribution is important.
Closer to home - as we create access to essential resources, protect these resources and renew our infrastructure - Veolia will be playing a key role.
At Veolia we are meeting our customer needs for climate mitigation and adaptation - including providing access to clean water, recovering methane from our landfills, generating renewable energy, recovering materials, providing energy efficiency solutions - confirming our support for a positive global climate outcomes in Paris.
We are both motivated and challenged in that what we do every day at Veolia, and what we strive to do, contributes to our global climate efforts. At its core, it is about contributing to providing healthy, well and quality lives for our growing population in a resource constrained world. And we do this while operating a successful business.
Find out more about Veolia’s sustainable development commitments in our global 2020 Sustainable Development Charter.