Heidelberg is one of 900 companies to have signed the 'Copenhagen Communiqué', which is calling on delegates at next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference to take "urgent action".

The communiqué states that the rise in global average temperature should be limited to a maximum of 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.

The United Nations summit, which is due to be held in Copenhagen from 7-18 December, aims to secure a new global agreement on climate protection to succeed the Kyoto Protocol following its expiration in 2012.

Stephan Plenz, Heidelberg board member responsible for Technology and Operations, said: "We want to show that Heidelberg is fully supportive of the climate protection goals referred to in the communiqué, such as energy efficiency and low-carbon products and services."

Plenz added that Heidelberg would also be implementing its own measures, as evidenced in its role as joint initiator of the VDMA (German Engineering Foundation) guideline on the measurement of energy consumption for sheetfed presses.

Heidelberg said that the guideline, which will be published as a VDMA standard sheet at the beginning of 2010, would create "an important basis for the objective evaluation of presses in terms of energy consumption and efficiency".

Meanwhile, Heidelberg also recently published its latest sustainability report, which includes successful customer case studies and tips.

The German press manufacturer said that the report, which lists the 12 steps to a 'green print shop', claims that environmental protection is not irreconcilable with business success and can even win new customers.