A recent report by a business research company shows Australian businesses are failing in their environmental responsibilities and it is recommended that improvement can be made only with greater Government leadership on the issue.

Australia is ranked 11th out of 50 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) countries on its Environment Health index by the corporate research firm IBISWorld.

Australia is ranking behind Canada, New Zealand, Slovakia, Argentina, Brazil and many northern European nations.

IBIS World General Manager for Australia, Jason Baker, said business could not take all the blame because there were not enough Government incentives here to go green.

“Until companies, and therefore consumers, are forced to pay the ‘full cost’ of producing polluting energy or other products – including paying for the cleaning up and avoidance of air and water pollution, or recycling and disposal services – they won’t be encouraged to develop ‘clean’ alternatives, such as wind power or effluent-free farms,” Mr Baker said.

Mr Baker said the water, waste and plastic bag manufacturing industries are just a few of those under intense pressure to develop environmentally friendly options.

Despite the popularity of environmentally friendly green shopping bags at the major supermarkets and the 27 per cent reduction in the number of plastic bags issued since last year, the message on plastic bags was just not getting through enough.

According to figures from this year’s Clean Up Australia campaign, retail sectors other than supermarkets have only reduced their plastic bag usage by between 10 to 15 per cent over the past couple of years and the number of plastic bags in the litter stream is still rising rather than falling.

The water supply industry is another sector that could make a more concerted effort towards conservation, Mr Baker said.

“While recent years have certainly seen more emphasis on water conservation and measures to slow our water consumption, it’s still not enough on a larger scale,” he said.

According to a report by the Sunday Telegraph, Planet Ark founder Jon Dee said Australian business had been slow to adopt measures that could actually save them money.

These measures include energy-efficient lighting and climate control in new buildings. Most companies are able to save up to 20 per cent on their energy bills by putting an energy management programme into practice.

“We’ve become far too lazy on that front,” Mr Dee said. “Countries like America and the UK have been far more pro-active.”

With AAP