Global warming is changing the way the world works.
The UK’s Telegraph is reporting on a new report by the Worldwatch Institute in a story Global warming ‘changing world economy’.
Global warming is forcing the world to change the way it does business, according to a new report.
A more sustainable global economy is emerging as countries and companies move to combat the challenges posed by climate change.
Huge amounts of money are pouring into clean energy projects, carbon trading and environmental and energy hedge funds, says the annual State of the World 2008 report from the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organisation.
“Once regarded as irrelevant to economic activity, environmental problems are drastically rewriting the rules for business, investors, and consumers, affecting over £50bn in annual capital flows,” said the report’s co-directors Gary Gardner and Thomas Prugh.
The report reveals that an estimated £26bn was invested in renewable energy in 2006, up 33 per cent from 2005 and early estimates say it will reach £33bn in 2007.
Carbon trading grew even more explosively, reaching an estimated £15bn billion in 2006, nearly triple the amount traded in 2005.
In the report, titled State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy, leading experts highlight an array of economic innovations that offer new opportunities for long-term prosperity.
State of the World 2008 makes it clear that our planet and every individual on it face substantial environmental challenges. From the buildup of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to significant water shortages and a wide range of pollution and natural resource management issues, the road to a sustainable economy is full of potholes. But there are signs of hope. As documented throughout this volume, the pace and scale of environmental innovation is extraordinary.
Most notably, there has been a sea change in business attitudes toward the environment over the last several years. Companies large and small, in manufacturing and in services, in the old economies of the United States and Europe as well as the emerging economic powerhouses of the developing world, have come to recognize that the environment is more than regulations to follow, costs to bear, and risks to manage. As society steps up to a wide range of pollution control and natural resource management challenges—and commits substantial resources to finding solutions—there will be significant market opportunities for those who can bring solutions to bear.
I’ve ordered a copy and look forward to reading it in full. For me one of the most exciting things about the modern world is that the capitalist dynamic is finally being harnessed to do good in the world. As carbon and other former economic externalities are power-walked onto the corporate balance sheet, they are being measured and accounted for; and as a consequence they are being managed. Carbon Planet has worked with hundreds of businesses since we began trading and there is a new optimism out there. The future is not The Road, not if we work hard now to make the changes we know we have to make. — DS
Technorati Tags: alternative energy, business, carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, climate change, climate optimism, education, emissions reduction, emissions trading, energy efficiency, Worldwatch Institute
January 12th, 2008 at 6:35 am
A credit card ad campaign and a soda water ad campaign and a fast food restaurant ad campaign could total an amount that exceeds the total investment in renewable energy in 2006.
We have only just begun to internalize external costs, and levels of investment in sustainability are low compared to what they will be when social and environmental costs are properly accounted for.
One defect with the idea of pollution credits or carbon credits per se is that money changes hands AMONG POLLUTERS when the relative amounts of pollution change among the polluters.
Money should change hands when pollution goes into the air or water, and the money should go to the people at large, who are, after all, the rightful owners of the air and water.
We will know when the fees are high enough when most people selected in a random sample survey say that we have about the right balance between the competing interests so that we have air and water that is clean enough AND we have enough freedom of action for industries to produce and the economy to function.
Walter Cronkite for President
January 12th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Alas you are expressing a very common misconception. Carbon Credits, for the most part, channel funds to projects that either remove CO2 or prevent future CO2 and other GHGs from entering the atmosphere.
It’s we the people who are the primary polluters. If we didn’t drive, didn’t shop and didn’t fly then the oil/car companies, those factories in China and the airlines would have no cause to pollute. So you have it entirely 180° around. We the people have a duty to pay to clean up the mess we’ve made.
Cheers Dave