Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS.CO) is asking every G20 Head of State for one hour in their calendar over the coming months.
Engel and international colleagues from a working group on green jobs want to present tailor-made recommendations
specific to each G20 country.
The working group for creating green jobs is comprised of CEOs and Chairmen from Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO); EDF (EDF.PA); GDF Suez (GSZ.NX); Hyundai Heavy
Industries Co. (HYHZF.PK); PGE Polska Energetyczna S.A.; Robert Bosch GmbH; Shanfari Group
of Companies; Siam Cement Group (SCVPF.PK) and Vestas.
They have spent the last
three months developing a report including concrete and ready-to-go economy-wide
recommendations for creating green jobs.
The green jobs working group wants G20 leaders to commit to these four actions:
- Set a robust price on carbon–high enough and stable enough to change
people’s
behaviour and investment decisions - Scale up research and development dramatically
- Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as quickly as possible–within five
years at most - Allow free trade in environmental goods and services
“It’s not a one-size fits all approach,” Engel said. “We have only a short
time with the leaders here at the G20. That’s why for us, it starts here in
Seoul. Our offer to each of the G20 leaders is simple: give us an hour of your
time and we’ll come to you. Give us a date in your calendar and we’ll help you
create a tailor-made policy framework to meet your country’s specific needs.
Instead of a 1 x 20 solution, we suggest a 20 x 1 solution, finding what works
best for each country.”
He continued: “Creating green jobs on a massive scale is a two-way street. Give
us the policy frameworks, and we’ll give you the results. We’ll make the
investments, we’ll take the risks, and we’ll create the jobs. But this requires
a policy framework that re-balances the incentives indisputably in favour of
green investment.”
The report provides additional details on four sectors–power, buildings,
industry, and transportation–with examples from around the world that work,
policies that have been shown to create results. Countries that have been
fastest to embrace the green economy have already created huge numbers of green
jobs and new economic growth engines that are not dependent on fossil fuels or
scarce natural resources.
“The ‘green jobs race’ is on,” Engel said. “The question is, how much can
each G20 member benefit?"
In Related News…
Abolishing fossil fuel subsidies would boost the world’s economy, environment and energy security, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, referring to a pledge made by G20 countries.
The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook report pegged fossil fuel subsidies at $312 billion in 2009, compared to $57 billion for renewable energy.
Read the Reuters report at the link below.
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