Stories: Markets & Enterprise

Green Chinese small and medium business owners in a remote university conference center in southern Guangdong province rolled up their sleeves to become better communicators.

Corporate procurement managers are increasingly looking for ways to ensure that wood and paper-based products are environmentally and socially sound. The WRI/WBCSD procurement guide being released today is a toolbox to help them.

In a speech at Davos today, Bill Gates called for a more inclusive capitalism that “would have a twin mission: making profits and also improving lives for those who don’t fully benefit from market forces.” That is a major milestone in the evolving thinking of perhaps the most influential philanthropist of our time.

Border security is not typically recognized as being tied to environmental changes, but in this recent article by The New York Times, the links are clear. It details how declining fish catches in northwest Africa are fueling immigration to Europe.

Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Company, a once struggling small enterprise, is revolutionizing China’s industrial energy consumption by making it more efficient and cleaner.

Trends to Watch is WRI’s annual forecast of emerging issues that will have major impacts on environmental coverage in 2008. On climate change: what will happen between COP-13 in Bali, and COP-14 in Poznan? What role will China play? Will we see new legislation and regulations from Congress or the EPA? Where will biofuels and technology go? Where will the water come from? WRI President Jonathan Lash makes his predictions at the National Press Club.