Rio+20: the Earth Summit diaries, Wednesday 20 June

Nick Clegg's speech at Rio+20 on the Natural Capital Declaration

Wednesday June 20 13.10

We are all here in Rio because we know that our natural resources are vital for sustainable development - for poverty eradication and economic growth.

It is often the poorest people who rely on natural resources for their livelihoods. And at the same time 40% of our global economy relies on our natural resource base

Yet these resources are massively undervalued. That problem is as much psychological as anything else – the concepts of natural capital and green growth go against the grain of decades of economic orthodoxy, despite the facts speaking for themselves.

That is why I strongly believe it is up to governments to show leadership here, driving the culture shift needed to put these ideas at the heart of economic policy.

And that's why I'm a big supporter of the GDP+ concept, which turns traditional thinking on it's head and encourages policymakers to broaden their view.

We all know that GDP is a vital measure of growth. But it can only provide a narrow snapshot of a country's welfare and it does not account for the quality of growth – for our wellbeing, and that of the natural environment on which future prosperity depends.

On average environmental degradation costs the world around 8% of GDP per year.

We need to develop indicators to complement GDP – not as an international standard, or benchmark – but to allow individual countries to measure what is important to them, and to make truly informed decisions.

So I was pleased to see the recognition here at Rio+20 that we need broader measures of progress to complement GDP, and inform decision making.

I was disappointed that we did not go further, but I think that it can be a springboard for action – and it's not just about what text might be agreed in a negotiating document. The actions we take in our own countries and companies will really drive action, and that's why we are all here today

In the UK we have committed to including natural capital within our system of national accounts by 2020. This is a big commitment, but one we are willing to take on

We have established a Natural Capital Committee, to provide us with advice on the state of our natural capital We are developing statistical measures of wellbeing

And we are enthusiastic supporters of the World Bank's WAVES initiative. We have just committed a further £3 million to help them with their work. It is crucial that developing countries have support to help them in their endeavours to account for natural capital

I think the speakers in the second part of this event will show that businesses are leading from the front, recognising that long term success depends on factoring sustainability into their business models. It is really critical that other business follow the example of those here today

Before I wrap up, I want to congratulate our African representatives on the Gabarone Declaration – a real step forward in natural capital accounting.

We all need to follow that lead and make commitments, share experiences, develop capacity, and move forward together.

So I am pleased to support the World Bank's 50/50 campaign, asking governments and businesses to commit to natural capital accounting – a joint call to action.

I hope that those who have not signed up will do so, and that we can all take real action to integrate natural capital into our policy making and decision making.

Yvo de Boer and the role of business post Rio +20

Wednesday June 20 12.30

I have been speaking to Yvo de Boer, KPMG's special advisor on climate change, on what business needs to do post Rio +20.

His key message is that companies need to move beyond visions of a sustainable future to creating an implementation plan of how to get there.

De Boer, who knows a great deal about multilateral negotiations, having been executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said he was disappointed with the final negotiating text and that this was due to multiple crises in the world and "shoddy" preparations for the Rio conference.

In a message to the business community, he said: "You have made hundreds of fantastic announcements. Buid on that. Develop the foundations for a more integrated business approach to sustainability and be ready to help governments in defining that journey more clearly.

"What business needs to do much more strongly is define the sustainability solutions which it thinks will address these global challenges rather than waiting for governments to come up with the proposals.

"We have the urgency, we have the vision, what we now need to do is fill the toolbox of implementation. What better people to do that is business people.

"The reticence of business to engage in the political process is in the past. I think that business generally has recognised that it needs to engage in the debate, offer solutions, because it is ultimately it is as much their future they are shaping as the future of humanity."

Referring to the outcome of the political negotiations, de Boer said that "given the scale of the problem, it is absolutely not the movement that we were hoping for but perhaps the movement we deserve in the sense that this has not been the best prepared summit in history and comes at an incredibly difficult time in terms of an economic and financial crisis, the eurozone crisis, and elections in many significant countries.

On the plus side, de Boer said there had been general acceptance of the idea of moving towards green growth, which many developing countrie had been suspicious of, and a recognition to define GDP much more broadly. Thirdly that a process has been put in place to move towards the formation of Sustainable Development Goals.

On the other side of the equation, de Boer said: "The final text does not include a recommendation on deforestation which is a pity, the language on oceans and protecting them could have been stronger, and on the issue of SDGs, I would not have expected them to be finalised here, but they could have been more precise in defining the areas they are supposed to cover and a timetable for when a conclusion should be reached."

