Time to ramp up green efforts

The green agenda presents massive opportunities for the UK’s financial services sector, but businesses outside of the Square Mile would also do well to tie their colours to the green mast.

Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has called on the City of London to ramp up efforts to establish itself as the global hub for green growth finance, after warning that the potential of the finance sector to drive low-carbon investment in both industrialised and developing economies has been ignored for too long.

He chose a meeting of senior City figures at the London Stock Exchange to mark the launch of the government-backed Capital Markets Climate Initiative (CMCI), which aims to identify how to increase private sector financing for low-carbon projects.

Barker’s point to the City is clear; step up your game if London is to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the international commitment to raise $100bn a year in climate financing for developing countries by 2020.

The green agenda presents massive opportunities for the UK’s financial services sector, creating a completely new international market that will be worth billions in the years to come. But businesses outside of the Square Mile would also do well to heed his message.

Green is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s a business imperative. It’s no coincidence that the Miliband brothers are battling over green issues in the Labour leadership contest. And with CFOs playing a pivotal role in establishing corporate strategy, it’s time to make sure your environmental strategy is firmly on the business agenda.

Take for example the announcement by online auction and retail site eBay at the end of last week that it is to begin using reusable boxes that can be sent continuously back and forth between sellers and buyers before they are rendered unusable and is recycled.

On the face of it, it’s an initiative designed to reduce packaging waste. But the company is also hoping that it will encourage buyers to become sellers, all of which will be good news for eBay’s bottom line.

eBay is certainly not alone. Name any business heavyweight, and you’ll find a host of environmentally focused initiatives associated with it. Also last week, Nestle has revealed that it is to invest CHF500m (£321m) over the next decade to reduce the environmental impact of its leading coffee brands, Nescafe and Nespresso.

No one said cracking the environmental nut would be easy but get it right and your business will more than reap the benefits.