Green is a luxury we can afford, can’t we?

Yes, most chief executives agree that to ignore the environmental impacts of their business is to risk damaging their reputation (Jules Peck’s article “Green is the way to go for marketers” (MW May 11).

But a recent survey by The CarbonNeutral Company concluded that 75% of directors in FTSE 500 companies said they would only take their CO2 emissions seriously if forced to by taxes or regulation. So it’s still a small minority of business leaders that see the value of actually putting a green vision at the heart of their business strategy and turning it into action (eg Honda); the rest just see green as a cost.

As a CarbonNeutral agency, we know the commercial benefits of being greener and of using it as a marketing tool. The question is can the world really wait for consumers and stakeholders to “pull” business to act or are we forced to lobby government to “push” before it’s too late.

Andy Maxwell

Creative director

Intelligent Marketing

Centro 4

20-23 Mandela Street

London NW1

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