World Ecological Forum: Business Leaders Join Forces to Tackle Climate Change
Jan. 26, 2010 -- The World Ecological Forum today announced that its first
summit will bring together prominent industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and
environmental experts to fight climate change. This inaugural summit will be
held in the UNESCO-protected city of Visby on Gotland, Sweden, on 1-2 July
2010.
“Corporations and governments must work together. We don't need another
climate summit with thousands of participants but we do need to take action,”
said Alec Arho Havrén, executive chairman of the World Ecological Forum. “Our
ambition for 2010 is to provide a platform for responsible business leaders and
policy makers, and make it easier for CEOs to share ideas and drive real change
toward sustainability.”
Reducing carbon emissions is a key priority and will
be high on the summit's agenda. As stressed by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), global emissions must peak no later than 2015, just five
years away. Although 73 of the 100 largest companies in the world have set some
form of reduction target, few companies have plans in place past 2012, the final
year of the Kyoto Protocol.
“If we want to reach the emission reductions
targets, corporations need to get far more aggressive,” said Havrén. “We also
need to talk about low carbon investments and best practices. We can no longer
afford not to.”
To boost green technology transfers, the World Ecological
Forum has already launched a Green Market Place in partnership with Tynax, the
world¹s largest technology trading exchange. “It is critical to get the most
effective innovations out of the research laboratories and into the hands of the
engineers and developers,” said Jon Rortveit, CEO of Tynax. “We are delighted to
partner with the World Ecological Forum and see this initiative as a significant
step in creating a global trading exchange for green technologies.”
The World
Ecological Forum 2010 will also promote green products with special attention
given to the automotive industry. During the summit, a zero and low emission
vehicle exhibition will be co-hosted by Gotland Ring, the world's first
ecological race and test circuit. Winners of the World Ecological Forum Global
Impact Award will also be announced at the event.
Media Contact:
Jenny Harler
Director of Communications
Phone (US): +1.310.600.8912
Phone (Sweden): +46 (0)73-983 43 92
Email:
jenny.harler@scencia.com
Additional press materials can be found at
www.worldecologicalforum.com/press.
About World Ecological Forum
The World Ecological Forum is a non-profit
organization that is committed to creating environmental and economic balance in
order to achieve sustainable growth, welfare and social justice for all. The
Forum's flagship event is the annual summit in Visby. The organization also
administers the World Ecological Forum Global Impact Award. For more
information, visit www.worldecologicalforum.com.
About Visby
The medieval town of Visby is located on Gotland, the biggest island in the
Baltic Sea. The island proclaimed itself an eco-municipality in 1992 and
continues to work toward sustainability. More information is available at
www.gotland.net/en.
