Climate change now a corporate issue

Climate Change China

Nattily-dressed business executives made their way through crowded corridors of one of Beijing's top hotels looking for deals, while outside black market tickets for the conference changed hands for 10,000 yuan (us $1,268). They were at the first Carbon Expo Asia, looking for deals that could help ward off climate change.

The Asian Development Bank estimates that the Kyoto pact could channel us $6 billion to us $15 billion a year into Asia. "Everybody in this market for more than five years took a lot of risks, because they felt they had to do something about global warming," said Robert Dornau of the uk- based firm sgs, which checks that programmes to tackle emissions are not cutting corners. "But now it's moved from a political issue to a market issue," he added.