Corporate Leaders Group meet Brown to argue for low carbon growth

Members of The Prince of Wales's UK Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (UK CLG) met with prime minister Gordon Brown today to discuss how action on climate change will help stimulate economic activity and job creation.

The Corporate Leaders Group, developed and run on behalf of The Prince of Wales by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, recently wrote to the leaders of the UK's major political parties to call for "transformational change" across the economy to meet the scale of the threat posed by climate change, stating that "incremental change will not do".

In the letter, they also argued that while the "global economic slowdown may cause some to question whether the UK can afford to act so boldly… action cannot be delayed" and that "decisive action will stimulate economic activity and job creation".

Today's meeting involved business leaders from some of the UK's largest companies, including LloydsTSB, Shell, Tesco, Unilever and Vodafone. The group offered its support for the recommendations of The Committee on Climate Change and welcomed the Government's adoption of the target to cut the UK's emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

The meeting focused on the potential for low carbon investment to help provide new jobs during the economic downturn, and for a "low carbon recovery". Potential new policies for stimulating investment in low carbon production and employment were also discussed.

The Corporate Leaders Group also committed to work in partnership with the government to help secure a strong and effective international framework to tackle climate change, including mechanisms to reduce tropical deforestation.

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."

Neil Carson, chief executive of chemical giant Johnson Matthey, said that as well as helping to bolster low carbon investment through legislative measures, the government could play a direct role in creating a market for green products and services.

"Public procurement drives one third of the UK economy but, to date, attempts to "green" procurement have largely failed," he observed. "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."