Fighting climate change

Dec 4 2007 by Liz Smith,

LAST week’s CBI National Conference saw the launch of our Climate Change Task Force Report.

For the first time, senior representatives from every major sector of British business have come together to assess the challenges posed by climate change and to identify the actions necessary to tackle them.

The CBI Climate Change Task Force report is the culmination of 10 months’ intensive work by 18 chairmen and chief executives from some of the UK’s biggest companies, under the independent chairmanship of BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen.

The report highlights how vital it is for the UK business community, government, and consumers to act together to tackle the challenges that climate change brings.

It also shows that the UK’s carbon reduction targets for 2020 are likely to be missed but that 2050 goals, while stretching, can be achieved at a manageable cost – provided a greater sense of urgency is now adopted. It identifies priority areas for action that would put the UK back on track to meet its targets by 2030. The report goes on to highlight that firms will have fundamentally to change their business models to meet consumers’ and society’s needs in an era of climate change and that if we act early, the cost for each household can be limited to around £100 a year by 2030. Business must become green to grow.

Alongside the risks, the shift to a low carbon economy offers the UK a unique opportunity to develop innovative environmental technologies of the future and prosper in new, multi-billion-dollar world markets – but only if research funding is better co-ordinated and prioritised.

With sectoral strengths in the North-East in areas such as new and renewable energy, the region could play a key role in making the most of the opportunities offered.

The CBI is committed to playing a leading role in taking the recommendations of the report forward both nationally and internationally. For further information visit www.cbi.org.uk/climatereport

Liz Smith is assistant regional director, CBI North-East.

Firms will have to change their business models