Thursday, November 3, 2011

Sustainability in the Western World


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In an interview conducted on November 2 by The Guardian, Björn Stigson said that China is embracing a green economy while leaving the Western World behind. Björn Stigson has been the president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development since 1995. This organization is a CEO led global association consisting of around 200 companies that deals with global business and sustainability. Stigson asserts that the US military and intelligence recognizes that climate change and the problems associated with this issue may lead to civil unrest in many of the world’s poorest countries. On the other hand, Stigson believes that United States’ politicians are unable to recognize and give due diligence to these important issues. In response to the entirety of the Western World falling behind China Stigson says, "This is now like the space race. If we don't realize we are falling behind, we will face a serious competitiveness issue. If you want to be a successful economic power, you have to have solutions to living in a resource- and pollution-constrained world." Stigson praises China’s socialist market economy for its ability to promote faster investment cycles in green technologies since there is a shorter distance between government decisions and business actions. While I do not agree with moving our economic system to a model similar to China’s, the United States government needs to start promoting sustainable business. President Obama and all republican candidates need to implement the importance of sustainability into their campaign runs. Additionally, legislatures should begin implementing policies to make businesses become greener and reward businesses that go above the requirements.  

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