User:Mike Young/LondonAccord

The London Accord
The London Accord is a unique collaboration between investment banks, research houses, academics and NGOs to produce the first open source research on climate change for investors.

It is intended as an reference guide for investors in climate change solutions.

The London Accord is significant in that it is the largest cooperative project in the world on investment opportunities in avoiding climate change, of about 7 million UK pounds

It is also significant in being a non government-funded initiative.

The London Accord was launched in March 2007 and published its results on 19th December, 2007 launching them at a roll out meeting at Mansion House in London. These findings are freely available from its website.

Its main summary indicates :


 * The IPCC shows that the world needs to act to avoid disastrous climate change, and act now.
 * The Stern Report shows that the overall cost of strong early action is much less than the cost of inaction.
 * The International Energy Agency shows the changes in fuel mix and energy usage that are necessary to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a safe level.
 * The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change shows how much money is required by region and by technology to realise a scenario that achieves stabilisation.
 * The UNFCCC report shows further that 86% of that investment has to come from the private sector. That equates to private sector investment through 2030 in excess of $600bn per year.
 * The London Accord report shows investors and policy makers by technology how attractive that private investment is, at the end of 2007.

Findings
The findings of the research carried out show that:
 * energy investment is going to become much, much riskier
 * key governmental focus should be on establishing cap-and-trade markets, then international carbon standards, then regulation; not taxation
 * forestry is a big unknown – governments should fund research into the real extent of abatement potential and the real costs of forestation
 * carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS) seems an unrealistic investment

Quotes about the London Accord
David Lewis Lord Mayor of London said: Climate change represents an unparalleled threat to our life on the planet and through the London Accord, the City's best brains have cooperated in an unprecedented way to tackle the challenge.

The London Accord is the first open-source, co-operative investment analysis into opportunities and challenges in the energy supply and climate change market - which needs to be $600bn a year invested from the private sector over the next 25 years.

Climate change can be tackled if the investment is there - and the London Accord is the first comprehensive map for the investment community.