Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change

The Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (CLG) brings together business leaders from major UK, EU and international companies who believe that there is an urgent need to develop new and longer-term policies for tackling climate change.

At present there are two groups - a UK group, and an EU group. The groups are cross-sector, encompassing energy producers, manufacturers, banks, retailers, utilities and others. They have been active since 2005 in progressing action on climate change, working with national governments, international fora and within the business community.

The UK CLG and EU CLG join forces to call for action on the international agenda. 19/9/08: UK CLG letter calls for cross-party effort to deliver a low carbon economy The UK CLG has written a letter to the leaders of the UK's main political parties to call for cross-party effort to deliver a low carbon economy.

UK CLG Letter to UK Party Leaders Friday 19th September, 2008 (http://www.cpi.cam.ac.uk/pdf/UK%20CLG%20letter%20to%20Party%20Leaders%20 PM.pdf) - version of the letter that was sent to the Prime Minster. It was also addressed to the leaders of all political parties with representation in the Houses of Parliament.

Powerful business grouping calls for cross-party effort to deliver a low carbon economy "Decisive action will stimulate economic activity" The Prince of Wales's UK Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (UK CLG) [1], consisting of some of the largest corporations in the UK, has written today 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.

In letters to Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and others, the leaders of eighteen major UK and international companies including B&Q, Centrica, LloydsTSB, Shell, Tesco and Vodafone, argue 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".

The Corporate Leaders Group, developed and run on behalf of The Prince of Wales by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, argues that "incremental change will not do" and that "there will need to be significant investment in major infrastructure projects in order to achieve year on year reductions in emissions".

The group has recommended that the UK adopt a 'working assumption' that a legally-binding deal will be signed by all countries at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen next year, implying that "the European Union should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020, not 20%". Alongside increased efforts to mitigate climate change's worst impacts, the group highlights the importance of adaptation efforts to cope with the impacts of climate change which "the UK is already facing".

The group offers strong support for The Climate Change Bill currently in Parliament as a "crucial framework for emissions reduction" but calls for an "urgent cross-party effort to develop a comprehensive package of policy measures to change every major sector of the economy".

It describes some of the "key elements" of the package, including higher energy efficiency standards, support for low-carbon technologies and products, "bold new specifications" for public sector procurement and measures to deliver a robust carbon market. On this last point, the group supports the "progressive shift to auctioning of allowances" under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Corporate Leaders Group recognises that international action is needed to tackle "this global problem" but states that if the UK is to continue to offer credible and effective global leadership, "Government and business must now work together to demonstrate real change on the ground by delivering the new projects and practices that are needed to create a low climate risk economy". The group is seeking meetings with the UK's main party leaders this autumn to discuss their proposals.