Opportunity in climate change

While the Copenhagen conference was on, reams of print coverage, editorials and conversations were dedicated to the cause of climate change. But as days go by after the conference, the idea of bringing the attention to the issue and the solutions that can be implemented seems to have faded into the background.

Where does climate change figure in our agenda? Green activism, corporate social responsibility, occasional tokenism and little else…? However, there is a growing opinion across the globe, which disbands the social construct around climate change. Climate change for many corporates is the biggest innovation opportunity this side of the millennium.

There are companies that have recognized what the future holds. Stakeholders will want corporates to be more accountable for their pro-climate actions. From being a niche trend, organisations, products and services that work within the climate-friendly context will become the norm. Consumers and corporations will realise that in renewable energy and effective energy lies pocket-happiness and value respectively.

In starting early, companies have the first-mover advantage and the opportunity to be innovation drivers for their sectors. I’d read recently about Deutsche Bank’s carbon counter billboard in New York that was calculating the growing metric tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The billboard was an advertisement for Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors, their climate change investment funds. A minor share of its current asset management pie but continually growing, Deutsche Bank has invested in energy efficiency, environmental management, agriculture and clean technology, pegging them as megatrends of the future. Organisations are mushrooming across the globe that create green projects under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. These typically allow individuals and organisations to offset their carbon footprints by contributing to a green and clean energy project. Peek ahead into the future and we will come to the day when gifting carbon offset credits becomes the vogue.

A whole new range of products are being developed. Imagine switching on an appliance and knowing exactly how much energy and costs are involved in using the appliance, right on the spot? A heightened awareness and utility of effective and green energy could shape out household economies in the years to come.

The examples can be cited endlessly as much of the developed world takes a lead in this innovation opportunity. At our end of the world, climate change be not be a priority, but it could be an opportunity. I quote and reiterate what Time Magazine so rightly stated, “Carbon will be the new bottom line.”

(The author is National Creative Director, Leo Burnett)