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Looking past governments on climate change
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12/31/09 08:59 AM ET
The Chinese government’s pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions – and whether they go far enough – have received a great deal of attention.
But the Wall Street Journal, reporting from Beijing, on Thursday looks at what private entrepreneurs in China are doing about the issue.
Their reporting finds that Chinese businesses and citizens are becoming more active, “a nascent trend that could have significant long-term impact on the ability of the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter to curb its effects on the climate.”
Speaking of private sector plans, Time looks at one in particular: The climate change initiatives of Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group. Next year he will launch the “Carbon War Room.”
It’s a “a corporate think tank of sorts, designed to incubate and spread the best ways to cut carbon in corporate sectors ranging from aviation to shipping to construction. It's a global-warming remedy by business for business, and given the paralysis in the international effort to curb climate change, it could be the right idea for the right time,” Time reports.
But private investment in green technologies, of course, has faced problems of its own in the sour economy. Greentech Media reported Wednesday that venture capital investment in green technologies fell to $4.85 billion in 2009, compared to $7.6 billion in 2008.
But the Wall Street Journal, reporting from Beijing, on Thursday looks at what private entrepreneurs in China are doing about the issue.
Their reporting finds that Chinese businesses and citizens are becoming more active, “a nascent trend that could have significant long-term impact on the ability of the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter to curb its effects on the climate.”
Speaking of private sector plans, Time looks at one in particular: The climate change initiatives of Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group. Next year he will launch the “Carbon War Room.”
It’s a “a corporate think tank of sorts, designed to incubate and spread the best ways to cut carbon in corporate sectors ranging from aviation to shipping to construction. It's a global-warming remedy by business for business, and given the paralysis in the international effort to curb climate change, it could be the right idea for the right time,” Time reports.
But private investment in green technologies, of course, has faced problems of its own in the sour economy. Greentech Media reported Wednesday that venture capital investment in green technologies fell to $4.85 billion in 2009, compared to $7.6 billion in 2008.
