British companies to fight climate change together

By Julia Werdigier

LONDON: The largest British companies, including BP, Tesco and BT Group, pledged to offer greener products and invest in research and technology as part of a wider push to reduce carbon emissions and serve as models for other countries.

In a concerted effort, 18 of the top British top companies — ranging from carmakers and airlines to retailers and banks — were to publish a report Monday in which they promised to develop new products and services that would allow customers to cut their carbon footprints. The initiative is also intended to send a message to companies around the world to move climate change higher up their agendas. "Carbon needs to be part of the DNA for businesses just like health and safety has become over the years," said Richard Lambert, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, which helped coordinate the report.

They also said they would develop a standard for all companies involved in the initiative to regularly report their carbon emission levels, invest in technology and emission-saving projects, and promote "greener" behavior among their own employees, starting with the reduction of emissions from company cars and offices. The group did not say how it planned to ensure that its members stuck to their pledges but said the savings from cutting emissions would encourage them to do so.

"There is an urgency, and the sooner we do it the better and the cheaper," said Ben Verwaayen, chief executive of the telecommunications company BT and chairman of the task force group, whose members employ two million people worldwide and generate more than £1 trillion, or $2.06 trillion, in revenue. The report is the result of British businesses addressing issues raised by The Stern Review, a study published last year on the impact of global warming on the economy that was commissioned by the British government. The review, led by the government's top economist, Nicholas Stern, concluded that spending about 1 percent of global gross domestic product on stabilizing emissions today would avoid having to pay about 5 percent to 20 percent in the future. Such predictions have ensured that global warming has remained high on the government's agenda, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to establish an advisory committee to help it meet its target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

But some businesses have been skeptical in the past about government initiatives to introduce legislation on curbing emissions because they fear it would put them at a competitive disadvantage to rivals that are not bound by such laws. Lambert acknowledged at a press briefing Friday that competition issues were a concern but that British companies could use the need to cut emissions as an opportunity to become leaders in low-carbon technologies.

Iain Conn, head of BP's refining and marketing division, said that the return from some emission-reduction projects has more than covered investments in the necessary technology. Many companies have not yet realized they can actually make money from investing in such technology, he said. The report said that responsibility to cut climate-changing emissions lies with consumers, who through their purchases influence about 60 percent of British emissions; companies, which can enable customers to act by offering greener products; and the government, which should use tax cuts as an incentive for consumers. Consumers should be encouraged through tax cuts and cheaper products, for example, to invest in better insulation of their homes, an improvement whose financial benefits takes years for a consumer to recoup, the group said. In addition, if people were encouraged to buy the most efficient car in each class today, new car emissions could be reduced by a third. Further investments in air traffic management systems could cut fuel consumption by 12 percent, the report said.

Britain is responsible for about 4 percent of global emissions, more than its share of the 14 percent contributed by all 27 European Union member states. Within Britain, about 90 percent of emissions come from the transport, building, power and industrial sectors, and each sector will have to focus on different methods to cut emissions, the report stated. The building industry can cut most emissions by improving the structure of buildings and the use of lights, according to the report. The power industry can cut emissions by using more waste recycling, but also with the use wind and nuclear energy.

Some of the group's members, including Tesco and Shell, are already members of a similar but smaller group called .

The Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, which is currently working with the government to tackle climate change. Verwaayen said that if consumer and business behavior starts to change within the next two years, the cost for each household to keep emissions down could be limited to about £100 a year by 2030. "We need to support the consumer with better information and more choice" to make it easier for them to limit emissions, Verwaayen said.

To be continue in other article...

(Jakarta, Kamis 21 February 2008, 07.39 pagi)

Re-publish by Jacob Paradox from link (www.routers.com),(www.iht.com), (www.routers.com), (www.nytimes.com)