Turning Points: Yvo de Boer, special global advisor for climate change and sustainability at KPMG

The ambitious project of tackling climate change via an international framework is at a pivotal point. With the Kyoto Protocol's Phase III set to start in 2013 and full details on the operational framework still to be clarified, it seems disappointing that a legally binding global agreement could not be reached at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun in December.

Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the UNFCCC and now special global advisor for climate change and sustainability at advisory firm KPMG, says the failure was inevitable.

"The challenge for COP16 [was] to iron out the content of a future agreement and unstick key problems that remain unresolved," says de Boer. In Cancun, parties needed to concentrate on practical details, he says. "At the end of day, countries are not going to sign a treaty without knowing all this."

And de Boer should know. Before KPMG, he spent four years as the head of the UNFCCC. During this time, he played a leading role in driving forward the development of Phase II and Phase III, but he also had to endure the widely criticised COP15 talks in Copenhagen in December 2009.

During COP15, much of the criticism centred on the lack of a legally binding agreement with China and India. These countries in particular have shown reluctance to sign up to a legally binding deal after voicing concerns that any deal may hinder their economic development.

"When I look back at COP15, I have very mixed feelings," says de Boer. "I didn't expect the event to deliver an international treaty, as anyone signing up to the agreement would need to know the content first of all. However, COP15 could've made it clearer on how to put into practice greener growth and the details of a potential agreement. But what COP15 did was to deliver a political declaration of co-operation and address key issues." However, despite market criticism, he believes developing countries are not to blame.

"I actually don't think emerging economies are the issue. If you look at national plans in China, India, South Africa and others for tackling climate change, they are all very clearly trying to shift their economies through a greener growth path. For example, China has decided to improve the energy intensity of their economy by 40-45% in 2020 compared to 2005, which is an ambitious national target."

The absence of a legally binding agreement did not diminish his passion for driving forward climate change initiatives over 15 years.

Prior to the UNFCCC de Boer was part of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for the European Environmental programme for seven years. After this experience he realised that working within the climate change sector was for him.

"I was pretty successful in covering a lot of bases earlier in my career," says de Boer. "I think it is healthy not to be stuck in a rut and by moving every few years it allows you to not be pigeonholed into one particular area. In the Netherlands I was covering communication and urban policy [for UN-Habitat and the Dutch ministry], and it wasn't until 1994 that climate change really grabbed me and never let me go. Although for a short period of time I moved out of climate change, the feeling and desire to be involved never went away and I swiftly moved back into it."

Subsequently, he spent 11 years with the Dutch Ministry firstly as deputy director for air and energy, and head of the climate change department, then as deputy director-general for environment and director for international affairs before joining the UNFCCC.

De Boer's passion for the sector does not just stem from an environmental perspective but also because of its relationship with the business sector. As a staunch advocate of a more integrated approach with the private sector and intergovernmental organisations, de Boer's move to KPMG seems like a natural step.

"Business is not at the design table and I think it's a government responsibility to iron out the details on tackling climate change, but the business sector has to deliver within it," he says. "Although a clear framework didn't emerge from COP15, businesses continue to drive forward innovations for tackling climate change because of their concerns over energy security, material scarcity and changing consumer demand."

Harnessing this dedication to the environment, de Boer's role within KPMG will allow the interface between the private sector and sustainability to become more apparent. While the lack of a legally binding deal with emerging economies has said to have halted progress in tackling climate change, de Boer actually sees growth and opportunities.

"The significance of emerging economies, such as China, India, South Africa and Brazil is growing," he says. "Even some of the smaller emerging economies, such as Vietnam, are gaining a larger footprint. Over the past few years, the global economic crisis is what everyone has been talking about, but when I am in these other countries you really don't get a sense of it. Emerging economies are in fact showing healthy economic growth and there is a huge opportunity to harness these countries into sustainability programmes."