What I am hoping Copenhagen will give us is a clear agreement on a realistic and marked-out path that will make it possible to generate, over the long term, readable and converging price signals. Without any clear price signal there will be no change in the behaviour and attitudes of economic players. A carbon world that remains divided for too long will create discrepancies in results, differences in potential and short-circuits that are detrimental to the economies of scale and economic convergence that we all want.

It is essential for a company with a global dimension such as Societe Generale, which is active in over 80 countries and enjoys a leading position in developing countries, in order to employ all its engineering and financial innovation ability to help sustainable development, that governments indicate the medium and long-term prospects and the road to take. We already help our customers, and notably those who represent French excellence in terms of new “green” technologies, with their international development, and we want to amplify the leverage of our support with a view to creating long-term value.

Beyond the CO2 quota markets, where we’re a leader via orbeo (our JV with Rhodia), our teams are already hard at work in order to meet the challenge of how to finance sustainable development, particularly in emerging or developing countries. To optimise their efficiency, our actions will require clear and stable regulatory frameworks to enable the development of Public Private Partnerships whose quality of governance will make our clients’ investments safe and will guarantee the profitability of innovative business models.

If a clear direction and speed are set, we can put our trust in Societe Generale’s teams to fully contribute to this magnificent challenge that is the decarbonising of a more united economy.