this is the business briefing, i'm samantha simmonds. the multitrillion—dollar cost of climate change. finance chiefs look for ways to decarbonise europe's economy, and find the vast amount of investment required. plus: not much to grin about. cosmetic dentistry startup smiledirect slumps more than 25% on its wall street debut. and on the markets, hints of progress in the us—china trade war boosting stock markets. those stimulus measures from the european central bank also helping investor sentiment

around the world. we start in the finnish capital, helsinki, where climate change is top of the agenda for eu finance ministers as they meet over the next two days. the european union wants to be the first major economy to go climate neutral by 2050. one of the big ideas under discussion — reforming the tax system to give more incentives to clean energy and penalise fossil fuel use. researchers are warning that 7% of global gdp will be wiped out by the end of the century if no action is taken to reduce carbon emissions. governments have pledged to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre—industrial levels. that is considered the threshold before dangerous changes to the world's climate take place. the uk's committee on climate change has warned it is 50—50 whether we will be able to achieve that. and it is going to cost a lot — $2.1; trillion of investment in clean energy every year for the next decade and a half, according

to un estimates. but there are also big opportunities. investing in measures to adapt our infrastructure and agriculture to climate change could produce net economic benefits of over $7 trillion in the coming years, according to the global commission on adaptation. let's get more on this story. bruno sarda is president of cdp north america. cdp helps organisations measure and manage their climate impact. welcome to you, thank you very much for joining welcome to you, thank you very much forjoining us live from paris stop what are you hoping for from this conference? thanks for having me. it is clear, you know, the realisation that action is needed and ambition needs to be signalled clearly to the

business community and to the population in general. i think it is very encouraging that this meeting is taking place, that they are putting the need for greater claimant ambition squarely on the agenda. and what we are hoping for is, you know, a strong statement ahead of collaboration and commitment to action on the part of member states. obviously it is going to be very difficult to get agreement between eu countries, and coal is a big sticking point, particularly for poland. yes, clearly the different parts of the european union have a different mix in their economies, and clearly every country is concerned with what the transition will mean to their local economies, to theirjobs, and i think local economies, to theirjobs, and ithinka local economies, to theirjobs, and i think a key part of what the eu needs to look at is how to ensure an orderly and just yet ambitious transition to a low carbon future. and what does that look like, in

terms of is it going to be about tax incentives? who is going to pay for that? as you mentioned, this is clearly a big investment opportunity, and i think the role of government is one to clearly signal the need to act to create conditions necessary for success the need to act to create conditions necessary for success and for investment to flow in to ensure this transition. a lot of investment is needed, but clearly a lot of return is expected on this investment, so it is not definitely a song cost. so as you mentioned, fiscal incentives and other measures that government need to apply, you know, early on for sure, we need to stopped subsidising, for example, the kinds of industries that are clearly contributing to the problem, coal being one. is the onus here on governments? how do private

investors factor into this? you know, the investment community is very immobilised already. the reason iam in very immobilised already. the reason i am in paris this week is ijust came back from two days of the pri conference, 1600 of the world's biggest investment firms and banks, specifically talking about this. at cdp we act on behalf of a group of 125 investors who manage $96 trillion in assets, and who are demanding transparency and action from the businesses that they are invested in, or to whom they lend money. so the capital markets clearly realise there is a significant risk to inaction, but there is also significant opportunity for those who invest into this transition. and this is echoed by what we are hearing, also, from the business community. cdp, again on behalf of investors,

collect disclosures every year from 7000 companies representing more than 50% of global market capitalisation. and these companies clearly again see the opportunity in both the transition in ambitious goal setting, companies that do better than this —— better at this tend to outperform the market, and s0 tend to outperform the market, and so there is a performance upside again to betting on those who are acting now. thank you very much for joining us from paris. let's go to the us now, and there were a few smiles fading and there is growing hope of a thaw in relations after conciliatory comments from both sides ahead of renewed talks in washington later this month. that is boosting markets around the world. shara njit leyl is following the story. what's the latest? well, that's right. president donald trump saying he would prefer a comprehensive trade deal with china, but did not rule out the possibility

ofan but did not rule out the possibility of an inter— impact. he acknowledged that an easy agreement would not be possible in this trade war. of course, all of these comments come as the world's two largest economies commence another round of talks aimed at resolving that more than year—long trade war. it has hurt global economic growth, rattled markets, they are rising today in reaction to this conciliatory tone, and certainly there have been gestures being made of the talks, including renewed purchases of us farm goods on china's pass, which the united states welcomed, while of course president trump delayed a tariff increase on certain chinese goods by two weeks, in honour, he said, of chinese president xi jinping. despite all of this, economists seem to disagree that there will be any resolution to the trade war. a poll gauging what they thought by the us company reuters said it would worsen or stay the

