The leaders of eighteen major UK and international companies - including B&Q, Centrica, LloydsTSB, Shell, Tesco and Vodafone - argue in letters addressed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and party leaders that action cannot be delayed even though the global economic downturn may provoke doubts about the feasibility of a bold approach to climate change.
The Corporate Leaders Group, developed and run on behalf of the Prince of Wales by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, calls for "significant investment in major infrastructure projects in order to achieve year on year reductions in emissions".
"Tackling climate change is the pro-growth strategy for business. The technological solutions are broadly known. What we now need are projects to build a low CO2 energy system in the UK," said James Smith, chairman of Shell UK.The group offers its support for the Climate Change Bill currently in Parliament but adds that there is an urgent need to develop a "comprehensive package of policy measures to change every major sector" in a cross-party effort.
As outlined by the group, some of the key elements of the package include higher energy efficiency standards, support for low-carbon technologies and products, "bold new specifications" to ensure green public sector procurement and measures to deliver a robust carbon market. On this point, the group welcomes the "progressive shift to auctioning of allowances" under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme.
The group recognises the need for international action. It calls on the UK to plan ahead for successful UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen next year on the "working assumption" that the EU will agree to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020 instead of 20%.
The group concludes that if the UK is to continue to offer effective global leadership, "government and business must now work together to demonstrate real change on the ground by delivering the new projects and practices that are needed to create a low climate-risk economy".
The UK-government sponsored Carbon Trust has highlighted the environmental as well as economic benefits of enhanced cooperation between business and the public sector. According to new figures, the trust has helped UK businesses to save £1 billion in energy costs and cut carbon emissions by 17 million tonnes since its inception in 2001.
Dr. Neil Bentley, director of Business Environment at the CBI, said: "The carbon and cost savings achieved by the companies the trust has worked with demonstrate that environmental efficiency can also equate to financial efficiency in today's global marketplace."
