The Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change welcomed the Stern Review on Climate Change’s findings about the economic opportunities that will be created by the transition to a low-emissions global economy.

The Review concludes that markets for low carbon energy products are likely to be worth “at least $500 billion per year by 2050, and perhaps much more” and recommends that “individual companies and countries should position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities”.

These findings support the arguments that the Corporate Leaders Group, which is made up of fourteen senior executives from some of the UK’s leading businesses, made in their open letter to the Prime Minister in June of this year.

Speaking for the group, James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK said “we are delighted that Sir Nicholas Stern has supported our view that the shift to a low-carbon future has the potential to deliver a range of economic benefits to companies and countries that take the lead in tackling climate change.

“We think that the transition to a low-carbon economy could have a profound impact on British businesses” said Neil Carson, Chief Executive of technology company, Johnson Matthey. “As Stern points out, “the innovation associated with tackling climate change could trigger a new wave of growth and creativity in the global economy”.

The Corporate Leaders Group believe that policy leadership is not only important for the economic opportunities that it will create, but also for helping to catalyse international action on climate change. They believe that convincing other countries – within and beyond the EU – to take action on climate change will require the UK and others to show that they are serious about their commitment to tackling climate change.

They also believe that moving forward on climate change in the UK and elsewhere will require businesses and governments to work together to deliver change.

The Corporate Leaders Group is convened by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry on behalf of the Prince of Wales’s Business & Environment Programme (BEP).

The combined market capitalization of the companies in the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change is over £300 billion. Together they employ over 850,000 people.

The group will meet the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, later in the year to discuss the implications of the Stern Review findings for British businesses and British climate change policy.

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