On Saturday night we'll perform the annual ritual of putting the clocks back - and perhaps relish an extra hour in bed. But for me, and for most people in this country, the pleasure will be short-lived as the gathering afternoon gloom points to the grim reality of early darkness from now until spring. At a time when we are being encouraged to minimise waste, shouldn't we think about how much we waste our daylight?

Time is a convention, and the UK represents a pivotal part of it because we host the “point zero” of the Greenwich meridian from which all time zones are measured. This, however, doesn't mean that we have to ignore changing circumstances. When Britain was an agricultural nation, people got up at first light, spent the daylight hours working outdoors and relied on candles and firelight after sunset. For many today, a typical day runs from 7am to 11pm, so the middle of that day isn't noon but 3pm. There is a total mismatch between daylight and waking hours.

“Daylight saving time”, introduced in 1916, shifts our clocks forward an hour for seven months of the year. This was still geared to agricultural priorities, allowing farmers to work later on the harvest in daylight. It simply fails to recognise how we now live.

Our profligacy with daylight costs lives, wastes opportunities and is out of step with our concern for the environment. A host of independent bodies see a strong case for change.

RoSPA, the accident prevention charity, has evidence that there would be 450 fewer deaths and serious injuries on our roads each year if we moved the clocks forward one hour. Many of those victims are schoolchildren, who are more at risk dawdling and playing on the way home on dark afternoons.

Analysis of the Home Office British Crime Survey shows that more than half of criminal offences take place in the hours of darkness and far more of those offences committed in semi-darkness occur at dusk than dawn.

So, later sunsets would help to reduce crime and fear of crime. Living Streets and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust support reform. More generally, Age Concern points out that long winter evenings mean a “self-imposed curfew” for many older people who draw their curtains and bolt their doors from mid-afternoon from the end of October.

Numerous organisations also see positive benefits. Sport England points to the opportunity to improve the nation's health as most people find it easier to fit in exercise after work.

There are clear business advantages too, not least the convenience of having the same time zone at both ends of the Channel Tunnel. The last time the CBI polled its members, 75 per cent were in support, with particular benefits seen for tourism, retail, construction and insurance. As for the view that the farmers would never have it, the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales is neutral on change.

Some people are “larks” and others “owls”, but opinion polls show that a majority would prefer the later sunsets that reform would bring. Yes, it would mean darker mornings in winter, but for most that would only really be an inconvenience in the two months spanning the shortest day - a reasonable price to pay for more usable daylight every day of the year.

We've known about these benefits for a long time. In 1993, Time for Change, a report by the Policy Studies Institute, concluded: “It is rare in our experience for a policy proposal to combine social and economic advantages in such an attractive way.”

So why has nothing happened? Politicians have consistently seen it as “too difficult”. and left it to MPs and peers to introduce Private Members' Bills, but, despite the enthusiasm of parliamentarians such as Tim Yeo and Lord Tanlaw, no Bill has made significant progress.

It's time for change and if the arguments listed above are insufficient, there's an extra dimension for 2008. The Government is focused on the need to reduce carbon emissions as a key element of tackling global warming. For the most part this depends on new and frequently expensive technology and on encouraging or enforcing changes in lifestyles to cut energy consumption. By putting the clocks forward an hour (to GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer) we would immediately reduce the need for domestic, office and street lighting and save carbon emissions. Research by Cambridge University engineers shows that more than one million tonnes of CO2 a year now released into the atmosphere could be avoided - at a stroke, and at no cost. Families struggling with high energy costs would also find their bills reduced.

The time for wasting daylight is over. We cannot go on condemning 450 people each year to unnecessary death or serious injury. We cannot miss the opportunity to encourage healthier lifestyles and to take a swift step towards saving carbon emissions. Reform has the support of many not-for-profit organisations, of academics and, when polled, most of the British public. Let's pull this back from the “too difficult” pile. It's easy and long overdue.

Sir Stuart Hampson was chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, 1993-2007

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