Overall de Boer says the agreement is not strong enough to deal with the sustainability challenges of the world: "We can't afford this level of delay. We are seeing climate change, food and water scarcity, population growth and the problems associated with urbanisation. All of those trends are not waiting for politicians to make up their minds. In fact the impact of failing to act on sustainability is going to get worse because of lack of progress here."

A tale of two conferences

Wednesday June 20 07.30am

Would businesses have a better chance of saving the world if they had more fun?

Progressive companies have recognised that it is no longer true that the business of business is not business.

Now they could do with learning that the art of life is to enjoy yourself and not to take everything so seriously. Paradoxically you get far more done if you don't suck lemons all day.

The reason I write this is because I attended two major events at Rio yesterday in the same posh beachfront hotel.

On the second floor in a spacious and airy conference hall was the Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD), a coalition of business groups, while in the darker basement was a social media conference, Rio+Social.

While the social media conference was fast and furious and based on innovation and challenging the status quo, with speakers such as Richard Branson and Mohammad Yunus, BASD spent the day looking sector by sector at how to scale up change.

While Kumi Naidoo, the head of Greenpeace International, was downstairs calling the Rio+20 outline agreement a betrayal of humanity, upstairs the head of the negotiations described it as a triumph.

If I had unlimited powers, what I would have done is mix up the two conferences, because they could both learn so much from each other.

The more youthful and energised audience in the basement could learn that most change comes, not from having a vision, but from the grunt end work of making things happen one step at a time.

What the suits could learn is to challenge their ingrained thinking and recognise the power of inspiration and of dreams.

There was just one business leader who attended both conferences and looked at home in either setting and that is Jochen Zeitz, the chief sustainability officer of the luxury goods brand PPR and chairman of Puma.

At Rio+Social, he talked about the dream of what the perfect world would look like to him, regarding the role of business, and to his credit he did the same upstairs.

"Let me just say that it is a world in which business is inclusive and holistic by working with nature and society combined in peace" he told the BASD. "Call it paradise or a perfect word. It's certainly a world I would love to be a part of and live in."

Ray of hope in Rio as UK government gives the go-ahead for mandatory corporate carbon reporting

Tuesday June 19 23.30

News that the government is to require public companies listed in the UK to publish full details of the greenhouse gases they produce from April 2013 has been welcomed at Rio +20.

Ony last month, the Aldersgate Group, an alliance of some the UK's largest businesses and green groups, wrote to the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to complain about the fact that the government had missed a four-year deadline to introduce mandatory carbon reporting.

The letter was signed by a number of big companies including Asda, Cable&Wireless, Cisco, Jupiter, Aviva Investors, Marks & Spencer, Philips, Sky, Thames Water, the Co-operative and PepsiCo.

Christian Aid's Director of Policy and Public Affairs Christine Allen said about the planned announcement by Clegg at the Rio +20 conference: "This is a very encouraging breakthrough which will make UK plc more sustainable and accountable.

'This is welcome news to the thousands of Christian Aid supporters who have been campaigning for mandatory carbon reporting for many years. We also welcome the fact that the scheme can be reviewed in 2015 to make it more ambitious.

'We know that the world's poorest people are hit first and worst by the changing climate and this decision provides some hope that the UK government is serious about tackling the crisis.

'As political leaders arrive at the Rio Summit in the middle of difficult negotiations, we hope the Deputy Prime Minister uses his announcement to signal to the world that the UK is determined to show leadership and is prepared to seek a more ambitious outcome to the conference.'

Andrew Reingold, who head up the Aldersgate Group, said mandatory carbon reporting will ensure that all large listed companies disclose their emissions in their annual report, thereby ensuring greater accountability and transparency, creating a level playing field and helping enable investors and the media to make more meaningful comparisons. He said: "It would certainly be an improvement on the crude performance metrics of the carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme league table.

"Above all, it would further encourage business, which is responsible for nearly a third of all UK greenhouse gas emissions, to manage and reduce its carbon footprint, leading to reduced energy costs and a greater understanding of material climate risks and opportunities."

Alan McGill, partner, PwC sustainability and climate change, says the decision is not unexpected as companies had already been showing support for such a move.

He said: "Our analysis of the FTSE shows it has the highest levels of board oversight and engagement on climate change strategy, compared to other global business indices. There might be slight surprise that it's not all large companies, just listed ones. But it's a bit early to see the government going much further than listed companies at this stage. There may be fears that extending it beyond large listed companies, into small or medium sized enterprises could be too much of a burden."

To read Jo's diary from his previous days in Rio, please click here.

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