Fuente: The Guardian
Comentario: Parece quedar demostrado que contra el cambio climático tiene que tomar medidas todos los países de la tierra. Lógicamente, empezando por el que más contamina (EEUU). Parace claro que esto tiene que ser un acuerdo global para que precisamente aquellos que tomen las medidas, no sean los más perjudicados
Unilateral action on climate change could ruin economy, says CBI chief
The government will put jobs and investment at risk if it adopts a go-it-alone approach to tackling climate change, says the new director general of the Confederation of British Industry.Richard Lambert, preparing for next week's CBI conference in London - his first at the helm of the country's leading employers' organisation - said ministers must find a way of cutting carbon emissions "without destroying our economy".
In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Lambert said: "There are very legitimate concerns that unilateral action by the UK could seriously damage the competitiveness of our economy, with consequences for jobs and investment. CBI members don't say you shouldn't be talking about this. They all recognise it as a challenge and some see it as a business opportunity.
"But there are serious competitiveness issues. The biggest challenge in policy terms is to arrive at a sensible balance between averting climate change and protecting jobs on the other hand."
CBI members thought the European Union's emissions trading system was flawed, but saw it as "the only game in town". Ideally, it should provide incentives for the good and punish the bad, but he said the system - in its second year - should be given time to bed down. "We should be working like anything to tackle its shortcomings because we need to arrive at a robust price for carbon if everything else is going to flow from that."
Mr Lambert said the right incentives were needed to provide the resources for big new investment in electricity capacity, including nuclear, and to ensure there were international partnerships that could "bring about emissions reductions in a way that does not destroy our economy".
Britain faced the threat of an energy crisis over the coming months, he said. "There is a risk of a very sharp [cold] spell in the first half of the winter that could cause problems." But the risks reduced during the second half as Britain's capacity to import energy increased with new infrastructure projects coming on stream.
During his first few months in the job, the CBI chief had picked up growing discontent among members about a range of issues, including tax and regulation.
"There is a sense that people are fed up out there," he said, citing 35 new items of employment law since 1997, higher taxes, pensions, red tape and the "cack-handed" extradition treaty with the United States that had seen British businessmen hauled before US courts. "There is a bunch of stuff that concerns them. They have seen a loss of momentum in government as we wait for change to take place."
Business was equally uncertain about David Cameron's Conservatives. "Everybody understands that he wants to put the party into a different place, but there are some areas of concern about the way he's doing it." He cited the recent hardline stance taken by Tory MEPs on environmental law that had "raised eyebrows in our sister organisations across Europe".
Some firms were thinking of moving to lower-cost tax jurisdictions. "Some are going to Dublin. I imagine that more are considering it. The chancellor has lots to think about. We need to compete; he needs the money. He can't promise miracles. It's like turning a supertanker around. But it's time to signal a change of direction."
Importing labour to deal with the UK skills shortage was not the solution. "Our members felt - not all of them but enough - that while it may be rational for a company to solve skill shortages by bringing in foreign workers, it was not rational for society to do that. We need to be investing heavily, both government and business, in raising the skills of our workforce."
Britain had benefited from immigration in terms of raising demand, easing labour bottlenecks and keeping down inflation. There now needed to be a pause while the government assessed whether Britain had the schools and homes to cope with a further inflow in migrant labour.
On balance, Mr Lambert said Britain's liberal approach to foreign takeovers had been beneficial. There were issues about the loss of research and development and design to the new owners' home bases, but overall "we're well up on the game".
He cited the case of the City. "I would not have bet 25 years ago that it would be in the position it finds itself in today - it's really putting the breeze up New York as an international financial centre."
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