Consumers Say Business Should Take Leading Role in Fighting Climate Change

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OSLO, Norway, and NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Consumers believe businesses should bear the heaviest load of the burden to address climate change and while companies acknowledge the problem, they haven't done as much as they could to address it, say two recent studies.

The conclusions of a Nielsen Company survey and the 2008 Makovsky Green Gap Survey conducted by Harris Interactive underscore earlier findings about the gap between climate awareness on the part of corporations and their level of action.

The Nielsen poll of 28,000 Internet users found that 51 percent of the respondents say it's "very important" for businesses to improve the environment.  Forty percent also said that businesses' greenhouse gas emissions should be limited by the government and that imposing such restrictions would be the biggest contribution society can make in fighting climate change, according to a report on the Nielsen poll by Reuters.

The Makovsky survey found that "overwhelming numbers of Fortune 1000 American business leaders believe personally that climate change is for real and threatens future generations," Kenneth Makovsky, president of Makovsky + Company, said in a statement. "Yet, as a group, they are not driving their organizations to fully act on these convictions."

According to the firm's survey of 150 executives at Fortune 1000 companies, 76 percent said their companies should collaborate with industry groups, suppliers and customers to address greenhouse gas emissions standards, but only 57 percent said their businesses are doing so.  The survey also found that 71 percent believe their companies should educate employees about climate change issues, but just 49 percent said that's happening.

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