Conservative MP John Gummer has told businesses that reducing carbon emissions can help boost profits.
Speaking at the Commercial Opportunities for Renewable Energy conference in Birmingham on Wednesday, the leader of the conservative party’s Quality of Life Initiative, said a reduction carbon emissions can lead to bottom line increases.
Gummer told 400 delegates that the government is building tax, grant and planning policies around climate change.
He warned that most new buildings have a minimum 10% renewable requirement and ignoring the opportunity could cause businesses to suffer.
“If you get ahead of the curve, you will not just be a proper contributor to a universal battle on climate change, but you will also find it is one of the only ways to solvency and the only sensible way to increase your bottom line”, he said.
Organised by rural surveyors Fisher German, accountants Saffery Champness and lawyers Burges Salmon, the conference highlighted how changes in planning law are now delivering a real and credible market for developers who are prepared to work with farmers and landowners to deliver renewable energy solutions.
Delegates were taken through the specific opportunities for biomass, wind-driven, geothermal and other renewable energy systems, the technologies that could deliver these and how to set up a successful project.
“Buyer beware,” cautioned Mr Gummer. “Treat alternative energy systems as you’d treat double-glazing – it has real advantages for you, but you must make a sophisticated and business-like choice, as you would with any other investment decision.”
He warned that doing nothing “will be the most expensive decision you will ever make in terms of the cost or penalty you will face.
“What’s more, the effects of climate change are likely to be worse than we thought, so the cost to your business of standing still will rise.”
References: EGi News 24/11/06
