Event: Launch of a new report about the CBI and corporate lobbying in  the
UK, hosted by Sandra Gidley MP and Friends of the Earth
At: Astor Suite, 1 Parliament St, Westminster SW1
When: 1-3pm, Wednesday, 20 July 2005.
Speakers: Deborah Doane, Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Coalition
(CORE); Merlin Hyman, Director of the Environmental Industries
Commission; Craig Bennett, Head of Corporate Accountability Campaign,
Friends of the Earth and Sandra Gidley MP

A report by Friends of the Earth, launched today in Westminster, says  the
Government?s failure to develop and support progressive regulatory
frameworks to tackle environmental issues, such as climate change, is a
direct result of lobbying by the CBI.

Examples include CBI lobbying on the EU?s Emissions Trading Scheme
leading to the Government caving in and increasing the UK?s greenhouse
gas allocation by 20 million tonnes per year - despite pledges by the
Prime Minister concerning the importance of tackling climate change.

The report, ?Easy Listening?, challenges the CBI?s consistently negative
view of regulation and says good legislation would drive innovation and
investment and give the UK access to a world market for environmental
goods and services, estimated to be worth around ?270 billion.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to listen with a
critical ear and seek out some alternative, ?more progressive? business
voices.

Friends of the Earth?s Executive Director, Tony Juniper, said:
?The CBI claims to be the ?voice of business? ? but it isn?t. The  reality
is that there are many business voices, but the government seems  to be in
thrall to the CBI, accepting its claims at face value.

?There is little evidence to back up the CBI?s mantra that regulation
damages UK competitiveness. Time and again, they have exaggerated the costs of regulation and ignored the benefits. It?s time the Government
started to demand hard evidence from the CBI and started listening to
other, more progressive business voices. The UK could become a world
leader in the development of clean technology, but the Government needs to provide leadership through regulatory frameworks rather than
constantly cowering to the CBI.?

Adrian Wilkes, Chairman of the Environmental Industries Commission,
representing almost 280 companies working in the environment sector said:
"Scare-mongering by polluting industries regularly exaggerates the costs
of pollution control, making the Government back-pedal on environmental
protection. Yet eco-efficiency actually boosts competitiveness.
Politicians need to focus on making environmental, economic and
industrial policies mutually reinforcing. The debate needs to move  beyond
"Environment V Competitiveness" to "Environment AND
Competitiveness", recognising that environmental quality is crucial to
both competitiveness and our quality of life".

The report, ?Easy Listening?, contains quotes from former Environment
Ministers Michael Meacher and John Gummer.

Friends of the Earth says it is time for the Government to seek out a
range of views from companies on policy and legislation which addresses
environmental and social challenges. Progressive companies are
increasingly frustrated with the CBI?s anti-regulatory mantra and the
disproportionate influence it has on Government policy.

Summary report, ?Easy Listening? and the main research report, ?Hidden
Voices? are available on request from Friends of the Earth?s media team
(Tel 020 7566 1649) or can be downloaded at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/easy_listening.pdf
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/hidden_voices.pdf

Friends of the Earth has sent copies of their summary report to the  Chief
Executives of every FTSE 350 company.

Evidence in the report ?Easy Listening?:

The Government has made tackling climate change a priority. Yet the
effect of two of the Government?s main initiatives, the Climate Change
Levy (CCL) and the EU?s Emissions Trading Scheme, have been weakened by CBI lobbying.

? The Climate Change Levy, a tax on carbon generated by industry, was
introduced in April 2001 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from
industry. A year later, the CBI launched a broad attack on all
environmental taxes and claimed that this ?burden? had risen by 15%  since 1997. But it grossly exaggerated the figures by including fuel  duties and vehicle excise duties that had existed long before
governments became concerned with the environmental impacts of
transport. Even so, CBI lobbying succeeded in getting the Government to
freeze the Climate Change Levy in the 2005/6 budget.
? When negotiating the EU?s Emissions Trading Scheme, the Government
caved into CBI lobbying and, despite pledges by the Prime Minister
concerning the importance of tackling climate change, they successfully
lobbied the Government to increase the UK greenhouse gas allocation by  20 million tonnes per year.
? A CBI report ?UK Environmental regulation: The UK as a good place to  do business, 2004? in 2004 referred to research which found that ?Many
businesses believe it (regulation) is damaging the UK?s attraction as a
place to do business.? But the report was misleading in its analysis,
made incorrect comparisons with other regulators and was attacked by one its most prominent members, the Chemical Industries Association. For
example the report claimed that the Environment Agency undertook more
site visits than ?equivalent? regulators in other countries. But the CBI
failed to acknowledge the Environment Agency?s broad remit, comparing it
with federal (national) inspections in France, the US and Italy where
most inspections are done at state (regional) level.
? A government evaluation in 2004 found that there were an estimated
4,225 fewer deaths in the UK because of clean air legislation.