The business climate in Germany is estimated to be extremely good and beneficial to the local companies in the industry and commerce in March. This monthly survey of the Munich research institute Ifo, confirmed that the upswing in the German economy continue. The results of this is that the German companies assess conditions for doing business in the country is still as extremely favorable. This indicates the Ifo index of business climate in Germany, which decreased to 111.1 points, but remains near its record high value of 111.3 points recorded in February. A fall in the Ifo index in March was due entirely to the expectations of companies’ business environment over the next six months worsened slightly. The index rose significantly last year, when the German economy achieved record for the past 20 years growth rates of 3.5 percent and went up over the past nine months. The economists expected the index to drop more then 110.6 points in March. He is among the most important benchmarks for prospects before the German economy, which generates about 19% of the GDP of the EU. Ifo institute indicated that a slight worsening expectations of German companies this month due to severe earthquake in Japan on 11 March and disaster in Fukushima.
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70% of companies with revenue of $ 1 billion or more plan to increase spending on initiatives related to climate change in the next two years, according to global study commissioned by Ernst & Young and said. Nearly half of 300 directors of companies surveyed said that their investments related to climate change will vary from 0.5% to over 5% of their revenues by 2012. 82% of respondents indicated that they plan to invest in energy efficiency over the next 12 months, while 92 percent believe that energy costs will be an important factor during this period. The heads of companies commit to taking action, although said that complying with different regulations in different countries will be a challenge. The fact that 70% of company bosses are planning to spend more for programs related to climate change is “one of the amazing discoveries, the study indicates Melanie Steiner of Ernst & Young. Despite regulatory uncertainty on climate change “companies really take action because they see that this is a business issue and opportunity to generate new revenue,” said Steiner. While action to tackle the consequences of climate change in the past been a question in the field of public relations today are able to make money through new services and products, savings through better efficiency and reducing the risk, she adds.
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