Business chiefs call for G8 climate leadership

By Michael Szabo

LONDON (Reuters) - Chief executives from 99 of the world's largest corporations called on Friday for Group of Eight nations to take the lead on climate change and agree a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol.

Chief executives from companies including Alcoa, British Airways, Deutsche Bank, EDF, Eskom and Royal Dutch Shell, delivered policy recommendations, including a call for deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

He will host the G8 leaders' summit next month in Hokkaido.

"The business community has a crucial contribution to make to the design of a more effective global strategy to combat global warming," World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said in a statement.

The businesses represent more than 10 percent of the market capitalization of all publicly-traded companies globally.

These recommendations come as governments are scrambling to agree a new global climate change treaty to succeed Kyoto, which expires after 2012.

"The new framework must be comprehensive, long-term and market-oriented for it to be environmentally effective and economically efficient," they said, adding it must include all major economies including the United States, China and India.

Governments and business chiefs agree a new pact should be in place by the end of United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen in late 2009, so governments have time to ratify it.