Sunday Star Times: Key’s stance against delay a hint at enviro-leadership

Rod Oram writes in an opinion piece in the Sunday Star Times about Prime Minister John Key’s stance on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Oram argues that there are good reasons for persevering with an ETS, and that New Zealand has a chance to show that business and the environment do not have to have an adversarial relationship.

An excerpt: (read in full here)

“These companies and the slender number of other energy leaders in New Zealand are part of a global trend. Companies are focusing ever more intently on climate change, energy and scarcity of natural resources, according to the latest annual global survey of CEOs by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“For example, 61% said they were preparing for the impacts of climate change. Some 52% of the companies said they had a climate change policy, of which 17% said they had increased their investment in it in the past year despite the global recession. One of their main reasons was the belief that “climate change initiatives will lead to significant new product and service opportunities for my company”.”