At the Klimaforum a few days ago, a session commented on the many false solutions currently being discussed. A major false solution, coming from the Friends of the Earth group in Chile, was carbon markets. This was extremely curious to me, as business has been overwhelmingly unified in its desire for monetizing carbon.

A survey about the energy mix and responsiveness of 200 firms (so far) in the energy industry across 7 countries was conducted, and its results were presented in a side event last week. It studied where investments and capital expenditure from energy companies were going, and revealed a reactive approach from the industry.

Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos is taking an active role in activism and political pressure on governments to make a deal at COP-15. A deal at COP-15 is core to its business advantage, which will dictate its success and growth long-term.

Yesterday’s side event from the Asian Development Bank about “Private Sector Solutions for Asia and the Pacific” revealed that the Indian private sector is waiting for their governments to provide an environment for them to act. The event also revealed that really do not understand how climate change makes business sense.

At the UK Know How event hosted by UK Trade & Investment this morning, a panel of experts explored how they believed the UK’s unique political, structural and economic conditions were perfect for fostering a low carbon future in business and industry. However the discussions weren’t limited to a national perspective, as several panelists paid significant attention to the global nature of many of the organisations and transactions based from London.

I spoke with Louise Cox, President of The International Union of Architects, who told me about the important role of architects in the climate change issue. Architects influence the construction industry, who are devastating polluters of greenhouse gases. 40% of global total energy consumption comes from the construction industry. So what do the architects want to do to influence this?