Public Services’ Providers: Making the Business Case for Sustainability

CEEP organises this Thursday a conference on the contribution of public services’ providers to the success of the COP21 and to a more sustainable economy. Organised in cooperation with its member CAP Group, the conference is held at the international EXPO2015 in Milan, highlighting the need to bring global answer to climate change. MEP Jean Lambert (Rapporteur on the “Green Employment Initiative”), Prof. Samuele Furfari (European Commission, Adviser to the Director General of DG Energy) and M. Peter Czaga (European Commission, DG Environment) will discuss the key role of public services in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Public services providers support ambitious climate action, being committed to it through their business culture and sectors of activity. Their approach is based on the logics of sustainability,
taking into account its environmental aspects, as well as its economic and social dimensions.
Above all, we want to prove, by sharing experiences, that a business case for sustainability exists.”

— Valeria Ronzitti, CEEP General Secretary —

The conference is the occasion for providers of public services to renew their call for the conclusion of an ambitious and robust climate agreement including binding commitments, dealing with both mitigation and adaption.

Mitigation policies should be structured around resource efficiency and decarbonisation. Public services sectors such as transport, telecommunications, energy, waste management and water treatment, as well as R&D have an important mitigation potential. Setting up a European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) must therefore provide a true and fair carbon price, creating a level-playing field to incentivise investments fostering decarbonisation of the EU economy.

Adaption policies should be seen as complementary to mitigation policies, tackling the consequences of climate change. Adaption measures should include the protection of infrastructure in order to increase their resilience. The implications of climate change on sectors such as water, energy and transport need to be urgently considered.

Finally, climate change policies cannot ignore the investment challenge: “There is a strong economic case for investing in climate action. Such investments will create the sustainable growth and jobs Europe needs. In order to unleash the full potential of investments in climate-friendly solutions, private investment needs to be underpinned by public investment,” explained Valeria Ronzitti.