Atradius white paper: sustainability and business

London, 12 November 2009 - A white paper, produced recently by leading global credit insurer Atradius, and launched today at the European Parliament in Brussels, contains strong recommendations for both governments and businesses.

The white paper, entitled ‘Is sustainability incompatible with business growth?’ concludes that the commercial benefits for businesses of adopting sustainable processes, as a central pillar of their business strategies, far outweigh the cost.

However, in the run-up to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month, the paper is also critical of some of the measures that came out of the last conference, as laid down in the Kyoto Protocol, which, it says, will not change the behaviour of polluting industries but simply provide a get-out clause for them to continue to pollute.

In particular, Atradius describes carbon trading as a way for businesses to continue to pollute, for a fee, without addressing the real issue – the need for a real and lasting change in polluting behaviour.

Isidoro Unda, CEO of Atradius explains,
“The essential message of our white paper is that sustainability is not a barrier to commercial growth, but genuinely provides major commercial benefits. Our own experience has shown this, as has that of the leading businesses that have contributed their experience to our research.

“Even in its simplest form, sustainability results in substantial cost savings, as businesses reap the rewards of recycling and energy efficiency. But beyond that, as consumers become much more aware of the need to protect the environment, they are increasingly gravitating towards those suppliers who demonstrate their ‘green’ credentials, and that is good for sales and brand perception.”

The white paper and summary can be downloaded below:

• White paper
• Summary

About Atradius:
The Atradius Group provides trade credit insurance, surety and collections services worldwide, and has a presence in 42 countries. Its products and services aim to reduce its customers’ exposure to buyers who fail to pay for the products and services they buy. With total revenues of more than EUR 1.8 billion and a 31% share of the global trade credit insurance market, its products help protect companies throughout the world from payment risks associated with selling products and services on credit. With 160 offices, it has access to credit information on 52 million companies worldwide and makes more than 22,000 trade credit limit decisions daily.

For further information please contact
Denise Hung
Marketing Manager
Tel.:  +61 2 9201 2389
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