same over the coming year. let's go to the us now, and there were a few smiles fading on new york's times square, home of the nasdaq exchange, on thursday. cosmetic dentistry firm smiledirectclub made its stock market debut, only to see its shares slump almost 28%. the company is hoping to cash in on demand for instagram—ready teeth at a bargain price. our new york team has been finding out more. what we're doing is really democratising access to care, to bring to millions of people all over the world. we have pioneered the direct to consumer orthodontics industry, and we did that by offering clear liners

ata we did that by offering clear liners at a price that is much more accessible to consumers, much more convenient, and it is much more cost—effective. the problems of access, convenience and cost are not problems that are unique to the united states. so we have seen incredibly strong demand in australia and the uk, great demand in canada as well. this is a big market we are going after, over 500 million people can also afford the product at $85 per month as well. i think ithink any i think any time you do something disruptive like we are, the status quo is always going to push back against that, and i think that's exactly what you are seeing here.

now let's brief you on some other business stories: british airways has started emailing passengers to cancel flights two weeks ahead of another strike by pilots. the industrial action on 27 september is expected to affect hundreds of flights and tens of thousands of passengers. the dispute is over a pay rise which pilots say is not high enough. pilots staged a 48—hour walkout earlier this week, forcing nearly 200,000 passengers to change their travel plans. uk supermarket giant sainsbury‘s is pledging to halve the amount of plastic used in its stores by 2025. on friday it is meeting with food manufacturers, packaging suppliers, scientists and the recycling industry to try and find solutions to the problem of plastic waste. it says customers will have to change their behaviour, for example by buying

milk in pouches. google is to pay french authorities almost a billion euros to end a four—year investigation into its taxes. the settlement is less than the 1.6 billion euro tax bill authorities had accused google of evading. the search giant pays little tax in most european countries because it reports almost all of its sales in ireland. its parent company, alphabet, made revenues of over $136 billion last year. up next, newsbriefing. the domestic appliance company whirlpool has issued an urgent appeal for owners of fire—risk tumble dryers that have not yet been replaced or modified to come forward. the company says it had logged 5a fires caused by a build—up of fluff

in its dryers in recent years, three of which were in machines that had been modified. simon gompertz reports. tumble dryers have been blamed for a series of fires, including this at a block of flats in london. now, and whirlpool, near bristol, thousands of new dryers coming off the production line are destined to replace the faulty ones, at an unknown cost to the company. this is the first time they have let the cameras in. the intention is to show how safety conscious they have now become. under the recall, how safety conscious they have now become. underthe recall, owners how safety conscious they have now become. under the recall, owners can get a replacement, a modification or a refund of 500,000 problem dryers defined, 65,000 have been located sincejuly. defined, 65,000 have been located since july. the people that you see

working on this floor are working flat out to make sure we have availability of product, and the people taking the calls are working saturdays to make it convenient for you, and when the consumer calls us, to know that within seven days they will get that unit installed. more than1.5 will get that unit installed. more than 1.5 million owners like denise in kent have already got theirs modified, so don't qualify for the terms of the recall. and hers has overheated since the repair. that makes me very angry, very angry. i had the modification done when it was suggested. that because my problems, and now i am in a situation where i am left with a fa u lty situation where i am left with a faulty machine while other people have been given their money back or a new one. it isjust have been given their money back or a new one. it is just not fair. denise won't leave the house while the dryer is on. meanwhile, whirlpool is under pressure to do more to contact hundreds of thousands who may not even know there dryers could be a danger. ——

for that story and more, breakfast is at 6:00am, this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: there have been impassioned exchanges over healthca re at the latest tv debate between democratic party's presidential candidates. former vice—presidentjoe biden defended his version of president 0bama's healthcare plan against more radical proposals put from his main rivals. the second round of brexit talks this week takes place in brussels shortly. it's believed that discussions are focusing on the question of whether northern ireland can remain linked to the european single market — the so—called backstop. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the times and uk prime minister boris johnson who was handed a lifeline by the dup last night, when it agreed to shift its red lines in a move that could help to unlock a brexit deal. the ft leads with the european central bank who has announced its biggest package of rate cuts and economic stimulus in three years, warning governments of the need to act quickly to revive flagging eurozone growth. le figaro reports tech giant google

is to pay french authorities almost 1 euro billion to end a long—running investigation into its taxes. it rounds off a four year investigation that saw authorities raid google's paris headquarters in 2016. the guardian says an area of forest the size of the uk is being lost every year around the world, the vast majority of it tropical rainforest, with dire effects on the climate emergency and wildlife. the rate of loss has reached 26m hectares or 64m acres a year. and finally be careful where you place your coffee cup, especially when you're the pilot. a commercial flight bound for mexico with 326 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing when hot coffee was accidentally spilled over the cockpit control panel. the airliner was flying over the atlantic ocean and was forced to turn back and land in ireland. that is one expensive cup of coffee.