Video: Move to Green Economy a Global Competition

Bruce J. Katz is a vice president at the Brookings Institution and founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program which aims to provide decision makers in the public, corporate and civic sectors with policy ideas for improving the health and prosperity of cities and metropolitans areas. Katz regularly advises federal, state, regional and municipal leaders on policy reforms that advance the competitiveness of metropolitan areas.

Katz says the move to a greener economy is a global competition. The US must wisely and expeditiously develop both policies and practices that encourage more innovation and growth in this critical area. Growth through Innovation.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
Video: China Leading the Green Economy while America's Democracy is Being Undermined
Government Investment Green Jobs and Economic Recovery
China can School the US About Green Growth
China's Green Innovation and the Challenge for America
Rare Earth Minerals Power the Green Economy and Embolden China's Bid for Dominance
China's Most Recent Five Year Plan
China's Green Investments and Growing Economic Preeminence
China Poised to Challenge Global Auto Giants in the Greener Vehicle Market
The US is Positioned to Lead the Global Competition for EV Supremacy
Competition in the Global EV Market
Competition in the 2011 Greener Car Market
Competition in the Green Vehicle Market
Germany and the Global Competition for EV Supremacy
Clean Tech Job Trends 2010 Report: Growth and Global Competition

The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment

In debates on the issue of climate change we are often asked to make a false choice between the environment and the economy. However, an intelligent discussion of climate change cannot be framed as a choice between the environment and the economy.

The rise of sustainable business is making it abundantly clear that we can have it both ways. Businesses are adopting new models that both contribute to the economy while minimizing their environmental footprints.

According to a May 2011 Yale Survey, 56% of Americans now believe that protecting the environment improves economic growth and provides new jobs.

Previous polemics argued that you can either have the economy or the environment. Contemporary wisdom reveals that you can have both.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
Belief in Global Warming is Tied to the Economy
The Cycle of Climate Change Acceptance
A New Survey Shows that Americans Now Want to Address Climate Change

Is Capitalism Sustainable?

Business has created the environmental crisis and now the same capitalist system that was behind the industrial revolution, is beginning to play a vital role in solving the problems it created.

Despite the link between environmental practices and profitable, long-term business sustainability, many believe that capitalism itself is unsustainable. The Earth has finite resources, so their argument goes, but capitalism depends on ever expanding consumption. The truth is that dating back to the origins of our species, we have seen our use of resources evolve, from stone, to bronze and then iron. More recently we entered the information age which may prove to be the gateway to a more sustainable use of resources.

Although we should do everything we can to preserve finite resources, human ingenuity is infinite. In this way we are slowly moving away from finite fossil fuels to infinitely renewable fuels such as wind, wave and solar.

Market driven solutions can be incredibly powerful as they have the power to extend, promote and invest in sustainable innovation. Although new market based mechanisms like regulation, incentives and tradable permits are still a few years off, it is inevitable that the true cost of carbon will be made absolutely clear. As a tenant of the free market business should pay for the costs they incur.

Sustainability will continue because it is an unstoppable mega-trend that is destined to keep growing at even faster rates. With the rise of the green consumer, businesses want to cash-in on the steady and growing demand for green goods and services. Various partnerships are emerging to help in the development of sustainable best practices. One such arrangement involves the new partnerships between corporations and environmental organizations.

There are also other factors that make sustainability entirely consistent with capitalism. Renewable energy solutions are seen as a potent symbol of a new modernity. Numerous studies have shown that environment issues have a significant effect on workforce morale. A workforce seeing a forward-looking and responsible company is more likely to feel good about working for such a company and a happier workforce is a more productive workforce.

Increases to employee productivity and benefits to the brand are just two ways in which integrating sustainable practices serve a company's best interest. Avoiding public pressure and attracting customer loyalty are additional factors that add to the capitalist appeal of sustainability.

Factoring environmental considerations into economic equations makes sense and the profit motive is a powerful incentive. The marketplace is always looking for cleaner, cheaper, faster, more efficient and more effective solutions, and the market is better at identifying opportunities than most government planning. Although short sighted greed makes long term planning difficult, with the right long-term incentives it can be made to work.

The green market is now estimated to be worth $5.27 trillion (£3.2 trillion) worldwide and in the next couple of decades the clean energy market alone is expected to be worth more than$13 trillion. With that much at stake, businesses cannot afford to ignore the green market.

In the business environment of tomorrow, sustainable practices are a strategic priority. The Survey of America's Greenest Brands show that even companies with very poor environmental reputations can redeem themselves and go from environmental pariah to eco-superstar by incorporating sustainable practices.

If we are to make the changes within the time frames we have left we will have to make use of the mechanisms that are available to us today. We do not have time to reinvent our world. As Paul Hawkin once said, "business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the chances necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation."

With the appropriate incentives and disincentives we can integrate environmental and social issues into the economic equation. An economy based on fossil fuels can be replaced by a low carbon economy. Capitalism is our last best hope to manage the environmental crisis we are facing.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
Green Capitalism
Social Capitalism
Creative Capitalism: Market-Based Social Change
Businesses Will Lead the Transition from Oil to Renewable Energy
Businesses are Combating Climate Change and Turning a Profit
Growing US Corporate Investments are Driving Cleantech
Cost Benefit Analysis of Sustainable Business
Silencing Earth Day Critics
Cooperation Between Environmental Organizations and Businesses
Response to Criticism of Cooperation Between Environmental Organizations and Business