Human rights and terrorism are less important than helping the environment for UK business leaders

Business community urges the Government to focus on green issues

Protecting the environment is more important than reducing world poverty, reducing wars and securing future energy supplies according to UK and European business leaders. More than half of the UK senior figures questioned for the UPS European Business Monitor say that going green should be the priority for the Blair Government and other global leaders.

The battle for the green high ground has already begun among the UKís top companies and the results of the survey support this current trend. Fighting terrorism and reducing world poverty, wars and global conflicts were issues seen as lower on the political agenda by the majority of top executives, each only mentioned by a third of respondents.

Bottom of the pile of political priorities for Europeís business leaders come protecting human rights and free trade (both 18%), and combating disease and epidemics (10%).

Safeguarding the environment is also the issue that respondents think divides the European Union and the United States the most, closely followed by the war on terrorism. Protecting human rights, promoting education and combating disease and epidemics are the issues that are seen as causing the least transatlantic rifts.