Green issues rise up the agenda

As deadlines for development and implementation of the Climate Change Levy approach, the whole question of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is taking on a new urgency.

The CBI and other industry groups are leading the search for ways around the government's current tax plans. One option being looked at is establishing a kind of trade in emission quotas, where heavier polluters would be balanced out with their lighter polluting neighbours.

Now the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment has published a report saying that UK carbon emissions could be cut by a quarter by 2010 through the introduction of low-carbon technology.

The group supports the principle of a tax as one of a series of measures designed to encourage change. Other suggestions include more education and awareness, faster development of new products and services, and energy performance standards to underpin procurement policies.

There are at least three good reasons for taking green issues to heart now, says the Independent's business commentator Hamish McRae:

• first, environmental concern is likely to rise over the next generation, and the earlier companies act the easier it will be
• second, this is an area in which competitiv
• advantage can be gained because so many companies don't bother with it, and
• finally, green investment frequently delivers high returns.

Elliott Chase