Climate Change and Corporate Governance
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
[pic]
BY
SHIRLENE KOLA-BANKOLE
03005093
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
“We believe Climate Change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century... voluntary action alone cannot solve the problem.” Henry Paulson, CHAIRMAN, GOLDMAN SACHS
INTRODUCTION
Environmental challenges, particularly climate change are something we all have to think about. Politicians from David Cameron to Gordon Brown are outlining ambitious agendas and consumers are demanding greener products. Leading businesses such as BP and Unilever have been joined by General Electric, Tesco and even Wal-Mart in announcing strategic investments [1].
Over the millions of years of earth’s existence, the climate has changed many times in response to natural causes such as variations in energy received from the sun and volcanic eruptions. Today, when people talk about 'climate change', they mean the shifts in temperature that have happened over the last 100 years. During this time the average temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface has risen by 0.74°C [2].
Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. It involves changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over durations ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by dynamic processes on earth, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and more recently by human activities [2].
Most scientists agree that global temperatures could rise between 1.1 and 6.4°C above 1990 levels by the end of the 21st century, depending on future emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). If the rise is high, then changes are likely to be so extreme that it will be difficult to cope with them. There are likely to be more intense and frequent extreme
[pic]
BY
SHIRLENE KOLA-BANKOLE
03005093
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
“We believe Climate Change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of the 21st century... voluntary action alone cannot solve the problem.” Henry Paulson, CHAIRMAN, GOLDMAN SACHS
INTRODUCTION
Environmental challenges, particularly climate change are something we all have to think about. Politicians from David Cameron to Gordon Brown are outlining ambitious agendas and consumers are demanding greener products. Leading businesses such as BP and Unilever have been joined by General Electric, Tesco and even Wal-Mart in announcing strategic investments [1].
Over the millions of years of earth’s existence, the climate has changed many times in response to natural causes such as variations in energy received from the sun and volcanic eruptions. Today, when people talk about 'climate change', they mean the shifts in temperature that have happened over the last 100 years. During this time the average temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface has risen by 0.74°C [2].
Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. It involves changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over durations ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by dynamic processes on earth, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and more recently by human activities [2].
Most scientists agree that global temperatures could rise between 1.1 and 6.4°C above 1990 levels by the end of the 21st century, depending on future emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). If the rise is high, then changes are likely to be so extreme that it will be difficult to cope with them. There are likely to be more intense and frequent extreme