Keith Clarke supports higher climate change targets - 21 July 2010
Atkins’ chief executive Keith Clarke, along with CEOs from some of the EU’s largest companies, has today come out in support of moves by the UK, France and Germany to shift the EU to a higher greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
In a letter published simultaneously in the Financial Times, Le Monde and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the 27 business leaders argue that:
“By moving to a higher target, the EU will have a direct impact on the carbon price through to 2020 and deliver the economic signals that companies need if they are to continue investing billions of Euros in low carbon products, services, technologies and infrastructure. European leadership will also help rebuild the international momentum towards an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change”.
The letter is in response to an article published in the same newspapers last Thursday in which the climate change ministers for the UK, Germany and France (Chris Huhne, Jean-Louis Borloo and Dr Norbert Röttgen) set out the economic benefits for increasing Europe’s climate change targets for 2020 from 20% to 30%.
The business leaders, brought together by the Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, end the letter by stating:
“The EU’s future competitive advantage lies in encouraging and enabling its businesses to help drive the transformational change that will occur in the world economy within the next couple of decades, not to hide from it”.
The letter is an initiative of The University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) which works with business, government and civil society to help leaders address critical global challenges.
The full list of signatories is as follows:
Jean-Paul Agon, CEO, L’Oreal
Martin Baggs, CEO, Thames Water
Paolo Barilla, Vice Chairman, Barilla
Paul Bulcke, CEO, Nestlé
Neil Carson, CEO, Johnson Matthey
Ian Cheshire, Group CEO, Kingfisher (including B&Q and Castorama)
Andy Clarke, President and CEO, Asda Stores Ltd
Keith Clarke, Chief Executive, Atkins
Reinhard Clemens, Member of the Board of Management, Deutsche Telekom AG, CEO, T-Systems International GmbH
Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone
Bertrand van Ee, CEO, DHV Group
Jose Manuel Entrecanales Domecq, Chairman, Acciona
Dr. Joachim Faber, Member of the Board of Allianz SE
Annika Falkengren, President & CEO, SEB
Alain Grisay, CEO, F&C
Christine Hodgson, CEO, Capgemini Technology Services, North West Europe, Capgemini
Sam Laidlaw, CEO, Centrica
Ron Mathison, Managing Director, James Finlay Ltd
Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnership
Lucy Neville-Rolfe, CMG, Corporate & Legal Affairs Director; Member of the Board of Directors, Tesco
Harrie L.J. Noy, CEO, ARCADIS
Dr. Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Otto Group
Rudy Provoost, Member Board of Management, Royal Philips Electronics, CEO, Philips Lighting
Sir Michael Rake, Chairman, BT
Ioannis Spanolios, General Manager, SKAI Group of Companies
Niels Stolberg, President & CEO, Beluga Shipping GmbH
Truett Tate, Group Executive Director, Wholesale, Lloyds Banking Group
Ends
For more information:
Andy Winstanley
Head of Media Relations
+44(0)1372 752018 / +44(0)7803 259643
Andy.Winstanley@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy and the world’s 11th largest design firm. We have the depth and breadth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
Recent projects include:
• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on London’s Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems on Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line;
• Multidisciplinary building design – North Wood Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010; received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector; and was named among The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2009 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2009. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2010 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.