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SINGAPORE : This week, discussions are well underway at the United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen.
Various suggestions have been raised by countries on ways to curb emissions. But much attention appears to be focused on rapidly industrialising countries, especially China and India.
Heated discussions have been taking place since climate change talks kicked off in Copenhagen at the start of this week.
And they do not appear to be just hot air. For example, Indonesia has already announced that it is likely to introduce a carbon tax on polluting industries by 2014.
This could reduce emissions from the energy sector by 10 per cent. Indonesia already has an overall target to cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2020.
Around the globe, businesses are hopeful of some kind of binding agreement at the end of the discussions on December 18. Among them is Siemens, which increased its green portfolio by double digit percentage to US$34 billion last year.
Peter Loescher, CEO, Siemens AG, said: "I think it would be very important that the political leaders commit to a global framework agreement in Copenhagen. It would certainly be an interim step and there would be other initiatives that follow.
"But I am very hopeful that this would be achieved and this would also give businesses another point in terms of how and where they should focus their business on and initiatives."
The firm said that rapid infrastructure development and plans to grow sustainable urban infrastructure in Asia mean potential for business growth. But it emphasised that some form of agreement needs to be achieved at the talks.
As the two largest rapidly developing markets in the world, China and India continue to be at the forefront of the Copenhagen discussions. Both are investing heavily into green technological solutions.
China's government, for example, has said that it could reduce carbon emissions by 237 million tonnes over a 10-year period by converting to energy efficient lamps.
China has already announced plans to reduce carbon emissions by up to 45 per cent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
India is also looking to eco-friendly and clean energy sources, such as lighting parts of New Delhi's business district with energy-efficient solutions like solar powered lights. - CNA/ms
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