Yesterday Sam Putt del Pino wrote that Earth Day is not only an exercise in individual action; entire businesses can do a lot to green their operations. It turns out that corporations, investors and entrepreneurs are also seeing a lot of green in being green.
A lot of businesses are taking sustainability beyond their own operations. Environmental sustainability is gaining traction in the board room. Many are finding that it actually affords a competitive advantage.
Climate Change
Climate change is quickly getting mainstreamed into corporate investments and decision making. For example:
- Business are quickly discovering the business case for growing green, and that global warming policies now taking shape, such as cap and trade, are creating opportunities for new, low carbon technologies. Last week, WRI and global investment firm Goldman Sachs published a report looking at the intersection of technology, investment and policy to take clean technologies to scale in large global markets.
- Banks and financial markets are now counting the risks and opportunites arising from global warming. Today, businesses that account for climate change in their business models have a significant competitive advantage in attracting capital.
Sustainable Development Through Enterprise
Strategies that address the 4 billion people that live on less than $2 a day–those at the Base of the Pyramid– are just as critical to a sustainable global economy and planet. And again, large untapped markets may be the vehicles to address these needs.
The Next 4 Billion report (N4B) contains a new wealth of date showing that triple-bottom line business strategies are now beginning to take off. The team that put together the N4B report on the market potential of providing needed services to the world’s poor has been approached by managers of major corporations seeking the data to pitch new business strategies to their executives.
The numbers in N4B show that there is a lot of room for the private sector to help the poor through successful business models. Businesses that start now will be the market leaders of the future. In fact, many international corporations in BOP countries already have logistics, inventories and other capacity to deliver much needed goods and services to the poor.
Small business is also getting in on the act. Massive venture capital is flowing from Silicon Valley for green business development, but, as the Bottom Line series demonstrates, entrepreneurs in emerging economies are also leveraging environmental challenges and market demand to successfully meet the needs of both.
