BUSINESSES in the South East were given a wake-up call to the realities of climate change.

A sell-out conference in Brighton heard Pam Alexander, the chief executive of the South East England Development Agency, make an impassioned plea for business leaders to start planning for a future which takes account of changing risks and opportunities.

She said: "We are faced with two challenges - firstly, to reduce the scale of future changes by finding ways to deliver business success through energy efficiency, new technologies and new markets.

"Secondly, to adapt to future climate change by planning ahead.

"Now is the time for businesses to innovate, to adapt and to overcome the business risks that will be encountered."

Some 200 delegates were shown how increasingly they will have to adapt to more unpredictable weather, with greater flood risk, storm damage, drought and general warmer temperatures.

The factors have big implications for business costs, insurance and other risks as well as opportunities in changing markets.

John Hammond, a BBC weather presenter, gave a presentation on the scientific evidence and trends in climate change at an event that was sponsored by the Carbon Trust.

Gary Foster, regional manager of the Carbon Trust, which sponsored the new Environmental Award at the 2003 Basingstoke Business Awards, outlined opportunities for increasing profit in companies that take energy efficiency and new technology seriously.

Mark Goldthorpe, programme manager for the South East Climate Change Partnership, said: "Awareness has been growing for several years, but the reaction to this year's conference by businesses in the South East has moved on to a new level."

The weather made its own point on climate change.

The storms that racked the South East the day before the conference resulted in a power cut which nearly stopped the event from going ahead.