Despite challenging economic conditions and regulatory uncertainty, global executives believe that the climate change agenda will significantly impact and drive their business performance and strategy over the next few years according to a recent survey by Ernst & Young: Action amid uncertainty: the business response to climate change.

Three hundred global corporate executives from 16 countries with at least $1 billion in annual revenue participated in the survey conducted during the spring 2010. Here are 10 key findings that offer insight into where businesses are with their climate change strategy and investment, and perhaps more importantly, where they are going.

1. Increasing spend on climate change business initiatives: 70 percent of the corporate executives plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives between 2010 and 2012. Nearly half plan to spend between 0.5 percent to more than 5 percent of their revenue on climate change initiatives. For a $1 billion company, this represents an anticipated spend of $5 million to $50 million annually.

2. Energy use is top of mind: When asked about what factors will be important in driving their climate change initiatives in the coming months, 92 percent of respondents consider energy costs to be a very important or important driver over this period. As a reflection of this, energy efficiency is at the top of the list as 82 percent of respondents plan to invest in this space over that time period. About half of the respondents confirm new ventures, such as spin-offs or start-up businesses, as an area for focus. Additionally, 65 percent of executives intend to focus investments on new products and services.

3. Consumer demands are driving investment: Corporate climate change activities are being driven by evolving customer demands according to 89 percent of survey respondents. In some sectors -- including automotive, consumer products and technology -- the response is unanimous that this is an imperative for action.

4. Regulatory uncertainty is not a barrier to take action: Ninety-four percent of respondents see national policies as important or very important in shaping their climate change strategies. There is still a good deal of uncertainty around the details of these policies, however. Despite these uncertainties,, two-thirds of executives remain committed to continuing with their existing strategies.

5. C-suite leadership is essential: More than 90 percent of executives surveyed indicate that climate change governance rests with the C-suite executives or board members. A strong governance framework with senior executive support from central and functional area through a steering committee will be important in finding the appropriate balance between central controls and timely local responsiveness.