Environment and the Economy

Combatting climate change does not mean sacrificing economic growth. This is a message that the Harvard Council on Business and the Environment embodies. As a part of CBE, a student-run consulting group for green start-ups, I have seen firsthand the entrepreneurial opportunities in the green sector. There is tremendous room for innovation and growth in renewable energy, sustainable transportation, heating and cooling systems, and other green initiatives.

Few people are as vocal about the importance of recognizing this new climate economy than former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon. Calderon spoke last Monday at the Climate and Business forum moderated by Professor Rebecca Henderson of the Harvard Business School. He brought an inspiring conviction in the idea that “climate or economy is a false dilemma.”

“We are talking about profits,” Calderon stressed. He argued that we should switch from talking about carbon emissions to talking about economic growth—the two are in fact compatible.

Calderon has an impressive track record in the field of climate and the economy. He hosted the 2010 UN Climate Change Summit in Cancun, where he built upon the failures of the Copenhagen conference. One of the main issues with past summits, he explained, was that not all countries felt involved and there was a tendency to discuss issues that were of greater concern to developed countries. In Cancun, Calderon achieved a greater commitment from developing countries as well, engaging them more in the process.

Green businesses are not asking consumers for a compromise between being eco-friendly and profiting 

At the forum Calderon discussed the issue of government subsidies. Today many subsidies are benefiting the wealthiest sectors of the population: the people that drive big cars for example. Having instituted a 30% subsidy on energy-efficient appliances during his presidency, Calderon is familiar with the impact that the government is able to have on economic initiatives.

Calderon left us with some important considerations going forward. What needs to be done on the international and political level is a serious reorganization of the United Nations, he said. In terms of individual action, he urged the members of the audience to participate in the debate, create better public policies, or go work for NGO’s or green businesses.

My experience in the Council on Business and the Environment has shown me that green businesses are not asking consumers for a compromise between being eco-friendly and profiting. They are delivering services and products that make homes, transportation, food, and energy more efficient while simultaneously growing their bottom lines. An environmentally efficient world is an economically efficient world.