Using financial data from 1,833 firms with US revenues of more than $1 billion in 2008/09, independent analyst firm Verdantix finds that spending on 29 sustainability initiatives will grow from $28 billion in 2010 to $60 billion in 2014. Over the 2009 to 2014 period the US sustainable business market will experience a 19% compound annual growth rate. The sustainable business market forecast finds that growth of 11% in 2010 will increase to 16% in 2011 and 24% in 2012. Growth in spending is driven by improved economic growth, risk drivers, competitive dynamics, innovation diffusion, higher oil prices, state-level GHG regulations and renewable energy policies. The study covers all industries and all sustainability initiatives from energy efficiency to spending on strategy, risk and brand.
While the scientific evidence for climate change grows, the policy responses have so far had little or no impact on the build-up of emissions. Following the recent developments in Copenhagen, there are few signs that this will change in the near future. With this in mind, this article examines why there is still such a gap between what science says is needed, and what is actually achieved through policy.
The market for voluntarily offsetting carbon emissions doubled between 2007 and 2008 to reach $700m. With forecasts suggesting that the market could double again to 2012 this new sector is now attracting the attention of more serious investors and traders, as well as more companies looking to offset their emissions. But despite all the excitement around these projections there has been no systematic analysis of where the demand in this new market will actually come from, if indeed at all. Nobody has stopped to ask the simple questions “why do organizations voluntarily offset their emissions?” “how much value do they get out of it”, and “when does carbon setting work and when doesn’t it work?“
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the European investors’ forum for collaboration on climate change, recently published its second annual report which audits the investment practices of signatories to the Investor Statement on Climate Change. The report, conducted by Mercer, highlights significant progress on climate change, made in 2008, among asset owners and asset managers, who in total represent €2 trillion in assets under management. The research shows that institutions are paying greater attention to climate change, with 75% of asset owners and over 80% of asset managers referencing climate change in their investment policies.
