Updated: Green concerns at risk of being sidelined by economic fears

Concerns are mounting that a global economic downturn could distract political and business leaders from addressing the threats posed by climate change.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the intergovernmental panel on climate change said there was a risk that leaders could be distracted by the recent financial turmoil and fears of recessions.

"If we get distracted by the aberrations that you see in the financial market right now it would clearly be very unfortunate," he said.

His fears were echoed by the UN's top climate change official Yvo de Boer, who chaired the Bali summit last month. Speaking to The Guardian, he urged political leaders to keep their nerve and push through with demanding environmental legislation such as that proposed by the European Commission earlier this week.

"The reality is that people are going to suffer pain and others are going to gain," he said. However, he accepted that leaders had to pull off a political balancing act by "being involved [with the transition to a low carbon economy] but not digging their own political graves".

The warnings come just days after a major report from auditing giant found that climate change had slipped down the list of priorities for the world's CEOs.

The annual global survey of 1,100 chief executives found that the proportion that are extremely concerned about climate change declined by 10 per cent to less than a third. It also revealed that almost half of UK CEOs do not regard climate change as a threat to their immediate business growth prospects at all, making the issue the second lowest perceived threat to business.

Instead concerns about the global economy and skills shortages dominated chief executives outlook with global confidence levels declining for the first time in five years.

However, there were some indications that chief executives are beginning to take steps towards a low carbon economy, regardless of their current focus on economic issues. Over half of CEOs said they were either extremely or somewhat concerned about the impact of rising energy prices on growth, suggesting more businesses could adopt energy saving measures.

Increased insurance costs and compliance pressures posed by new environmental legislation were also identified by many as posing a significant challenge. Moreover, around a third of UK CEOs felt that climate change will benefit their business economically as the transition to a low carbon economy takes place.

Matthew Farrow, head of environment at the CBI, insisted that while there were legitimate concerns action on climate change could take a back seat as a result of any economic downturn the issue was now so entrenched within many business leaders that it was unlikely to be sidelined. "Talking to our members the impression is that [the green agenda] is well past the stage of being a passing fad that could slip from people's minds," he said. "It will not be eclipsed by concerns about the economy."

David Boomer, head of energy efficiency and climate change at the
Institute of Directors (IoD), agreed businesses would remain focused on tackling carbon emissions despite economic concerns, suggesting fears over a recession could even drive some green investments.

"Our members are clearly having to balance the issues of economic stability whilst continuing to tackle the issues of climate change," he said. "However, business still recognises the benefits of reducing their carbon emissions through improving energy efficiency. This improves their economic performance which in turn
enables them to withstand fluctuations in the financial markets"