Companies Look for Ways to Cut
Heat-Trapping Greenhouse Gases

By Jim Fuller
Washington File Science Correspondent

The Hague - Officials report that a growing number of private companies have begun to take the issue of global warming seriously as delegates from around the world meet at The Hague to negotiate the final details of a climate change treaty.

The treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, would require industrialized countries to reduce their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by the period 2008 to 2012. Greenhouse gas emissions - mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels - are believed to contribute to global warming.

The negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, which began six years ago, have been accompanied by increased efforts on the part of industry to reduce their heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

The most recent example occurred in October when seven major international corporations formed a new partnership to voluntarily cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The companies pledged that by 2010 they would cut their annual emissions by 15 percent below levels measured in 1990 by adopting more efficient practices and using incentives that financially reward cleanup. The companies also agreed to measure and publicly report emissions, and employ independent experts to monitor and varify their emissions reduction programs.

Representatives of the companies, which include such names as DuPont, Royal Dutch/Shell, BP Amoco and the French aluminum manufacturer Pechiney, said the effort represents a spreading awareness in industry that emissions of greenhouse gases are eventually going to be restricted by an international treaty or by regulations in individual countries.

Earlier this year, the companies Johnson & Johnson and IBM entered similar commitments with two private groups trying to promote energy efficiency, the World Wildlife Fund and the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions. These commitments would bring the companies' emissions a decade from now well below levels they were a decade ago. IBM, from previous efforts, has already achieved an estimated 20 percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions through energy conservation efforts made from 1990 through 1997.

In October, Polaroid became the third major corporation to join the pertnership, pledging to cut its carbon emissions by at least 20 percent by 2005 compared to 1994 levels, and by 25 percent by 2010. Achieving that goal would be equivalent to removing more than 12,000 cars from the road.

The efforts by these companies are part of a new Climate Savers program that will work with companies around the globe to craft practical ways to achieve energy efficiency goals and increase the use of clean energy technology. Companies joining the program also agree to have their emissions reductions independently verified.

Some companies will engage in an inovative trading arrangement proposed under the Kyoto Protocol, called emissions trading, to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions trading allows a company that is able to cut emissions beyond its targeted amount to sell credits to other companies that cannot make similar cuts as cheaply. The program provides a cost-effective way for companies to cut their emissions, and, according to officials, provides the most efficient approach for slowing climate change

President Clinton has just announced a major initiative that calls for limiting harmful emissions, including carbon dioxide, from U.S. electric power plants. A key part of the strategy is the use of emissions trading to allow the power sector to meet its emissions reduction goals in a cost-effective way.

Frank Loy, under secretary of state for global affairs and head of the U.S. delegation at The Hague, said in a recent speech that the business community has changed the way it looks at the climate change problem.

"The center of gravity of U.S. business has shifted toward a new coalition of progressive companies that are committed to finding an international solution to climate change," Loy said. "BP Amoco, Shell International and Toyota are leaders in this group ... so are home-grown titans such as Boeing and United Technologies."

Loy cautioned that this does not mean that these businesses have become "cheerleaders" for the Kyoto Protocol. Many still oppose some of the treaty's provisions.

"But membership in the anti-Kyoto business lobby is dwindling," he said. "Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, Texaco and several other major companies have pulled out of the most vocal opposition group, the Global Climate Coalition."

Loy added in recent Senate testimony that there is a growing feeling among businesses "that there is a problem here, that they are part of it, and that there has to be some sort of action taken to solve it."

Roger Ballentine, deputy assistant to the president for environmental initiatives, said at a recent global warming seminar that more and more companies are realizing that they better not miss the boat. He said that these companies have decided that they "should get on board and adopt this notion of being more energy efficient and more environmentally responsible because it's good business and good ... for the world."

David Gardiner, executive director of the White House Climate Change Task Force, said in an interview that not all the companies' motives were purely focused on fighting global warming, but are also focused on increasing profits by cutting the wasteful use of energy.

"Almost always there's a business element to the strategy," Gardiner said. "For example, they may believe that reducing their emissions helps them save money because they're becoming more energy efficient."

In this regard, Gardiner pointed to another major industry initiative to cut emissions - the recent announcements by Ford Motor Company and General Motors to improve the fuel economy of their fleets of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) by 15 to 25 percent over the next five years.

Experts say the Ford announcement of a 25-percent improvement represents a rate of efficiency improvement that is greater than what European automakers have pledged to achieve, and also surpasses the 20 percent increase over five years that some members of Congress have been calling for. The efforts of both companies would represent a reduction of 100 million tons of carbon equivalent by 2020.

Gardiner said that the announcements by both Ford and General Motors were probably motivated by the fact that they believe their customers are interested in getting SUVs with improved fuel economy. "So I think they think that's going to help them in the market place," he said. "It helps their bottom line. A second major reason is that it improves their public image -- because they're doing something to protect the environment and the public likes that."

Experts say the voluntary move to cut greenhouse gas emissions is particularly noteworthy because its happening even though the companies have no guarantee that they will get credit for cuts they make now under future regulations or in future systems set up to allow emissions trading. The U.S. Congress considered legislation last year that would have granted early credit for cuts in greenhouse gases, but the legislation never passed.