London, 12th November 2009 - A white paper, produced recently by leading global credit insurer Atradius, and launched today at the European Parliament in Brussels, contains strong recommendations for both governments and businesses. 

The white paper, entitled ‘Is sustainability incompatible with business growth?’ concludes that the commercial benefits for businesses of adopting sustainable processes, as a central pillar of their business strategies, far outweigh the cost.

However, in the run-up to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month, the paper is also critical of some of the measures that came out of the last conference, as laid down in the Kyoto Protocol, which, it says, will not change the behaviour of polluting industries but simply provide a get-out clause for them to continue to pollute. 

In particular, Atradius describes carbon trading as a way for businesses to continue to pollute, for a fee, without addressing the real issue – the need for a real and lasting change in polluting behaviour.

Isidoro Unda, CEO of Atradius explains,

“The essential message of our white paper is that sustainability is not a barrier to commercial growth, but genuinely provides major commercial benefits. Our own experience has shown this, as has that of the leading businesses that have contributed their experience to our research.

“Even in its simplest form, sustainability results in substantial cost savings, as businesses reap the rewards of recycling and energy efficiency. But beyond that, as consumers become much more aware of the need to protect the environment, they are increasingly gravitating towards those suppliers who demonstrate their ‘green’ credentials, and that is good for sales and brand perception.”

• White paper

• Summary

 

Further information: 

Atradius

Joanne Aaron

Tel: 02920 824 873

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Polhill Communications

Gug Kyriacou

Tel.:020 7655 0550

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