RICS Joins World Business Leaders to Accelerate Deal on Climate Change

The Copenhagen Communique on Climate Change*

HONG KONG, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Today, RICS, and 600 other global corporate leaders, handed a joint Communique to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at a public event in New York. The Communique urges governments to agree on an ambitious, credible and equitable global deal to address climate change at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2009/08/17/200908171721.jpg )

From a business perspective, the Copenhagen Communique, an initiative of The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change, calls on world governments to create the conditions to provide business with the certainty and frameworks it needs to scale up global investment in low-carbon technologies. It claims that a weak outcome would only exacerbate the already difficult business conditions worldwide.

Signatories are convinced that a return to economic stability must lay the foundation for low carbon growth and must avoid locking societies into an unsustainable high-carbon future.

According to the Communique, a legally binding United Nations Climate change agreement should include the following key elements:

-- A global carbon emissions cap and long-term reduction strategy for

the period 2013 to 2050. Overall targets for emission reduction must

be guided by science. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC) even an immediate peaking in global emissions

would require a subsequent reduction of 50-85% by 2050.

-- Developed countries need to take on immediate and deep carbon

emission commitments much higher than the global average.

-- Developing countries will need to play their part by drawing up

their own emission reduction plans in line with their common but

differentiated responsibilities and capabilities.

By signing the Copenhagen Communique on Climate Change, RICS, has reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of sustainable global property markets and to advising governments, businesses and consumers on how to best achieve the required market transformation. RICS is currently producing a comprehensive global climate change strategy that will be launched in November this year as part of the RICS Climate Change Series, comprising a set of events, seminars and lectures launched in London earlier this year and now being rolled out globally.

According to Louis Armstrong, RICS Chief executive:

"The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has signed the Copenhagen Communique because we believe that there is a clear need to move the debate on climate change from the " whether to take action " to the "how to take action " and to find practical solutions for the property and construction sectors. With 140,000 members world-wide we are well placed to turn policy and aspirations into practical solutions. We must therefore actively influence governments to ensure that policy achieves the transformation to sustainable property market mechanisms."

Commenting, Ursula Hartenberger, Global Head of Sustainability Policy at RICS said: "We support the Copenhagen Communique because we strongly believe in evidence based decision making and therefore want to see an agreement on credible measurement, reporting and verification mechanisms of emissions.

Signing the Communique is an integral part of our own global climate change strategy. Climate change is a global issue and whilst practical solutions will need to be tackled locally, RICS is creating a global policy framework for the organisation and its members to ensure alignment of local initiatives and to facilitate cross-border best practice knowledge transfer both in policy and professional expertise terms."

Notes for editors

RICS residential lettings market survey (http://www.rics.org/site/scripts/documents_info.aspx?documentID=37&pageNumber=7 )

The RICS Residential Lettings Survey began in 1998. This quarterly survey provides a comprehensive picture of the lettings market across England, Wales and Scotland as well as a regional breakdown. The survey includes trends in tenant demand, gross yields, rent expectations and average monthly rents broken down by region and property type.

About RICS & RICS Asia

RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) is the mark of property professionalism worldwide. It covers all aspects of property, construction and associated environmental issues. RICS has 140,000 members globally and represents, regulates and promotes the work of property professionals throughout 122 countries.

The RICS Asia supports a network of over 11,000 individual professionals across the Asia Pacific region with an objective to help develop the property and construction markets in these countries, by introducing professional standards, best practice and international experience. It promotes RICS and its members as the natural advisors on all property matters. It also ensures that services and career development opportunities are provided to members.

The RICS Asia region covers national associations and local groups locating in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The People's Republic of China and the SAR Hong Kong. It also has members working across the region such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos PDR, Macao, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, The Maldives, The Philippines, Timor East and Vietnam. For more information, please visit: http://www.ricsasia.org .

Media enquiry, please contact:

RICS Asia Public Relations Representative

Ms Belinda Chan / Ms May Cheung

Tel: +852-2372-0090

Fax: +852-2372-0490

Mobile: +852-9379-3045 / +852-9099-3218

Email: belinda@creativegp.com / may@creativegp.com