The credit crunch could be good news for the fight against climate change, business leaders said today.

Tighter conditions in the global credit markets, coupled with soaring commodity prices, are forcing businesses to make cutbacks which could, in the long term, help reduce their impact on the environment.

Senator George Mitchell, former majority leader of the United States Senate and chairman of the law firm DLA Piper, said: "An economic downturn means there will be a reduction in emissions.

"No business can survive by looking only at the immediate short term," he said. "We are now laying the foundations for when the economy turns up."

Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, which is 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times and Times Online, said that cutting emissions made sense for businesses as commodity prices continue to rise.

Senator Mitchell and Mr Darroch were among speakers at the Prince of Wales's May Day Business Summit on Climate Change.

Prince Charles and the Prime Minister both attended today's event, which was organised by Business in the Community (BITC), and involved 160 chief executives in London and a further 1,550 business leaders around the country. BITC, founded in the 1982 in the wake of the Brixton and Toxteth riots, works with companies to improve their social and environmental impact.

Prince Charles, who is president of Business in the Community, appealed to delegates to ensure that the credit crunch did not derail their efforts to adopt more sustainable business practices.

"I am acutely aware that many companies are facing uncertain times at present in the more challenging global economic environment and I do understand that this is putting you under real pressure. And, of course, addressing these new circumstances must be a high priority," the Prince said.

"But at the risk of being a blinding nuisance, and because I don’t think we any longer have the luxury of putting the threat of climate change to one side, I would beg that you don’t let these circumstances divert you entirely from the challenge of tackling climate change, which Lord Stern has warned us carries grave implications for the world economy."

According to Lord Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank and author of the government report into the economics of climate change in 2006, global warming could have a similar effect to that of the Great Depression, potentially shrinking the world economy between five and 20 per cent.

Growing interest from the public in green issues has played a part in encouraging business to act.

Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT, told Times Online: "Customers more and more expect companies to be thinking about these issues. It's a selling point."

He added: "The stars are aligned: there's a business case, there's a moral case, the young people want it, the punters want it."