Clinton Initiative Inspires Utilities, Bank to Fight Global Warming

NEW YORK, New York, September 28, 2007 (ENS) - Former President Bill Clinton's Global Initiative conference which wraps up three days of meetings today in New York has elicited new commitments to battle climate change worth billions of dollars.

A coalition of eight American utilities collectively serving nearly 20 million customers in 22 states announced Thursday that they would focus on energy efficiency. For the Save-a-Watt Proposal, Duke Energy, Consolidated Edison, Edison International, Great Plains Energy, Pepco Holdings, PNM Resources, Sierra Pacific Resources and Xcel Energy pledged to increase their collective investment in energy efficiency.

With the Edison Electric Institute, the companies also will create an Institute for Electric Efficiency, enabling them to share and promote best practices in energy efficiency.

The utilities estimate that these changes will lead to the elimination of 30 million tons of green house gas emissions per year - the equivalent of taking six million cars off the road.

Building upon the Clinton's Global Initiative focus on partnership and contribution to the climate change agenda, Prince Albert II of Monaco, working with the United Nations Foundation and Club of Madrid, says he will seek to establish an international consensus for a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.

Over the next five years, Standard Chartered Bank will commit to underwrite $4 to 5 billion in debt to renewable energy projects with a total project value of $8 to $10 billion. The bank will target clean energy projects in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and focus their efforts in areas such as wind, hydro, geothermal, solar, biomass and coal bed methane. The bank says it may play the role of lead arranger of debt, financial advisor or equity investor.

In another initiative announced Thursday, the X Prize committed to give prize money of up to $300 million to innovators making breakthroughs in energy and climate change, education, health, and poverty alleviation by conducting a dozen global competitions for large scale inducement prizes. X Prize defines a problem and then sets a challenge to find the solution. In this new round of prizes, innovators will have to show outcomes such as a reduction in CO2 or improved mortality rates. Innovators who reach the targets first will be able to claim millions of dollars in prize money.

Working with the Alliance for Climate Protection, Mark Buell and Susie Tompkins Buell will develop a $5 million project to continue moving the United States towards the point at which leaders in both major political parties and all sectors of civil society compete to offer effective proposals, policies, and programs that reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.

The Buell's support will enable the Alliance to build on its successful efforts to date, convincing even more individuals, families, communities, states, corporations and other organizations to reduce their own contributions to global warming.

Clinton presented the Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Awards Thursday evening at Carnegie Hall, honoring four people whose achievements have inspired change and made a positive impact on the world.

"The amazing people we celebrate here today are proving without a doubt that one person can change the world," Clinton said. “I hope that by shining a spotlight on their achievements, others will be inspired to join their efforts or take further action to improve lives and build a stronger future."

The 2007 Clinton Global Citizen Award Winners are:

• Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, has helped lift millions of people out of poverty through education, healthcare, and microfinance programs in Bangledesh and beyond. He founded BRAC on the belief that poverty must be tackled from a holistic viewpoint, transitioning individuals from being aid recipients to becoming empowered citizens in control of their own destinies.


• Vicky Colbert, Executive Director, Escuela Nueva Foundation, has become the single most influential person in the education of rural Colombian students through her innovative Escuela Nueva, or New School, methodology, which reshapes the roles of teachers, administrators, and the community, making learning relevant to the daily lives and contexts of students. This approach is being implemented in classrooms in over half of the rural schools in Colombia and throughout Latin America and Caribbean, improving the level of education for hundreds of thousands of students.


• Andre Agassi, Founder, Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, created a tuition-free college preparatory academy, providing educational and recreational opportunities for students in under-served areas of his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. With the first graduating class expected in 2009, Agassi remains a strong supporter of the growth and future success of young people in Nevada.


• John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems. Under his leadership, Cisco has become not only a global technology leader, but also a global leader in corporate social responsibility. He has spearheaded a diverse portfolio of programs, primarily focused on using technology to impact basic needs, education and socio-economic development.

The awards are part of the activities surrounding the third annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation to catalyze global action in the four areas of poverty, education, climate and health.

For other environmental commitments made at this year's Clinton Global Initiative conference see the ENS report "Billions Committed for Environment at Clinton Global Initiative."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.