A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit has found that industry is not yet exploiting the business benefits of carbon reduction. The conclusions of the report are:

● Business is not keeping up with the changing public mood. 50% have no intention in reducing their carbon emissions in the next 3 years.

● Business is reacting to reputational risk, not exploiting business opportunities.

● Companies do not expect the costs to be high – most expect measures to have no or a low net cost.

● Companies starting out on carbon reduction face a steep learning curve.

● Government regulation is the single largest factor in shaping how companies address carbon issues.

Given all the coverage climate change has had recently, these are worrying results. They suggest that despite the opportunity for quite a bit of gain for relatively little pain, industry still needs to be forced into reducing their carbon footprint. Simply aiming for mere regulatory compliance like this is a very expensive hobby as legislation will continue to tighten for the foreseeable future. The alternative is the sustainable business mantra of “beyond compliance” but this message obviously isn’t getting through yet.