Among the questions this Tomorrow's Company report asks is if companies are prepared for the scale of the energy revolution in prospect whether the system should be updated to take more account of emerging risks of runaway climate change as well as the widely accepted evidence of global warming - and if so, whether business should be proactive in driving reform? It also looks at what policy frameworks business should work with government to prioritise, so that business can play its full role in building tomorrow's green and clean economy and what the transition to the low-carbon world might cost.

  There is plenty of research evidence documenting the business benefits from high-trust business relationships. Unfortunately at times like this (2009), the knee-jerk crisis reaction of many companies is to squeeze suppliers harder rather than to combine a call for greater efficiency with a collaborative approach to finding sustainable solutions. One study documented in A Guide to Trust (by the Relationships Foundation with Ci) examined supply chain relationships in the motor industry and found dramatic benefits for those with high-trust relationships: Design and distribution ideas were shared, and purchasers handled twice the value of goods when dealing within highly trusted manufacturers. In another industry, Jim Sierck of Xerox USA estimated that the bureaucratic structure created to handle the lack of trust in their buyer/supplier relationships cost them around 7 cents in the dollar.The evidence is clear: If you want efficiency, you need to release all the available talent,...

This article looks at inherent problems associated with seeking economic growth above all else.  In particular it advocates the creation of a more stable system; one that does not constantly need extra-resources, which the world can no longer supply. John Fullerton is a former Managing Director of JPMorgan, where he worked for 18 years in New York, London, and Tokyo, and subsequently was CEO of an energy focused hedge fund. He is now seeking to launch an investment fund for high impact sustainability initiatives and is working on “The Purpose of Capital,” a book about the role of investment capital in sustainable economics. He is a friend and supporter of the E. F. Schumacher Society in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. John can be reached at john@level3cap.com.

As part of the Centre for Social Markets’ Climate Challenge India Initiative, this paper looks at the state of renewable energy in India.  The challenges faced by India, projected by the International Energy Agency to be the world’s 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases by 2015, are fairly daunting.  Although this means there are many opportunities as well. The Centre for Social Markets (CSM) is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to making markets work for the triple bottom line – people, planet and profits.

In 2007, the CNA Military Advisory Board (MAB) released the landmark report “National Security and the Threat of  Climate Change,” which found that climate change constitutes a “threat multiplier” to existing security risks in some of the most volatile regions in the world. A 2008 National Intelligence Assessment con?rmed the report ?nding that climate change is a serious threat to national security and long-term global stability. The MAB, which is comprised of some of the nation’s most respected retired admirals and generals, also found that “Climate change, national security, and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges.” The following is a report produced by CNA expanding on previous findings.