10th January 2008
Green entrepreneurs 'reinventing world economy'
Investment in environmentally-friendly business models has accelerated sharply, according to an influential research institute.
The latest annual State of the World report by the Worldwatch Institute highlights pioneering work, which the institute says is demonstrating how quickly green innovations are being adopted by some companies.
The report estimates that $52 billion was invested in renewable energy in 2006, an increase of around a third on the previous year. Carbon trading is reported to have tripled in the same period, to a value of $30 billion.
"Continued human progress now depends on an economic transformation that is more profound than any seen in the last century," commented Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin.
"We should be practicing a sustainable approach to economics that takes advantage of the ability of markets to allocate scarce resources while explicitly recognizing that our economy is dependent on the broader ecosystem that contains it."
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) recently said that environmental awareness was one of the top small business priorities for 2008, but that the government should offer more practical guidance.
"Small businesses view things like recycling and waste minimisation as plain old good business practice," said the FSB's John Wright. "What is confusing for many, however, is the corporate jargon that surrounds these issues, including umbrella terms such as CSR."
The latest annual State of the World report by the Worldwatch Institute highlights pioneering work, which the institute says is demonstrating how quickly green innovations are being adopted by some companies.
The report estimates that $52 billion was invested in renewable energy in 2006, an increase of around a third on the previous year. Carbon trading is reported to have tripled in the same period, to a value of $30 billion.
"Continued human progress now depends on an economic transformation that is more profound than any seen in the last century," commented Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin.
"We should be practicing a sustainable approach to economics that takes advantage of the ability of markets to allocate scarce resources while explicitly recognizing that our economy is dependent on the broader ecosystem that contains it."
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) recently said that environmental awareness was one of the top small business priorities for 2008, but that the government should offer more practical guidance.
"Small businesses view things like recycling and waste minimisation as plain old good business practice," said the FSB's John Wright. "What is confusing for many, however, is the corporate jargon that surrounds these issues, including umbrella terms such as CSR."
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