Global recession boosts corporate energy-efficiency, COP 15
Release Date: 2009-03-16
The global recession is having a mixed impact on climate-change efforts within business: It encourages energy efficiency projects, but slows down greater changes, according to a major new research report.
A global survey of 528 senior business executives and 18 in depth interviews with relevant executives and experts gives a clear signal that global recession spurs to greener thinking.
Almost three-quarters (73%) of firms polled will make energy efficiency a high or moderate priority over the next two years in a bid to cut costs. However other climate-change initiatives will receive less attention: overall, two-thirds (67%) think climate change will fall down the corporate agenda as the global economic crisis continues, the survey shows.
»The Copenhagen conference in December will be a crucial time for climate-change negotiations. But set against a backdrop of significant economic stress, a key question will be to what degree concerns about the economy will weaken any possible progress,« comments Robin Bew, Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit in a press release.
»This report shows that, although businesses will necessarily switch focus to survival mode, many firms are starting to embrace some of the short-term cost benefits of energy efficiency. A significant minority is also discovering longer-term business opportunities relating to climate change,« he says.
Other key findings from the research includes:
• More than one-half of companies polled (54%) have established some kind of climate-change strategy, although most simply consider energy efficiency.
• Seventy-five percent of respondents agree that companies as a whole have been slow to prepare for the long-term impact of global warming on their business.
• Overall, 40% of respondents say their firms have developed new products or services in the last two years that help to reduce or prevent environmental problems — and 30% say such development will be a high priority in the coming years.
• About two-thirds (65%) of respondents (for whom it was relevant) indicate that a carbon price of up to €50 would be enough to have a significant effect on their energy usage, with a price somewhere between €30 and €50 per tonne of CO2 seen as the sweet spot for change.
• More than one-half (56%) of surveyed companies believe that more government regulation is necessary in this sector. In fact, for the relatively few companies that do lobby, more are arguing for tighter rather than looser regulation — at both the national and international levels. Above all, businesses want a level playing field in which to compete.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | COP 15 |
| Country: | Denmark |
| Url: | http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=878 |