Nearly nine out of 10 consumers worldwide are willing to switch to energy providers that offer products and services that help reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new global survey of more than 7,500 consumers from management consultancy Accenture.

The report also found that consumer demand for green products is soaring with nearly two thirds of respondents claiming they were willing to pay a higher price for products or services that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions.

"The level of awareness is enormous," said Gavin Rennie, senior executive at Accenture's energy and utilities practice. "It's economically imperative companies take action as consumers begin to vote with their feet."

Supporting Rennie's claims the report also found that around half of respondents said they would be willing to switch electricity and gas providers if their current provider didn't take action to address climate change.

"Businesses do have to invest to offer consumers green options but [doing so] could attract more custom," said Rennie. "With consumer awareness so high, businesses are currently lagging behind consumer demand for environmentally sustainable products."

The report also found that concerns over climate change are particularly acute in emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India. More than 95 per cent of consumers surveyed in these markets said they believed their lives would be directly affected by climate change, compared with 73 per cent of Europeans.

Rennie suggested consumers in emerging markets are concerned over the rapid rate of industrialisation they have experienced and advised that as a result multinationals targetting developing markets will have to align their brand with local environmental concerns in order to compete for good employees, cultivate local demand and avoid bad publicity in the west.

In related news, US bank Morgan Stanley issued a research note this week estimating sales of clean energy will reach $1 trillion a year by 2030. The note said that concerns over climate change meant that the current growth in renewable energy investments was both "durable and accelerating".

The predictions were echoed today by a new investment white paper from Deutsche Bank that identified climate change as "a megatrend that will shape the asset management industry for many years".