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Comment | Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Copenhagen: an eco-business revolution

What is won and lost at Copenhagen will be much greater than anything won or lost in any historic battle. Only the epochal effects of major wars which are discerned years after the din of conflict subsides can be compared to what lies ahead. Cynics and sceptics may doubt and sneer about whether or not the earth and civilization are under threat from global warming, they need not doubt that major economic changes lie ahead as a consequence of the commitments made at Copenhagen.
Modern civilization, what the developed world enjoys and what the developing world aspires to achieve, is to be transformed. Everything that promotes a low carbon culture will be encouraged and everything that carries on in the old trajectory will be discouraged. The products we buy, sell and consume will change, as will the way they are produced and distributed. Nobody will remain unaffected.
This transformation, so long delayed and coming on so suddenly, holds the menace and opportunities faced by economic operators in every crisis. Its dimensions and global reach are what makes it different. Still the usual mixture of shrewdness and luck will be required to swim in this troubled sea.
If the products or services you have on offer are going to be impacted, when do you change course? Jumping the gun on innovation must be at least as costly as being left on the start line when the competition takes off. Who wants to be last one left with a warehouse full of goods that will only become worth more than scrap as museum pieces in decades to come? Who wants to be the last provider of skills and know-how which is no longer in demand?
Eco-business has so far been at least as risky as they come. Ask the people who import solar water heaters. It seemed such a commonsense idea when they went for it years and years ago. It just never took off. With no apparent or logical explanation they were left to create a market from scratch when the Government and consumers should have been badgering them for more.
Operators who have made a bid for a piece of the action on alternative energy must know that they have invested in the future. They may expect the dam to break soon and hope to have an advantage in being present in the market as it surges forward. So far only fluctuating electricity rates have kept them going, uncertainty more than a clear advantage is what drives their clients so far.
Once Government goes beyond rhetoric to a definite attempt to live up to its commitment, the race is truly on. For many operators the tidal flow of innovation arising at their principals abroad is what will make them change. For the ones who want to take risks and lunge at a major shift in their fortunes, this is a much busier time.
In as short a time as possible they must become eco-literate. Selling the next fad is fine but no long term project can depend on fads alone. Besides guessing what the next fad will be requires in depth knowledge of one’s business sector from producer to consumer.
A long term strategy requires even more: a wider and deeper understanding of what is going on around us from Copenhagen to Delimara. Technical advice in order to understand new technologies and how they will be adapted to our own circumstances becomes essential but left at that will not bring about any change. It requires a special talent to sell something new.
If the product or service has merit and is marketed well, there comes a time when it sells itself. Consumers talk and become the best advertisers but until they know that they need something, how it works and what it can do for them, providers may find themselves running into a brick wall. The more complex the item, the more challenging the marketing, the greater the risks, the more crucial the timing.
What lies ahead of us is comparable to the beginning of the communication revolution which is still ongoing. When the PC took over from typewriters and fax machines not a few seasoned operators and suppliers were caught out. In the months and years to come we have every reason to expect constant change and the miraculous device discovered last week risks becoming next week’s junk.
Nothing can stop it now. Whether or not the deal struck in Copenhagen will be enough to avert the danger real, imagined or fabricated of climate change, economic change is upon us. We’re off and we can have no idea when we will ever slow down again. This time the ride is not reserved for adventurers alone. The most sluggish and conservative among us will also be swept along.

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16 December 2009
ISSUE NO. 612

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Malta Today

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