GOING GREEN

GOING GREEN

A month-long special report exploring the environmental issues facing businesses, governments and individuals across the Middle East. Brought to you in association with GE.

October 23, 2010 10:00 by Samuel Potter

Amidst the chaos of the global financial downturn, when doom-mongers were predicting the end of many industries as we know it, potential social unrest, and the collapse of the banking and financial systems, one area quietly weathered the storm. In fact, in many developed economies, it was even touted as the potential solution to all financial woes. It was the green economy.

It survived because it is now commonly accepted to be essential. The very future of mankind’s survival on the planet is not threatened by a banking collapse, but it is by water shortages, extreme weather events, global warming, famine through crop failure, and many more factors. We can argue all day about climate change – does it exist, is it caused by man – but the fact is a majority of scientists are now convinced that the climate and the planet are changing, and that human activities play a role. And, whether we’re causing it or not, the consequences will be ours to face.

So as the credit crunch ravaged economies, spending on “green” technology and innovation and environmental efforts remained strong. And some major economies even increased investment in the sector, believing it to have longevity and huge potential growth. The more citizens trained and employed in green industries the better – investment here fought unemployment and prepared the work force for the needs of the future.

In the early stages of this month, a huge conference takes place in Tianjin, China. The countries of the world are attempting to form a new Kyoto Protocol, the document that attempted to establish a unified strategy to deal with carbon emissions and to try to halt global warming. As these world powers try to thrash out a deal, Kipp explores the environmental issues facing our region in this month-long special report, sponsored by GE.