Business leaders to call for clear climate policies

Many companies want new rules to help plan investment and capitalize on green technology. Some shareholders also want more climate-friendly business, but companies reliant on fossil fuels may lose out from measures to boost low-carbon alternatives.

"We see climate change as a strategic issue of great significance for the business community," Bjorn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, said of the three-day talks.

Not all businesses believed that fighting climate change would mean higher costs, organizers said.

"You hear people saying 'oh, we can't agree, it will be bad for our business'. Well, here is a business voice that doesn't think so," said Tim Flannery, an Australian scientist and chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, among organizers of the talks to be addressed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December aims to agree a treaty to fight global for after 2012 when the terms of the Kyoto Protocol expire.

The three-day World Business Summit on Climate Change brings together top executives from oil companies, power generators and engineering companies as well as political leaders.

"We have agreement on the essentials," Stigson told Reuters, referring to business demands for more clarity, for example, on carbon trading.

Environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth said last week that oil and coal lobbies had weakened a draft U.S. climate bill which moved closer to a full Congress vote after approval by a key panel on Thursday.

At the same time many green groups applauded what could be the toughest U.S. bill that was politically possible.

Most firms stood by previously stated aims to cut carbon emissions despite recession but wanted governments to boost green investment, according to a survey of 58 global companies published at the start of the May 24-26 Copenhagen meeting.

The Carbon Disclosure Project and AEA Technology surveyed companies included Ford and mining company Rio Tinto. Business wanted governments to link policies such as carbon markets to simplify investment, the report said.

Some companies saw opportunities during recession from a push to curb carbon emissions, as a way to win green consumer spend and save money through efficiency measures, it added.

(Reporting by Gerard Wynn and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Jon Hemming)