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Business leaders have urged politicians to tackle climate change despite the global economic downturn.

The Prince of Wales's UK Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (UK CLG), a group of industry leaders, said "deep and rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions" must be made.

"The global economic downturn may cause some to question whether the UK can afford to act so boldly, but we believe that action cannot be delayed, and furthermore, that decisive action will stimulate economic activity and job creation in certain key sectors as well as reduce costs in the medium to long term," the group said in letters to Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and others.

A cross-party effort will be needed to reach emissions targets, which may need to be lower than was previously thought, the UK CLG warned.

"Furthermore, we believe the UK should start planning for success in the international climate change negotiations and should adopt a working assumption that a legally-binding international framework will be agreed in Copenhagen next year, implying that the European Union should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, not 20 per cent."

The group of leaders, set up by the Prince of Wales in 2005, includes the heads of Shell, BAA, Centrica and E.ON.

The group is calling for a package of measures to deliver a "robust" carbon market and support for low-carbon technologies.

Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, said: "If we are really to make inroads into reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, the key will be to put an increasingly high price on carbon.

"The EU Emissions Trading Scheme has made a good start, but it is essential that in phase three of the scheme from 2013, member states are forced to ratchet down further the caps on emissions."