Summary
Far from being a threat, the low-carbon economy could provide small and medium-sized companies with new business opportunities. Larger companies have already begun to adapt to this new economy, and the global market for climate-change related products and services is now worth over $530 billion, larger than the defence and aerospace industries combined.

To make sure these organisations are in a position to take maximum advantage, Tomorrow’s Company is developing a leader’s Business Guide to the Low-Carbon Economy, as part of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) Low Carbon Strategy, and would like your help in making it happen.

Tomorrow’s Company is producing the guide in partnership with HSBC, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Ogilvy & Mather and Halcrow. The world is undergoing massive economic, social and environmental transformations but evidence suggests that companies are not adapting effectively and becoming as sustainable as they could be. The majority of companies are not sufficiently aware of the roles these changes are playing in the evolving nature of business.

This guide, aimed particularly at small to medium companies, strives to help businesses understand what this low-carbon economy means for them, how they can make the low-carbon transition and take advantages of the new opportunities this brings, and where they can go for further assistance.

The guide, which  will be available to download free in January 2010, will advise companies how to reduce costs, improve efficiency and take advantages of new opportunities, aimed at creating resilience to facing future threats such as rising energy prices, new regulations and changing consumer demand. With the leader’s Business Guide to the Low-Carbon Economy, companies can adapt more effectively so that they can survive and thrive in these challenging times.
 

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posted by Admin  on November 9, 2009
Global climate change has been our greatest market failure. Now it’s our greatest market opportunity.  Market mechanisms are enormously powerful tools to apply to such challenges as climate change. Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions worldwide will require a crash program to use energy more efficiently, and to use renewable energy sources.  Doing this can cut costs and drive competitiveness, spread the use of clean energy technologies that already are cost-competitive and available and develop next-generation technologies in virtually every sector of the economy.
     

Issue(s): Climate Change , Low Carbon Economy

Tag(s): Climate change , market opportunities , mitigation , renewable energy sources
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posted by Admin  on December 8, 2009
Press Release.- Washington, DC – December  4, 2009 – Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil) and The Climate Prosperity Alliance today launched their Global Climate Prosperity Scoreboard® which tracks private investment in companies growing the green economy globally.  This new, never before reported number, showing $1,248,740,645,993.00 (over $1.248 trillion) in total investment since 2007, indicates how investors and entrepreneurs are leading governments in promoting sustainable growth.  The scoreboard totals investments in solar, wind, geothermal, ocean/hydro, energy efficiency and storage, and agriculture.  We purposefully omitted nuclear, "clean coal," carbon capture and sequestration, and biofuels.  We indicate which investments have been publically announced and committed by major companies for 2010 and beyond.
     

Issue(s): Embedding Values , Creating Frameworks , Climate Change , Sustainability , Social Business , Tomorrow's Green Economy , Responsible Investment , Low Carbon Economy

Tag(s): GreenEconomy , Responsible Investing , sustainable growth
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posted by Cyndi  on November 12, 2009
Signs of a new era in economics emerge, bringing hope for real and systemic change. 
     

Issue(s): Redefining Success - beyond accounting , Embedding Values , Creating Frameworks , Climate Change , Tomorrow's Global Leaders , Corporate Social Responsibility , Sustainability , Social Business , Global Financial Crisis , The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity , Tomorrow's Green Economy , Low Carbon Economy , Tomorrow's Governance

Region(s): North America , Central America , South America , Caribbean , West Europe , Africa , East Europe & Former Soviet Union , Middle East , South Asia , East Asia , Southeast Asia , Australia and South Pacific

Tag(s): hazel henderson , new economy , qualitative growth , sustainability
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posted by Admin  on March 8, 2010
This is an executive summary report on the “Coal Plants in Transition: An Economic Case Study” prepared by Natural Capitalism Solutions in Colorado. The report makes a strong business case for energy providers to consider transitioning away from coal to a combination of renewable and energy efficiency technologies.  The transition becomes cost effective and quite profitable when combined with revenue streams that result from selling pollution credits (NOx, SO2), carbon credits, water rights, and also fuel savings.       The study specifically considers the Navajo Generating Station as an example. But the report is designed to provide information to utility managers all over the country who are faced with serious economic decisions regarding the future of their coal plants as we enter a carbon and water constrained world.
     

Issue(s): Climate Change , Sustainability , The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity , Low Carbon Economy

Region(s): North America

Tag(s): Coal , economics , energy , finance , sustainability.
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posted by Admin  on November 9, 2009
Can Copenhagen deliver a new industrial revolution?  – David Vigar, Climate Change Adviser, Tomorrow’s Company, david@davidvigar.co.uk As December’s Copenhagen climate summit approaches, new evidence is emerging of the massive scale of the action needed to avert the risk of runaway global warming. At the same time, contradictory signals emerging from the pre-summit discussions don’t inspire confidence that it’s likely to be taken.  The scale of the task is underlined in a new report, Climate Solutions 2, produced for WWF by Climate Risk, a company that advises insurers and others on climate-related issues. Their modelling takes into account targets for stabilising greenhouse gases, available low-carbon technologies and the speed at which industries can grow in a market economy, given physical and financial constraints. The report’s bottom line is that world’s governments, businesses and investors have five years to shift low-carbon industries into a high growth phase to avoid...
     

Issue(s): Climate Change , Tomorrow's Green Economy , Low Carbon Economy

Tag(s): Climate Chnage , Climate Summit , Copenhagen , Tomorrow's Climate

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CommentsPost New Comment
"ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL SUSTAINIBILITY" - ISBS,Pune
A low carbon economy is a concept that refers to an economy with minimal emissions of greenhouse gases. It's a precursor to a more advanced, zero carbon society based on renewable-energy.
The development of low carbon economy is fully coherent to the national aim of constructing a ‘resource saving and environmental friendly’ society, and is also consistent with the strategic plan to transform future economic growth. The economic repercussions of a climate agreement can lead to faster economic growth and the protection of things that are very important, including water, food, and the development of emerging economies.
The climate is changing and the best collective bet to avoid the risk of devastating consequences is a deep, worldwide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a massive undertaking. A low carbon economy is attainable, and business is a critical part of the solution. Neglecting climate risk could present a worse case scenario similar to ignoring the risks that resulted in the current economic and financial crisis.
The concept of a Low Carbon Economy has recently gained greater prominence internationally as a result of the impacts of climate change on the environment, economic development and social stability. Therefore, the development of a low carbon economy not only has implications for policy and technology, it can also lead to deeper structural economic and industrial changes and transformation of consumption patterns.
The concept of a low carbon economy has been gaining popularity in most of the developed and developing countries like China, Britain, Europe, US, UK etc.
It is important that we consider the social and opportunity side of this that we have a fair distribution of the costs and benefits that we talk through the employment implications and new employment opportunities. Champions of the low carbon economy view a global climate change agreement as an immense opportunity in terms of revenue, job creation, and investments.
We have enough technology not only to beat the targets for 2020 and 2050, but to beat them by a material amount. The technology is there; the only thing preventing us from solving this is ourselves. If we wait another 5-10 years, we have lost it.
SHASHANK S AGARWAL, INDIRA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES,PUNE PGDM 2008-10
Posted By : Shashank shekhar Agarwal
Posted on : November 19, 2009

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