Discussing the importance of ‘green’ growth alongside peers, ministers and environmental reporters, Vincent Neate encouraged audiences to consider low carbon development an opportunity for businesses and the UK economy, saying:
“Government needs to create a framework to help business invest in the green economy and move to global growth. This can be done through the right incentives, market based mechanisms and risk based approach.
Addressing climate change must involve economics; if businesses do not perceive they will make a better return, then they will not invest. The test should always be whether businesses make more money by investing in green growth rather than brown growth?”
It is by enabling the private sector to drive the bottom line that the ideal triple bottom line, incorporating climate and social benefits, as well as profit, will be boosted.
Specifically, I’m keen to see the government make changes to its incentives regime, for example, adapting R&D tax credits to particularly favour low carbon innovation.
Changing the risk profile can of course involve stick as well as carrot. The CRC legislation for example, is incentivising corporate behaviour change. We have worked with over 70 clients preparing for the CRC and really are seeing a move to low carbon growth within these companies.
So it follows that I’d like to see robust support for the improvement of market based mechanisms such as the EU ETS and further focus on the price of externalities, putting them at a level at which investment in low carbon technologies becomes worthwhile for businesses.
Businesses invest where there is money to be made and their behaviour is changed when it makes financial sense to do things differently.
Shifting to a low carbon economy in the UK and globally is imperative; the private sector will be critical to achieving this, therefore success depends on the business community making money from green growth.”
If you would like to pick up on any of these comments please feel free to make contact:
Vincent Neate, KPMG’s UK Head of Climate Change & Sustainability
020 7694 3256 | email: vincent.neate@kpmg.co.uk
