In the evening following the Agriculture Day conference, Joyce and Lasse attended a business leaders meeting at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore (used by Shakespeare as the setting for "Hamlet").
Many of the companies represented belong to the UN Global Compact and declared their commitment to greening their businesses. Some of the figures mentioned which are needed to prevent runaway climate change were mind-blowing:
- Tracy Wolstencroft from Goldman Sachs said that we need $30 trillion to keep the global rise in temperature below 2oC
- Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian PM and author of the famous Brundtland report, also spoke of the need for financial backing for any measures agreed at the Copenhagen conference
- Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who gave Compassion's 2008 annual lecture, spoke of the expected huge water shortages resulting from climate change, which will make it hard for societies to function. He also highlighted the inefficiency of the shift to diets high in animal protein.
However, with huge investments in green technology, many of the business leaders at the conference were optimistic that the challenges of climate change could be met. Several are already working with environmental groups. With Compassion's investment in our Food Business initiative, we anticipate that many food businesses will be partnering with Compassion in the future to raise animal welfare standards and develop meat reduction strategies in order to achieve a humane and sustainable future for farming.
Former US President Bill Clinton sent a video message to the event in which he told us how vital it was that a firm climate change agreement is reached. He concluded "We can all do well by doing good."
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