It’s greener than you think
Jan 29 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
BUSINESS leaders in the UK have voted their home nation as the least environmentally friendly in Europe, according to the UPS Europe Business Monitor.
When asked to say which European country they thought had the worst environmental record, 14% of UK business leaders pointed the finger at the UK, putting their own country behind 15 others including Poland (11%), Italy (10%), and the Russian Federation (9%).
However, senior executives across Europe do not seem to share this pessimistic view of the UK’s green credentials.
Overall, business leaders in Europe voted Italy as the worst green performer (14%), followed by Greece (11%), the Russian Federation (9%), Poland (8%) and Spain (7%).
The UK came 6th overall, tied with France and Romania (all with 6%).
In contrast, Germany and Sweden tied as the most environmentally friendly countries, each with 23% of votes, well ahead of the next contender - Norway on 7%.
Over a quarter (27%) of UK respondents think that environmental concerns are over-hyped and will pass in time, a view that seems to be shared across Europe (23% overall).
However, the majority of business leaders in the UK believe the race to protect the environment is not lost.
More than half (57%) of UK senior executives think we can still stop global warming from changing the world as we know it today, while 39% think it’s too late.
Peter Ellis, chief executive of Renew Tees Valley, said: “The companies that we work with are certainly alive to environmental issues and clearly recognise that they have got to respond.
“They are aware that if they don’t, they will have a difficult future.
“Companies large and small are going to find themselves affected by the impact of climate change one way or another and they will have to respond.”UK business leaders think national governments should set mandatory environmental standards (43%), rather than the EU (18%), international governmental organisations like the UN (17%), industry associations (10%) or environmental NGOs (5%).
The UK was the only country in Europe to identify national government as the best choice for environmental regulation, as the consensus of opinion across Europe identified the EU (43%), followed by international governmental organisations (25%) like the UN, with national governments in third place (20%).
