Gordon Brown's Low Carbon Investment
added march 4th 2009
Business leaders have met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to argue the economic case for continued low carbon investment.
Members of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change held talks with Mr Brown about how taking action on climate change would help stimulate economic activity and create jobs.
The group brings together a broad cross-section of UK and international companies that believe there is an urgent need to develop new long-term policies to tackle climate change.
They recently wrote to the three main UK political party leaders calling for a “transformational change” to policy and warning that the current downturn was no excuse to abandon the shift to a low carbon economy.
The meeting, involving representatives from a number of household names such as Shell, Tesco and Vodafone, offered support for the Government’s decision to adopt an ambitious target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
Mr Brown was also urged to harness the potential of “green” investment in order to create a “low carbon recovery”. Potential new policies for stimulating investment in low carbon production and employment were also discussed.
James Smith, chairman of Shell UK, said:
“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.”
Another member of the group, Neil Carson, chief executive officer of Johnson Matthey, called on the Government to do more to create a market for green products and services.
He explained:
“Public procurement drives one-third of the UK economy but, to date, attempts to 'green' procurement have largely failed. The public sector should be setting bold, new and sustainable specifications for the products and services it buys.
“These would help drive innovation and investment, and bring advanced products to the market, delivering real savings in carbon and saving money for both consumers and the taxpayer.”
Source: The Prince of Wales’s UK Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, 15/01/2009
