"For every £1 we spend now on tackling climate change, we are
saving our children anywhere between £5 and £20 at today's value.
Failure to act means risking economic and social disruption on the
scale of the great wars and economic depression of the last
century." Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco CEO
Businesses are key players in reducing the City's overall carbon
footprint and as Sir Nicholas Stern has pointed out in his famous
report entitled
"The Economics of Climate Change", it makes
economic sense to invest in mitigating climate change now,
rather than later. Also, many carbon reduction measures actually
save money, for example reducing energy and water
consumption.
A carbon footprint of the Square Mile has been calculated
and can help businesses understand where to focus their
attention.
Download the City of London Carbon Footprint
report.pdf (480kb)
Click here to find out more about
government policies and regulation on climate change, including
the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
If you are interested in discussing matters related to climate
change and other environmental issues with your peers, you may be
interested in our
City Environmental Forum.
Managing Emissions
In order to manage and reduce emissions, it is very important to
measure them. If you follow the links, you will find
information on how to
measure your firm's carbon footprint, how to
manage and reduce the carbon emissions, as well as some ideas
for
taking further steps to reduce your organisation's wider
impact.
If you would like to discuss carbon emissions reduction and
other environmental matters with business peers, please join our
City Environmental Forum.
Click here to read more about the Forum.
Adapting to climate change
Whilst it is absolutely essential that we continue to cut our
carbon emissions, we must also plan for the inevitable effects of
climate change. For information on climate change
projections, visit the UK Climate Impact Profile website. To help your
business adapt to climate change, we have developed a checlist that
you can use in your project planning.
Download the Climate Change Adaptation
Checklist (52kb)
Further information and support
Information on climate change is available on our introductions
page. Further information and support in tackling climate change in
your organisation is available from a number of agencies and
government bodies. You will find a
list of useful links here.
Carbon Trading
London is an international hub for carbon trading. Cap and trade
systems for greenhouse gas emissions are proving effective in
reducing overall carbon emissions. You can find an
introduction to carbon trading here.
Carbon Offsetting
Carbon offsetting is a crucial component of the Kyoto Protocol,
the major international agreement to reduce carbon emissions. It
involves financing projects that reduce emissions through the
purchase of the carbon credits. Each carbon credit is equivalent to
a reduction of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions. Read more
about
carbon offsetting here.