Firms must 'grasp' green agenda

Mr Miliband says the mindset of some firms needs to change

A "new model" of economic growth will be required to address climate change and to marry productivity with the green agenda, David Miliband has said.

The environment secretary said "tough decisions and trade-offs" were needed to ensure businesses and society met their environmental obligations.

Speaking in London, Mr Miliband said it was in firms' financial interest to help build a low carbon economy.

Future legislation on climate change would give "clarity" to firms, he said.

More awareness

The government is planning to introduce a climate change bill in the next year, although ministers have been criticised by opposition parties and environmental groups for not pledging annual carbon reduction targets.

Climate change is not an add-on to your business or matter of corporate social responsibility David Miliband

Tackling climate change and securing economic growth were not mutually exclusive aims, Mr Miliband said, but "complimentary".

He acknowledged that while many British firms were leading the way in improving sustainability, much greater awareness was needed of the risks and opportunities of environmental action.

"Business must also recognise that without addressing climate change, they face short term and long term impacts that will undermine economic growth," he said.

"Climate change is not an add-on to your business or matter of corporate social responsibility. It will change your business and is a matter of financial self-interest."

Reframing the debate

At the same time, Mr Miliband said environmental groups should not assume that countries such as China and India could be persuaded to reduce their carbon emissions with an "anti-materialist message".

"The choice is not between development or no development, it is between high-carbon growth and low-carbon growth," he added.

"That is why...business and financial institutions need to champion and re-frame the climate change challenge."

Employers' group, the CBI, welcomed Mr Miliband's assertion that business would be central to successful action on climate change.

"Many responsible businesses would agree that they are an integral part of the solution and many have already drawn up plans to reduce their carbon footprint," said its director general Richard Lambert.