6 June 2006ForbesChris Noon
Fourteen senior executives of some of the U.K.'s leading businesses have added their signatures to a missive offering their support to Prime Minister Tony Blair as he tackles climate change. The Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change--which includes James Smith, Chairman of Shell U.K., Mike Clasper, chief executive of BAA and top brass from Reckitt Benckiser, Vodafone (nyse: VOD - news - people ) Group, Unilever, Tesco, Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW - news - people ), and ABN Amro (nyse: ABN - news - people ) among its ranks--is lobbying for increased investment in low carbon technology and claims the British government should see the negotiations of the next round of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme as a photo op to set itself bullish targets. The CLG will argue that only by evincing exemplary policy on fighting climate change will the U.K. be able to convince countries such as China and India that Europe is serious about its strategy. "Even though the U.K. only emits two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, we agree with your view that we can and should play a leading role in the development of a long-term international framework for action on climate change," reads a copy of the letter e-mailed to Forbes.com. "We support your objective of moving quickly to progress talks about international action beyond the first Kyoto Commitment Period in 2012, and agree that the goal of such action should be to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature levels," it adds. Taking a lead on climate change won't just earn the government greenie points, the letter argues. "Bold leadership on domestic climate change policy has the potential to deliver significant economic benefits to the U.K." it tantalizes. Increased energy efficiency and technological innovation lead to an improvement in economic performance, as well as providing access to significant global export markets for low carbon technologies. These include carbon financing, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen storage, tidal and wave electricity generation and a range of transport technologies.
