Global Compact International Yearbook 2009
The road to Copenhagen is the catchphrase: Climate Change is the top issue of inaugural edition, on the market since 1th of august 2009. In a very personal and exclusive foreword, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stresses the urgency of multilateral action: „One underlying message of this Yearbook is that a global, low-carbon economy is not only technologically possible, it makes good business sense“, said Ban. „We need the voice and energy of business to help us combat climate change.“ Sir Anthony Giddens adds the importance of the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit: „It is an important year, and everybody knows it because it is the year of Copenhagen. It’s a key for climate change policy. I do hope the Copenhagen negotiations will be successful, but there are reasons I have to be worried. “ Another key issue of this edition is the global economic crisis: 2008 will be remembered as the year of crises. The breakdown of financial institutions and markets and the subsequent worldwide economic downturn have put the spotlight on issues that the United Nations Global Compact has long advocated as essential responsibilities for modern business and today’s global markets: comprehensive risk management, long-term performance, and ethics. Georg Kell, Executive Director of the Global Compact, writes: „Restoring confidence and trust in markets requires a shift to long-term sustainable value creation, and corporate responsibility must be an instrument towards this end. If the crisis is any indication, it is now time to build on the advances made over the past 10 years by companies and investors in the area of ESG performance and bring this discipline to the mainstream. “
The road to Copenhagen is the catchphrase: Climate Change is the top issue of inaugural edition, on the market since 1th of august 2009. In a very personal and exclusive foreword, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stresses the urgency of multilateral action: „One underlying message of this Yearbook is that a global, low-carbon economy is not only technologically possible, it makes good business sense“, said Ban. „We need the voice and energy of business to help us combat climate change.“ Sir Anthony Giddens adds the importance of the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit: „It is an important year, and everybody knows it because it is the year of Copenhagen. It’s a key for climate change policy. I do hope the Copenhagen negotiations will be successful, but there are reasons I have to be worried. “
Another key issue of this edition is the global economic crisis: 2008 will be remembered as the year of crises. The breakdown of financial institutions and markets and the subsequent worldwide economic downturn have put the spotlight on issues that the United Nations Global Compact has long advocated as essential responsibilities for modern business and today’s global markets: comprehensive risk management, long-term performance, and ethics. Georg Kell, Executive Director of the Global Compact, writes: „Restoring confidence and trust in markets requires a shift to long-term sustainable value creation, and corporate responsibility must be an instrument towards this end. If the crisis is any indication, it is now time to build on the advances made over the past 10 years by companies and investors in the area of ESG performance and bring this discipline to the mainstream. “
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Best Practice<br />
Environment<br />
out at sea, and maritime energy technologies,<br />
such as tidal and wave power<br />
plants as well as the generation of bio<br />
natural gas on an industrial scale. And<br />
given the future application of nuclear<br />
power, we also have to develop the next<br />
generation of nuclear power plants. They<br />
will then have to provide the greatest<br />
possible level of inherent safety and<br />
even higher protection against external<br />
influences.<br />
We have pooled these and other issues<br />
within our technology initiative “innovate.on”<br />
and, thanks to our international<br />
footprint in 30 markets, we are able to<br />
distribute tasks effectively and learn<br />
from each other. One example is that, as<br />
a group in Germany, we can benefit from<br />
the experience in wind energy which<br />
has been gathered in the UK and Spain,<br />
while our customers in Italy and the US<br />
stand to gain from German expertise in<br />
coal technology.<br />
innovate.on<br />
efficient ecological energy<br />
Future Fossil Fuel<br />
Power Plants<br />
High<br />
Efficient<br />
Coal<br />
Power Plant<br />
Carbon<br />
Capture<br />
Storage<br />
Nuclear<br />
Generation<br />
III+<br />
this is to be achieved, we have to increase<br />
the thermal efficiency of coal-fired<br />
power plants considerably. However, the<br />
greatest challenge when it comes to low<br />
carbon is undoubtedly the low carbon<br />
power plant based on CCS technology. In<br />
capturing CO 2<br />
, we are currently pursuing<br />
three technologies but are concentrating<br />
on the “post combustion process”, as it<br />
Renewable Energy<br />
Wind<br />
Offshore<br />
Upgraded<br />
Biogas<br />
Marine<br />
End Use<br />
Efficiency<br />
Gas Heat<br />
Pump<br />
is easier to retrofit into existing power<br />
plants and can also be made available<br />
to other countries. In Europe we are<br />
working on establishing a fleet of pilot<br />
plants and intend to make CCS technology<br />
commercially viable by 2020.<br />
Further technological challenges include<br />
building offshore wind farms, even far<br />
As part of our commitment to push these<br />
fields of research and development, E.ON<br />
has once again considerably increased<br />
its investments in new technologies to<br />
support universities, research, development<br />
and demonstration plants, which<br />
amounted to € 106 million in 2008, after<br />
€ 83 million in 2007 and € 57 million in<br />
2006. The successes we have been able to<br />
claim reaffirm our conviction to continue<br />
with our broadly based R&D activities<br />
to find solutions for sustainable energy<br />
generation, distribution and use.<br />
R&D is also a field of action which affects<br />
different parties involved in the energy<br />
sector – government, universities, research<br />
institutions, industrial companies<br />
as well as the energy industry – and<br />
requires a joint effort to master the considerable<br />
challenges ahead. This applies<br />
for Germany and Europe, but also worldwide<br />
when it comes to the application<br />
of new technologies for global climate<br />
protection, where concerted actions by<br />
governments, companies and financial<br />
institutions are needed.<br />
<strong>Global</strong> <strong>Compact</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Yearbook</strong> <strong>2009</strong> 41
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