The Council of Commonwealth Societies gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship support of BP during the Commonwealth Day celebrations.

Beyond Petroleum

Today, BP take precautionary action to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and work to combat climate change in several ways. Our position on the issue is well defined:

• we support precautionary action on climate change although we recognise that aspects of the science are still the subject of expert debate and not fully proven
• we believe that climate change is a long-term issue, which needs to be tackled over the next fifty years or more. We support urgent but informed action to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations by achieving sustainable long-term emission reductions at the lowest possible cost
• there are many potential contributors to this goal. We support an inclusive approach that acknowledges the existence of many different starting points, perspectives, priorities and solutions
• we believe that governments and businesses must work together to create policy ‘spaces' in which economic progress, security of energy provision and emissions reductions can be achieved simultaneously. Such spaces can be defined by appropriate policy and regulation, while activity within them will be driven by market mechanisms
• we believe that the policy and regulatory interventions must support the development and implementation of appropriate technological solutions and also enable the amendment of market mechanisms as new knowledge around climate change emerges
• in our view, all energy sectors can help to address GHG emissions. With fossil fuels currently the source of 80% of the world's primary energy and likely to remain vital to global energy supply for at least 20 to 30 years, innovation to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels can make a major contribution to stabilisation. Consequently, energy companies like ours have an important role to play in contributing to policy and education, enabling market mechanisms, developing and deploying new technological and commercial solutions based on both fossil fuel and new energy sources at large scale

We will focus our efforts on:

• influencing policy, regulation and innovation. We can do this by working to develop inclusive, informed dialogue, supporting the creation of a ‘level playing field' for low-carbon energy, encouraging market mechanisms and promoting technological innovation and transparency
• continuing our business activities in energy efficiency, fuels switching, hydrogen power, solar energy, wind, biomass and natural sinks

Our actions against climate change

BP supporting research

BP
International Headquarters
1 St James's Square
London, SW1Y 4PD

Tel:   +44 (0) 207 496 4000
Fax:   +44 (0) 207 496 4630

Web: www.bp.com