UNEP Environmental Year Book Shows Emerging Green Economy
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released its Year Book 2008 and the findings point to a fast-emerging “green economy.”
“While climate change continues to alter the global environment, it is also changing the mind-sets and actions of corporate heads, financiers and entrepreneurs, according to UNEP. These important leaders of the private sector are increasingly recognizing climate change as a financial opportunity rather than a burden, hence driving the technological innovation that will provide a backbone for the emerging green economy. According to the Year Book, the world is experiencing new invention and imagination “on a scale perhaps not witnessed since the industrial revolution of more than two centuries ago.” – WRI
Key findings from the Year Book:
- Corporate Social Responsbility (CSR) reporting is on the rise – up from virtually zero in the late 1990s.
- Companies with strong environmental strategies are often more competitive.
- Disclosing carbon emissions has become the norm.
- Carbon markets are growing worldwide, worth over $30 billion.
