State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy

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http://www.voanews.com/english/Science/2008-01-16-voa24.cfm

State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy

By Rosanne Skirble
Washington, DC
16 January 2008

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Entrepreneurs, non-profit groups and governments around the globe are busy inventing what experts call the world's first sustainable economy. These "green" business ventures, driven by growing concerns about the environment, are the focus of this year's State of the World report <1/09/08> by the Washington-based World Watch Institute www.worldwatch.org.

Economies of every scale are threatened by environmental problems and that's why, says Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin, business leaders at every level, from government ministries to private enterprise, must adapt in fundamental ways. "At the local level," he says, "the collapse of a local fishery or the fact that water is simply not available can be undermining to an economy."

Flavin says the same forces are at play as the global economy reaches a scale in which it begins to "harm some of the very natural resource systems on which it ultimately depends."

The Worldwatch report finds that the same environmental problems that put an economy at risk have also been the impetus for new business ventures.

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