World's top businesses call for green G20 deal

Political leaders may have spent much of this week downplaying expectations of a meaningful climate change deal at tomorrow's G20 summit, but that did not stop over 50 of the world's largest businesses joining forces yesterday to call for a larger chunk of proposed global stimulus packages to be earmarked for low carbon initiatives.

In an open letter to Gordon Brown and the G20 leaders gathered in London this week, the new World Economic Forum low carbon prosperity task force calls on the international community to seize the opportunity presented by plans for a co-ordinated global recovery package and "begin to develop the necessary practical incentives that will stimulate private sector decision-making" towards a low carbon economy.

The newly formed task force features 52 companies, including a raft of blue chip firms such as Barclays, BP, BT, Deutsche Bank, Intel, Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell and Unilever, as well as 32 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and economic and environmental experts.

Richard Samans, managing director of the World Economic Forum, which co-ordinated the new task force, said that the group was looking for tighter links between plans for economic stimulus packages and the UN's on-going climate change negotiations.

"We suggest that the two agendas can and should be designed to be mutually reinforcing," he said. "Global economic growth and the prospects for achievement of a UN climate agreement in Copenhagen later this year can both be strengthened by placing low carbon growth strategies at the heart of economic stimulus measures now being implemented in many countries."

The letter says that the task force will aim to put flesh on the bones of repeated calls by politicians for a green economic recovery, providing a set of recommendations for ready-to-implement low carbon projects that will be delivered to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon in September.

The recommendations will include practical proposals on how to establish a global carbon market, develop universal green standards, limit deforestation, enhance energy efficiency and stimulate investment in low carbon technologies and climate adaptation measures.

The letter states that by the autumn the group will aim to deliver "between 10 and 20 recommendations of 'game changing' policy initiatives or public-private collaborations that stand the best chance of catalysing substantially increased business investment in low carbon solutions, which can be initiated within the next 18 months".

It goes on to invite leaders at the G20 summit to consider the preliminary recommendations and direct relevant economic and environmental officials of their governments to support the task force's work.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi, said that the group remained hopeful that the proposals could secure some support this week.

"The G20 governments can, politically and practically, signal their determination to transform the current economic crisis into an opportunity by committing a serious part of the multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages to low carbon investments," he said. "In doing so, they will be setting the stage for sealing the deal in Copenhagen, and a resource efficient, innovation-led 21st century green economy. That is what business needs to know and that is what the low carbon prosperity initiative is calling for."

UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said that some sort of commitment to focus on a low carbon recovery would be one of the measures of whether or not tomorrow's meeting proves a success.

But a leaked early draft of the message made only a passing mention of the environment and officials have been seeking to downplay expectations of a Green New Deal this week, arguing that national budgets remain tight and that any explicit mention of green job creation could be interpreted by some leaders as a cover for protectionist measures.