KEY POINTS:
Our business people are well ahead of the Government and climate-change sceptics in understanding that the world - and the markets where they do business - are going green. They also know that New Zealand has to go green to help it manage climate change and to secure our trading future.
Some people still bicker over the merits of the latest United Nations scientific report saying man-made climate change is now 90 per cent certain.
But many business leaders here and overseas have long since started positioning themselves to seize the great opportunities presented by the changes the world needs to to survive and to improve quality of life.
Last year the United States' biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, addressed the issue as "saving business" and instigated competitive strategies to survive into the 21st century.
Why? The world has 6.3 billion people today. By 2050 it could have nine billion. What will it take to provide for everyone and improve the quality of life, while not boosting greenhouse-gas emissions and facing huge economic costs?
In New Zealand we have an great opportunity to develop new sources of income from climate-change technology and sustainable development practices.
Some political commentators wonder if parties such as National, with business people as natural constituents, can afford to be brave on climate change and sustainable management.
The evidence is rapidly mounting that business is ahead in thinking green.
Policymakers need to play a game of catch-up to retain a major constituency which wants economic growth and improved quality of life while doing the right thing by the environment.
A Business Council survey of 190 managers, proprietors and the self-employed shows that 90 per cent agree with the Government's call for sustainable economic development to manage climate change and protect the country's trading position.
Although three out of 10 worry that this might make the country less competitive in the short term, almost eight out of 10 (78 per cent) believe it will make New Zealand more internationally competitive in the long term.
Respondents consider that green consumerism will play a major role in the future and will influence the purchasing decisions of their own companies and others. And 92 per cent believe that green consumerism already exists in New Zealand, although only 5 per cent believe it has an impact on present shopping habits.
But there is a major reversal in the way respondents see future trends, with 63 per cent saying they will have a major impact
The survey also shows 70 per cent support for the mandatory procurement of green products and services by Government agencies. That would shift $6 billion towards products that are the most economical to run over their lifespan. The survey also supports the Government playing a major role, including using tax revenue to develop and promote eco-labels for products and services.
I believe we can profit greatly from the right response to climate change. Approached in a positive way it offers an exciting opportunity.
New Zealand should encourage the rapid commercialisation of homegrown and world-leading technological innovations which cut greenhouse gases.
Government agencies, representing a third of the economy, must quickly go green when buying goods and services, and businesses must step up efforts to reduce emissions and achieve cost savings.
Expect households to engage in a host of things which cut emissions, save them money, and improve the environment.
Some of the world-leading ideas New Zealand already has at hand will result in substantial new streams of revenue.
The world needs sources of renewable energy and to lower emissions from ruminant animals. A New Zealand company has already made a world breakthrough in using sewage pond algae to produce biofuel.
While the world wonders how to feed another three billion people without sacrificing food-producing land to biofuel crops, Kiwis already know you can meet the demand with fuel grown on waste ponds.
Another project looks like succeeding in capturing gas emissions from some major industrial processes and turning them into climate-friendly bio fuels, including for the airline industry, which is under heavy pressure to reduce emissions.
Research is also in progress here to lower methane emissions from ruminants.
Moves should be made to ensure venture capital is available for the quick commercialisation of such Kiwi ideas.
The intellectual property, licensing, manufacturing and other revenues sources will be worth billions to this country and have a positive impact on our green role in a greening world.
The Government can lead by giving Crown research institutes incentives to advance research on lowering greenhouse gas.
Many leading world corporates have learned that the reality has moved from not being able to use the words "business" and "environment" in the same sentence, to one where it is not profitable to do otherwise.
The GE company's eco-imagination initiative - launched in 2005 and aimed at providing customers with new products and services delivering clean air and water - is forecast as being on the way to treble its environmental technology revenue to US$20 billion ($29 billion) a year within three years. The revenue comes from making wind turbines, solar panels, water desalination plants and energy-efficient appliances.
Toyota is poised to become the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, helped in part by its 1990 launch into climate-friendly hybrids.
In New Zealand many companies enjoy big benefits from reducing energy consumption, or requiring suppliers to provide more sustainable products, or introducing online ordering, and recycling energy. At the Bluff aluminium smelter, $10 million a year is saved through a dedicated effort to cut energy use and lower emissions.
The hotel group Accor is adding millions to its bottom line each year by changing to energy-efficient lightbulbs and adopting other sustainable practices.
Many companies are starting to buy only from suppliers of sustainable products. Major retailer chain The Warehouse is setting new standards for its suppliers and endeavouring to save energy, cut waste and lower emissions.
Businesses which adopt sustainable practices to make a profit while also achieving environmental goals are securing a long-term advantage.
If New Zealand doesn't see the opportunities inherent in climate change, our trading partners will punish us. Going green is now as essential to our economic future as the economic reforms of the 1980s.
* Peter Neilson is chief executive of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.
