Reducing carbon emissions is the “defining issue of our era,” according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. We need to change the way in which energy is consumed to address the increasingly pressing issue of climate change. It is estimated that worldwide CO2 emissions from human activity have increased from an insignificant level some two centuries ago to more than 33 billion tonnes today.

Delegates at the UN summit in Bali in December 2007 agreed on a ‘roadmap’ to cut greenhouse gases, and governments are working with businesses to achieve the transition to a low-carbon economy. Carbon audits and footprints as well as carbon trading and offsets are now familiar terms as carbon management becomes a central issue of the global business environment.

Swedish engineering company SKF was selected by ClimateChangeCorp.com as one of the world’s top 20 companies which recognize that early action is vital both for the environment and the future of their businesses, and are therefore leading the way on climate change. SKF, the world’s largest rolling bearing manufacturer, aims to cut its own emissions by 5% every year while its bearings reduce the friction involved with rotation and movement, thereby reducing energy consumption.

In the U.K., the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been charged with pushing through the 12.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions set out in the Kyoto Protocol. Environment Minister Ian Pearson stated: “Climate change already poses risks to businesses – and these will only increase in the future. Climate change can affect a corporation’s profitability and investors are right to be asking searching questions about how businesses are facing up to the realities, as well as the business opportunities of climate change.”

Companies could benefit immensely by participating in government-led emissions reduction, believes Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In his report, entitled ‘Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance,’ Brown said: “By making the U.K. one of the best locations in the world to develop and introduce low-carbon and resource-efficient products, processes, services and business models, the country can attract the investment today that will help create tomorrow’s prosperity.”

By 2012, the company also aims to reduce energy consumption by 25%, double regional food sourcing, increase the use of renewable energy and reduce the amount of packaging used by 25%. Again it is not only the environment that will benefit. The Carbon Trust believes that “delivering low-carbon products into the hands of consumers will open up new revenue streams and increase brand loyalty if properly communicated.”

Supermarket chain Tesco has also introduced a number of environmental initiatives. For example, in January 2007, it announced plans to label its foods with a ‘green’ carbon label, indicating that less energy had been used during the product’s lifecycle. The group’s CEO, Sir Terry Leahy, said: “I am determined that Tesco should be a leader in helping to create a low-carbon economy… If we fail to mitigate climate change, the environmental, social and economic consequences will be stark and severe.”

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, believes he can persuade other industry chiefs to follow suit with the encouragement, “The transition to a low-carbon economy will have a negligible impact on long-term GDP growth and will present tremendous opportunities for those who develop and deliver low-carbon products and services.”

The tide of opinion is starting to turn in the U.S., however. In January 2007, the Carbon Tax Center was established to give voice to Americans who believe that taxing carbon emissions is essential to reduce global warming and in December 2007, a group of eight Fortune 500 and leading companies formed the Carbon Management Council, a nonprofit educational association established to help companies manage their carbon emissions and inform them of the latest legislative developments relating to carbon management.

Former vice president and environmental campaigner Al Gore is in favor of a carbon tax. Last year he told the Energy and Commerce Committee: “We should start using the tax code to reduce taxes on employment and production, and make up the difference with pollution taxes, principally [on] CO2. Now I fully understand that this is considered politically impossible. But part of our challenge is to expand the limits of what’s possible. Right now we are discouraging work and encouraging the destruction of the planet’s habitability.”

Instead, the U.S. Senate is currently considering two bills that would combine a national cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions with charges on imports from countries that don’t tax carbon, requiring them to pay a fee or buy emission credits.

Not all American companies are lagging on addressing their carbon footprint. A 2006 report that compared 100 global corporations (74 of them in the U.S.) found that science company DuPont was doing the most to address climate change among the American companies. DuPont claims to have reduced its greenhouse emissions by 72% since 1990, and by 2015 aims to reduce them further by at least 15%. It is hoped that other American businesses will soon follow its example.