UNITED States President Barack Obama tried to persuade Asia-Pacific businesses on Wednesday to act on climate change and presented a Filipina engineer who invented a cheap lamp that runs for eight hours on salt water and that can charge a mobile phone.
After his speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit, Obama moderated a panel discussion on doing business on clean energy with Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, and Aisa Mijeno, co-founder of Sustainable Alternative Lighting.
Mijeno, who started the company with her brother Rafael in 2012, said the $20 salt-water lamp they developed was safer and cleaner than the traditional kerosene lamps commonly used in remote communities. A consumable part that triggered a chemical reaction to produce electricity costs $2 to $3, she added, and needed to be changed twice a year.
“Climate change is real, it’s a fact. It’s not a myth that scientists created in order to get funding or grants. It’s real, it’s happening now,” said Mijeno.
Mijeno then compared climate change to the stages of cancer, saying the earth was around stage two, where symptoms are beginning to show but can be treated.
“You don’t want to get to stage four,” Obama replied.
When Obama asked Mijeno what was the biggest challenge facing her company, she replied that they were trying to go into mass production and needed someone to fund the project.
Obama then pointed to Ma, drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
“I’m serving as a matchmaker here,” he said.
In his speech during the CEO gathering, Obama urged all business owners to go for renewable energy technology as it can generate new jobs and investments.
“Your business can be right by your bottom line and by our planet and future generations. The old rules that said we can’t grow our economy and protect our environment at the same time—these are outdated,” Obama said before thousands of chief executives. “We can transition to clean energy without squeezing businesses and consumers.”
Obama said he was optimistic an elusive deal to contain global warming could be forged at an upcoming crunch summit in Paris, and insisted an ambitious deal would boost a flagging world economy.
He said there was still a “lot of work to do” to ensure success at the United Nations summit.
“Nevertheless, I’m optimistic that we can get an outcome that we’re all proud of, because we understand what’s at stake,” Obama said.
The goal of the climate summit in the French capital, which begins on Nov. 30, is to forge a pact to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming.
The meeting will try to negotiate a pact to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.
Scientists warn that unless drastic action is taken quickly, warming temperatures will lead to rising sea levels and natural catastrophes that threaten mankind.
The Paris event represents the first bid for a truly global climate rescue pact since the chaotic 2009 summit in Copenhagen ended in bitter disappointment.
Previous efforts have failed because governments and businesses have struggled to break free from fossil fuel dependency that has driven economic growth since the industrial revolution.
“There is not a contradiction between growth, development and being good stewards of the planet, they are complementary,” Obama said at the conference.
Obama insisted an ambitious deal in Paris would spur investment, as it would signal to businesses that they should “go all-in on renewable energy technologies.”
“If we can get an agreement done, it could drive new jobs and opportunities, and investment in a global economy that, frankly, needs a boost right now.”