Committee on Climate Change

James Cameron is a founder and the vice chairman of low-carbon investment manager and advisor, Climate Change Capital (CCC). James is a member of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group, a former member of the Green Investment Bank Commission, chairman of the World Economic Forum's Agenda Council on Climate Change and a member of General Electric's ecomagination board.

Prior to CCC, James spent much of his legal career working on climate change matters, including negotiating the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol as an adviser to the Alliance of Small Island States.

Q1/ What could David Cameron do to convince business & investment community that he is serious about building a low-carbon economy?

He should demonstrate the essential link between reducing costs and a lower carbon economy. Doing more with less should be integrated into every aspect of the British economy.

Climate change targets and policies should not be seen as additional costs impeding our growth, but as instruments for greater resource efficiency, greater productivity and more resilience to the shocks associated with global markets which are beyond our control.

If we continue to pander to high carbon businesses as the only means of reviving the economy there is not the slightest chance we will get the low-carbon alternatives to flourish.


Q2/ Will the Green Investment Bank provide necessary investments in low-carbon technologies? What could improve it?

The exact mandate is still to be determined, but it is likely to focus on proven technologies in infrastructure, energy efficiency and waste to energy. I would like more attention devoted to early stage, innovative technologies. We have phenomenal new technologies being developed in the UK that could totally revolutionise our use of energy, water and waste. We need to back small businesses to enable these technological breakthroughs.


Q3/ What do you think might be achieved at Durban? Will CCC play a role at the conference?

While a legally binding treaty seems a long way off, there is a commonsense understanding that the institutions established under the existing agreement can continue to do their work regardless of the failure to agree to a follow-on or extension to the Kyoto Protocol.

Durban can be a good opportunity to showcase low-carbon growth stories – especially within Africa – that demonstrate what can be achieved with effective public policy making and investments in the alternatives.

CCC will support the global Green Climate Fund negotiations where there is much still to be decided on its structure and how the money will be collected, aggregated and distributed.


Q4/    How do you ensure that the companies, projects and technologies you invest in are ethical and sustainable?

The entire company is focussed on the problem. Everything that we do, everyday is associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enabling us to be better prepared for the consequences of climate change by making us more resilient and adaptable. The whole business is designed to be sustainable and if we reduce emissions we provide a public good while achieving a private gain if we’re successful in finding the right projects or companies in which to invest.


Q5/    What does CCC do to reduce its corporate carbon footprint?

CCC has an ESG policy and a committee to help analyse and manage environmental and social risks and help promote sustainable opportunities. The screening applies to all CCC transactions for all of its funds and advisory services. We also offset the emissions from our business travel and office electricity usage, but this is all very small in comparison to what our funds do every day to reduce many millions of tonnes of CO2. For example, by the time CCC’s Carbon Fund is complete, I would be disappointed if we haven’t directly or indirectly removed 100m tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, which is roughly equivalent to Greece’s annual emissions.