Business leaders in Western Europe say priority should be given to environmental protection as top US companies urge climate change action on Bush

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Business leaders in Western Europe say priority should be given to environmental protection as top US companies urge climate change action on Bush
By Finfacts Team
Jan 22, 2007, 10:59

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President George W. Bush waves as he leaves the stage following his keynote address at the 2006 Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance Conference, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, at the St. Louis Convention Center in St. Louis, Mo. President Bush discussed the development of new energy sources that reduce America's consumption of oil, such as hydrogen, ethanol and biodiesel. White House photo by Eric Draper

Environmental protection should be a greater priority for political leaders than economic growth, according to a survey of company directors in Western Europe. Meanwhile, leaders of top US companies will urge President Bush today to take action on climate change.

The survey of the 1,450 business leaders published today in the UPS Europe Business Monitor, shows that 45 percent said protecting the natural world should be top of a list of objectives for global leaders, while 40 percent identified sustaining growth as one of the three most-important objectives.

Environmental concerns prompted 32 percent to reduce energy use at home and 10 percent are using renewable energy at home, according to the annual survey.

Fifty-nine percent of interviewees said Europe should stake its future on renewable energy such as wind or solar power, rather than locally produced fossil fuels or Russian natural-gas.

About a third would prefer to turn to nuclear power, which is supported by 38 percent of those surveyed in the U.K. and 22 percent in Germany. Securing future energy supplies was seen by 33 percent as a political priority.

U.K.-based business leaders ranked reducing world poverty, global conflicts and terrorism as the most important priorities for politicians.

A separate survey of 3,100 "opinion leaders" in 18 countries by the public relations firm Edelman suggests that corporate governance reforms and the rising wealth of individuals in many developing nations are helping the corporate sector to improve its credibility.

Released ahead of this week's World Economic Forum, in Davos Switzerland, the study highlights a growing mistrust by intellectual and financial elites of elected representatives in favour of alternative entities such as non-governmental organisations and companies.

Business was more trusted than governments in every continent, according to the respondents, who were top earners with an interest in politics and economics

NGOs beat business to the top position in North America and Europe, with most respondents ranking them as the most trusted institution, while government was regarded as the least trusted in both America and Europe.

The trust in NGOs is mirrored in the public's belief that socially responsible activities are more important for a company than customer service or a strong financial performance, added the survey.

"People want NGOs to be part of the solution," said Richard Edelman, chief executive of the PR firm. "They are perceived as less biased and speak to issues that are of great concern, such as the environment."

In the US, business received the highest ranking since the survey began in 2001, while government was at its lowest in five years, a reflection of the unpopularity of the Bush administration. Government scored badly in the UK also, touching its lowest ever level of trustworthiness - a trend that was also seen in France and Germany.

Top US companies to urge climate change action on Bush

Ten of the largest US companies, including General Electric. Alcoa and Lehman Brothers will urge President George W. Bush on Monday to take more aggressive action on climate change.

They will ask him to embrace a system of mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions designed to cut them by up to 30 per cent over the next 15 years.

Months after taking office in 2001, Bush made the second biggest mistake of his presidency by flatly ruling out compliance with or even tepid support for the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions.

In a signal of how American business is seeking to take a lead on climate change, nine CEOs including Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric, Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers and Jim Rogers of Duke Energy, will attend the launch of the report from the US Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of 10 companies and several environmental groups.

It's reported that Alain Belda, chairman of Alcoa, will warn that "addressing climate change involves risks and costs. But much greater is the risk of failing to act. I am convinced that we can build a global plan of action on climate change in ways that create more economic opportunities than risks."

President Bush will make his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, when he is expected to make a clearer link between the demands of energy security and the environment.

The White House opposes the introduction of a federal cap and emissions trading system similar to that in place in European Union, to cap greenhouse gas emissions and allow companies to trade their quotas.