Weather for summer; climate for life

In recent months our headlines have been dominated by spending cuts and the budget deficit. Climate change hardly got a look in at emergency budget time.

Whilst the picture across Europe isn't much different, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard recently raised hackles by proposing a unilateral increase from 20% to 30% in Europe's self imposed 2020 carbon reduction target. This higher limit is supposed to kick in only when the rest of the world gets serious and a global climate change deal is in place.

As we know, Copenhagen last year put paid to that, at least for the time being. However, the Commissioner's thinking was that the global recession has made the 2020 carbon reduction targets cheaper to achieve, and - deal or no deal - Europe now needs to crank up its commitment to reduction in order to drive up the price of carbon and kick start investment in clean tech, and to retain its leadership status on the issue.

Hardly tabloid news fodder - and, as it happens, the Commissioner subsequently backed down somewhat in the face of opposition.

Regrettably, when climate change has managed to hit the headlines, it's been confined to alleged skulduggery and intrigue amongst the scientists, allowing the sceptics to gain the upper hand with the continuing 'Climategate' debate.

What about farther afield, in those countries where low carbon laws and policies lag well behind Europe?

It is well known that only 1 in 5 US citizens of voting age has any regular interest in international affairs, so 'Climategate' is unlikely to have had much impact over the Pond, let alone talk of European carbon targets. With hundreds of miles of Gulf coastline to clean up, and continued offshore drilling to think about, the focus for some time to come of the average American is likely to remain on fossil fuel dependency and energy security.

And in many areas of the developing world, too many people are concerned with how to feed themselves on a daily basis to worry too much about what our scientists and politicians are up to.

In contrast, the view of UK business on all of this is becoming clearer, certainly if a recent global survey by Accenture is anything to go by. Despite the recent economic downturn, an overwhelming majority of corporate CEOs - 93 percent - believed sustainability will be critical to the future success of their companies. More interestingly, they reckoned that within a decade, a tipping point could be reached whereby sustainability becomes fully integrated into core business - its capabilities, processes and systems, and throughout global supply chains and subsidiaries.

The key point is, climate change mitigation and the development of a worldwide low carbon economy is a massive business opportunity to be grasped. Crucially, a global climate change deal will create legal and policy frameworks in developing countries that will encourage long term investment. On the other hand, if Europe goes it alone with tougher carbon targets, it will make an already uneven playing field even worse and compromise European industrial competitiveness. That in turn risks calls for trade tariffs and protectionism.

So, despite the apathy - indeed hostility - in certain quarters, a global climate change deal appears good for business. But how on earth (pardon the pun), do we get one?