More than ever, business recognizes that climate change is one of the greatest risks we face - and that tackling it is also one of our biggest economic opportunities.

Companies have the potential to unleash a wave of innovation in low carbon technologies, creating new products and services, generating employment, reducing energy consumption and increasing savings, if the right policies are in place.Many businesses have helped kick-start this movement by setting ambitious targets, reporting emissions and scaling up low carbon investment. And the private sector understands the scale of the opportunity. On average, leading companies that have set targets aligned with the science and publicly disclosed their performance are seeing an Internal Rate of Return of 27% on low carbon investments with some reporting an IRR as high as 81%, according to The Climate Has Changed, the flagship We Mean Business Report.

But the necessary change needed to address climate change is not happening fast enough. Further action from government will help more companies take this to scale.

Business needs policies that help scale up clean energy and energy efficiency, conserve natural resources, send the right price signals to drive investment in low carbon technologies and build resilience into their operations, workforce and communities.

By working together, business and government can meet the climate challenge much more efficiently and help create a better, safer and healthier world.