Almost everywhere you turn these days, there is a meeting, a conference, a magazine or newspaper article about the greening of business. Take Wal-Mart for example. The multinational giant has announced that it will slash its greenhouse gas emissions and yet still strive for pedal to the metal growth. Others have been at this business much longer.
Last year, a group of companies with instantly recognizable global logos representing more than $2 trillion in market capitalization banded together with several environmental NGOs to call on the Bush administration and Congress to enact sweeping climate legislation.
What gives here? More than $100 per barrel oil is one thing, another is the slow but inexorable crawl to national legislation curtailing such emissions by the United States.
Europe has reaffirmed that it will continue its leadership on green house gas (GHG) control and require deeper cuts from its industries. Scientists continue to warn of the dangers of a changing climate and reports of its effects pour in continually.
China has adopted a new and more activist stance at the international negotiations and at home reducing energy intensity is a serious new national priority. There is also change in the air from consumers who no longer think bigger is better. Right now, efficient is beautiful.
Building a green Asia will require more than the currently fashionable rhetoric. It will require a genuine shift in fundamentals. The tidal waves of foreign investment sweeping Asia have grown accustomed to current circumstances.
We all know about the "China price" and the market power wielded by large multinational corporations.
Changing the channel will require a concerted effort by governments to convince domestic and foreign partners that the rules and expectations have changed.
The first step is to rigorously enforce current environmental laws and regulations no matter who owns the offending facility. Killing a few chickens to scare the monkeys will go a long way to getting the message out.
The next step is to reward those who excel environmentally to accelerate the transformation from brown to green. Governments can use their own procurement policies to show multinational procurement officers how they expect them to do business in their country.
