Manufacturing firms ‘not investing in climate change’

Posted on: 11.01.2010    09:19:04

The majority of manufacturing companies are not putting money into reducing climate change and are concentrating on other matters, such as taking on new staff, one expert has pointed out.

Adam Buckley, head of programmes at the Manufacturing Institute, said that the recession has seen most firms re-evaluate the importance of their operations and this has resulted in initiatives such as cutting carbon emissions being put on the backburner as efforts are made to retain staff and take on new workers.

His comments come despite a new report by the Carbon Disclosure Project revealing that the average large manufacturing company is cutting carbon emissions by an average of 2.5 per cent a year.

Mr Buckley said: “They want to do it, but actually business pressures and demands and needs which are currently around markets, finance et cetera have taken precedent.”

He added that one way of encouraging carbon reduction would be to make it a legal requirement, but he said that this is unlikely to happen because it would potentially put many companies out of business.

 

Author: Chris Slay

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