POZNAN, Poland, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Major companies and investors on Monday appealed for "decisive action" by representatives of 187 countries attending United Nations climate talks in Poland. Climate negotiators are gathered for Dec. 1-12 talks in the western city of Poznan, at a meeting meant to push for a agreement on a new climate treaty by next December in Copenhagen to replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. "At the Poznan meeting, we urge countries to agree on a plan of action for the final year of negotiations," read a text from the business leaders of over 140 global companies, drafted by the UK-based Corporate Leaders' Group on Climate Change (CLG). Those companies included Ebay, Sun Microsystems Inc <JAVA.O>, BP <BP.L>, and Unilever <ULVR.L>. For the full statement double-click on www.poznancommunique.com Climate policies such as carbon trading or carbon taxes affect companies' fuel bills and long term investment choices between different energy sources. Some delegates, negotiators and analysts attending the U.N. talks in Poznan have suggested that the financial crisis coupled with a change in U.S. administration will require a scaling back in ambition for Copenhagen, such as agreement on a set of principles rather than a treaty. That could make it more difficult to agree new emissions reduction targets in time before current goals under the Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012. "At a time when the global economic downturn may cause some to question whether now is the time to act, we believe that decisive action will stimulate global economic activity," the CLG statement said. Separately on Monday, an investor delegation for the first time presented a call for action on climate change to the annual U.N. climate talks this year held in Poznan. The statement, signed by 152 global investors worth over $9 trillion, called on world leaders to negotiate a strong and binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol, to ensure that investors receive the market signals for funding a transition to a low-carbon economy. Like the CLG statement, the group which included banks and pension funds, called for a continued commitment to carbon markets -- favoured by the business community as a flexible, low-cost regulatory approach to curbing carbon emissions. The full investor statement can be read here http://www.iigcc.org/docs/PDF/Public/InvestorPolicyStatement8Dec08.pdf
A destroyed bulldozer is seen at a burned area in the forest at the coastal town of Laguna Verde, some 115 km (71 miles) northwest of Santiago, in this March 6, ...
