Evolving Choice – Corporate Social Responsibility, Simply

 Forum for the Future, a sustainable development charity, has published a great article chronicling the recent ‘Chorus’ of political and business leaders envisioning CleanTech as one of the key areas investors will turn to as the financial markets recover.

It asks questions like ‘Will Obama force Detroit to take the Green Road?‘ and makes a case for a rise in interest in CleanTech in light of the current environment of:

a) Volatile Resource Pricing

b) Fears of Peak Petroleum

c) Flight to Tangibles

It also contains some headline worthy quotes from thought leaders such as Nicholas Stern, former World Bank Chief Economist, who said

This Recession will be Big, but Climate Change will be Bigger

and Merril Lynch’s CleanTech Strategist, Steven Milunovich, who refers to its rise as the ’6th Industrial Revolution’ and projects that solid investments in the field include:

1) Energy Efficiency

2) Electric Cars

3) Wind / Solar Powered Microgrids

With Geothermal Energy and Biofuels as Dark Horses.

Currently, like all new business ventures, CleanTech is deeply reliant on debt financing, however if the ‘Chorus’ is anything to go by, this could change very quickly with investors incorporating alternative risk criteria into their decision making.