Companies urged to use science

Companies should make better use of what scientists have to offer as a way to avoid environmental destruction and achieve sustainable development, according to two academic researchers.

"Paying attention to the scientific radar screen is key to creating and maintaining clarity in a corporation's long-term vision," according to a commentary in the science journal, Nature, written by Dr Gretchen C. Daily of Stanford University, California and Dr Brian H. Walker of Australia's CSIRO research centre, Canberra.

"Radical environmentalists will accuse us of dancing with the devil. But we assert, rather, that the time is ripe for a synergistic partnership to forge the great transition to a sustainable future," the authors write in the current issue of Nature.

Science has much to offer companies, they argue, including an early warning system if a process could damage the environment. Scientists knew long ago about the ozone hole, antibiotic resistance and climate change, but few companies - or governments - took heed.

"There is great commercial value in knowing about these changes before the market or the media get around to announcing them, or governments pass regulations on them," they say. "Business can profit by staying ahead of the regulators, reducing environmental impacts voluntarily."

Some are already hearing the call, they suggest. A group of 21 mainly Fortune 500 corporations with annual revenues of $550 billion (€533 billion) have joined the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.