State of Green Business 2009: Green is Growing, But Not Fast Enough

The second annual State of Green Business Report, created by Joel Makower and the editors of GreenBiz.com, looks at hard data behind 20 indicators to find out just how well companies are doing on addressing environmental issues.

Green business activity has continued to grow, even during a down economy, but the aggregate environmental progress being made is marginal, according to a new report, titled "State of Green Business 2009," the second annual report of its kind published by GreenBiz.com.

The State of Green Business shows that companies are making progress on only a handful of the 20 measures of performance investigated.

In some areas, such as in the case of climate change, company commitments and achievements are failing to stem the overall rise of carbon emissions.

"This year's update is a mixed bag of encouraging and discouraging news," says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com and the report's principal author.

"But on balance, despite a growing chorus of corporate commitments and actions, we're less optimistic that these activities, in aggregate, are addressing planetary problems at sufficient scale and speed.

"The report found many reasons for optimism, according to the authors. Green building is on the rise, spurring new technologies that save energy and money while creating more healthful workplaces.

There is a green race taking place in the automobile industry, with every major manufacturer planning to introduce electric vehicles.

The leading consumer product makers and retailers are starting to rigorously assess the environmental impact of their products using sophisticated metrics, sending signals up the supply chain that tomorrow's products will need to hew to higher levels of environmental responsibility.

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Source: Greenbiz