4 July 2013 — Business sustainability program Green Capital, part of Total Environment Centre, has released a report detailing ideas for a cleaner, greener economy in the 21st century.
The Phoenix Effect looks at “new frontiers for sustainability and the economy”, from the UN’s green economy and the OECD’s green growth models, to technology-enabled collaborative consumption, corporate-focused approaches like the circular economy, and an array of community-based initiatives.
During her speech at The Phoenix Effect’s launch, business and sustainability leader Sam Mostyn said the report “traces the extraordinary extent of rethinking that’s going on all around the world”.
“I think what Green Capital is doing in driving us to think about an emerging set of economies based on what we as populations want to be,” she said.
See our story Sam Mostyn: business leaders must make a sustainability stand
Executive director of Green Capital and TEC Jeff Angel said the emerging field of ideas was characterised by innovation, collaboration and optimism, despite immense social, economic and environmental challenges.
“This is no longer an underground movement – it’s out in the open internationally and in Australia with dozens of proposals in response to the immense social, economic and environmental challenges that confront the world,” he said.
“The Phoenix Effect is the current blossoming of diverse ideas and action at every scale of the economy, from every section of society, with change towards sustainability and social justice as the binding themes.”
Topics include:
- Re-thinking/remaking capitalism itself
- New economic visions
- Refocusing CSR and corporate sustainability
- Community-based change
- Apocalyptic forced transformation scenarios
- Market-based strategies
- Technology and innovation enabled step-change
The Phoenix Effect executive summary and full position paper versions can be downloaded here.