Dell CEO Michael Dell has a climate concern moment.
Photo by Joi on Flickr.
As the time and opportunity for bold pre-Copenhagen gestures finally wound down last week with the summit opening Monday, Dell came out of the smog with a last minute show of dedication. Good for Dell; but can IBM and Microsoft tow the advocacy line?
Green shoot in the mud
CEO Michael Dell's well-timed opinion piece in Forbes - a leading media platform for industry and business leaders - was a green shoot in the mud, especially for the company which has so far been lagging around half way down our Cool IT green ranking.
It was an example of the kind of rank-leadership this issue demands. Climate advocacy has got to come from the top, and this was a CEO, not only speaking out, but speaking out to the audience of Forbes - probably not a group that gets daily updates on the climate crisis.
Promisingly entitled "Setting a higher bar for climate change", Dell addressed the summit, quoting emissions reduction targets mandated by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the general scientific community. Yes, climate change is real, and the responsibility of solving the climate crisis, he said, would have to start with business and required action "from us all."
Beyond efforts to improve energy efficiency and increase renewable energy use, the piece calls for driving change "beyond our own operations", and talks of ensuring suppliers, and suppliers' suppliers do the same. All good. But there were also missed opportunities.
Not yet a tree
Despite rooting itself in the right place - that is, supporting the aggressive reduction targets called for by science - Dell still hasn't done what IT must do: address the domestic US climate legislation that will have a crucial impact on global negotiations.
We know from experience that national leaders bring all manner of domestic restraints to their international summits, and in the case of the US, it is one of the biggest threats to a credible deal for the climate. US business leaders need to pressure their government. Green "trickle down" via the market is not going bring the changes needed, in the time frame needed.
Any more leaders in there?
Scouring the IT industry for signs of hope, one can get carried away by signs that there might be life. (Don't forget we do have our magnifying glasses out!) Still, we have a shoot here - not sure what it will be when it grows up yet, but its something.
And it might not be a complete coincidence that Microsoft posted an opinion piece on their blog just last night echoing much of Dell's message, also restating the need to keep increases in global temperature below 2 degrees. However, CEO Steve Ballmer should take responsibility for saying it.
Ericsson's CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg gave a good example of how business leaders can speak up on climate issues with an address at the UN Leadership Forum on Climate Change in New York. Reiterating the kinds of emissions reductions accepted by scientists and leaders - of 50 to 80 percent by 2050, Svanberg argued, transformative rather than incremental change would need to be sought.
This is the kind of message we need to see coming from industry leaders especially now, because its they who can give Obama the cards he needs to play at Copenhagen.