In the third annual edition of the State of Green Business
report, Greener World Media continues efforts to measure the
environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. This year’s
effort was colored by the Great Recession and its myriad of impacts
on individuals, companies and governments around the world. Would
the economic downturn nip the green economy in the bud?

Of course, 2009 also was a time of political transition in the
United States, the principal arena of our focus. How would regime
change affect companies’ environmental policies, performance and
progress? Would companies envision a new era of environmentally
activist government? If so, would that compel them to become more
proactive or to dig in their heels?

The answers aren’t simple, and therein lies the foundation for
this report. As in previous years, it shows a mixed bag of
encouraging and discouraging news and trends.

On balance, however, we were pleasantly surprised by what we
found. First and foremost, green business activity did not go away
amid the harsh economic environment. It survived - and even
thrived. In some cases, such as with energy efficiency, the
recession provided a stimulus, as the need to cut operating costs
in order to maintain competitiveness became ever more valued by
executives, their boards and their shareholders.

The quest for information gathering for this report isn’t an end
to itself. As in previous years, Greener World Media tries to
provide context to the robust green business taking place and to
help answer the question: Is all of this activity actually moving
the needle?

That is, did all of the hundreds of environmental announcements
and achievements by companies during 2009 actually result in their
doing better, environmentally speaking, than the year before?

Clues to the answers can be found in the annual GreenBiz Index,
which looks at 20 measures of green-economy progress, from energy
use to e-waste to employee commuting habits. In many cases,
progress is evident, though not necessarily at the scale and speed
needed to effectively address climate change, water shortages,
resource scarcity and the toxicity of consumer products, among
other pressing issues.

Definitive answers to these questions can be subjective, often
in the eye of the beholder. Greener World Media leaves it up to you
to decide for yourself whether all of this amounts to good news or
bad or, more likely, something in between.

How will all this play out as the recession ebbs and the economy
rumbles back to life? Will newfound efficiencies and sensibilities
fall by the wayside, or have things indelibly changed?

How the green economy fares during the economic recovery will be
the subject of another year’s report. Hopefully, the next one.

The report can be downloaded here.

Source: www.stateofgreenbusiness.com

Joel Makower, Executive Editor, Greener World Media, Inc.