NatGeo's Greendex Indicates Americans Less Green Than Consumers in India, China, Brazil

Americans are less green than consumers in India, China, and Brazil, according to a new study by National Geographic and the international polling firm GlobeScan, measuring and monitoring consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption in 14 countries around the world.

Check it out here: Greendex

According to NatGeo, it's a "quantitative consumer study of 14,000 consumers in a total of 14 countries asked about such behavior as energy use and conservation, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products versus traditional products, attitudes towards the environment and sustainability, and knowledge of environmental issues. A group of international experts helped us determine the behaviors that were most critical to investigate."

The National Geographic/GlobeScan "Consumer Greendex," a scientifically derived sustainable consumption index of actual consumer behavior and material lifestyles across 14 countries, will be tracked over time and will be comparable across the selection of countries representing both the developed and developing world.

"To provide context for the Greendex results," NatGeo says, "we developed a 'Market Basket,' an index of actual consumption in four areas important to environmentally sustainable behavior—energy, transportation, travel, and consumer goods. A Market Basket for each country was assembled using a set of independently collected macroeconomic indicators, gathered by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which mirror, in part, the consumer behavior measured by the Greendex survey.

"The purpose of the Market Basket is to provide an external estimate of the results of changes in consumer behavior over time. The Greendex, for example, measures things consumers are doing to save energy in a country; the Market Basket measures whether total energy consumption in the country is actually going up or down. The Market Basket will also establish a framework for comparing the relative environmental impact of each country's size and rate of growth, over time."

Poke around on the site and check out the Greendex survey results, calculate your personal Greendex score, measure your knowledge of some basic issues against what your fellow citizens know, at home and around the world, and learn how to take steps to change your behavior so you ARE making a difference.

Visit the Greendex

Social Entrepreneurs: New Ventures' Call for SME Business Plans

This from Ella Delio of NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise:

Do you run a small-to-medium size enterprise operating in India, Indonesia, China, Brazil or Mexico? Does your company have an innovative business model that delivers strong environmental and social benefits? Are you seeking debt or equity capital in order to grow your business?

If so, apply for the New Ventures program in these countries. The New Ventures program of the World Resources Institute supports the growth of businesses that deliver social and environmental benefits by providing business advisory services and access to capital. Enterprises that have been supported by New Ventures have raised US$120M in capital. Moreover, 98% of New Ventures enterprises are still in operation.

The application deadlines for each country are:

• India: May 15th
• Indonesia: May 16th
• Mexico: June 30th
• China: TBD
• Brazil: TBD
  

For more information and access to the application form, please visit the specific country websites. For an English language version of the Indonesia application form, please contact slall@wri.org.

Global Climate Change: Myanmar Satellite Images

Thanks to Paul Kedrosky @ Infectious Greed for these NASA satellite images that illustrate the impact of the Myanmar Cyclone. I hear death toll range of 22,000-66,000. And no early warning for many of these people.

In this day and age of technological advances, one would think major destruction of human life could be avoided through communication.

I know no single event can be tied to global warming, but we probably need to get used to these events happening more frequently with climate change.

As Paul said, "Jaw-dropping."

Wallstrip on Oil and Gas Prices: They've Got Us Over a Barrel

Our minivan now cost over $70 to fill. We don't even drive it that much, but it still hurts.

Here's a Wallstrip "Julie in the Street" episode on oil and gas prices in New York. I'm with Julie, don't know whether to laugh or cry:



The saddest (but truest) comment is the Brit who says he'd pay whatever it takes for a gallon of petrol and just have to do without something else. OPEC take note!

Salzburg Global Seminar: My 3 Take-Aways from Green Revolution in Africa Dialog

Readers of this blog will note that my "Three Take-Aways" exercise is becoming more formalized. Here are my three from this week's Salzburg Global Seminar "Towards a 'Green Revolution' in Africa?"

1.) A Green Revolution in Africa must be people-centered, including farmer households, consumers, and local communities.

2.) A range of solutions must be considered and deployed, including a judicious use of inputs (inorganic fertilizer, improved seed), as well as a longer-term view that promotes organic inputs to improve soil health and structure and increase production. We also can't rely on monocultures of a few major staples, but must employ the full diversity of locally and culturally appropriate food crops.

3.) Investments are needed to create the infrastructure to improve market access, including significant road development and incentives for entrepreneurial business generation. Without roads, in particular, market access will continue to be limited and success out of reach.

And, finally, words of encouragement from Kofi Annan concerning entrepreneurs in Africa (especially women): "Don't underestimate the entrepreneurial spirit of our African women. Our women entrepreneurs can succeed against any multinational."

My bottom line: An entrepreneurial Green Revolution in Africa is possible indeed.

(En route to Munich from Salzburg. Composed on BlackBerry. Links to follow.)

Salzburg Global Seminar: Africa on Agenda of Africans and Others

Day 3 of the Salzburg Global Seminar on "Towards a 'Green Revolution' in Africa."

Productivity, markets and trade, equity, sustainability, farmers and households have all been on the agenda.

The global food crisis did not hijack the agenda, as some had feared, but was clearly on our minds here.

We recognized; however, that while the immediate need to address the crisis is important, we should not lose sight of the longer time horizon required by making real change in African agriculture.

Infrastructure, conflicts, and genetically modified organisms were also on the minds of many here; however, as quickly as these issues were brought up, they were also tabled.

Appropriate? Not necessarily; but most of us recognized we didn't have the time to adequately address these issues.

There must be a focus on these issues and the potential impacts of climate change, by some body. Perhaps sub-groups on peace and stability, infrastructural investments, cliamte impacts, and GMOs?

One subject that came up consistently was strengthening the capacity of farmers and their organizations, as well as ensuring the concerns of farmers and pastoralists (ranchers) are included in agenda-setting.

Another consistent subject was gender equity; both empowering women, but also getting men more completely engaged in agriculture.

One could argue these are not concerns raised at the time of the earlier Green Revolution -- at least not when it was conceived or launched.

Thinking these issues through up front will ensure this Green Revolution/Revolution Vert en Afrique will be very different and, hopefully, even more beneficial to people on the continent as a result.

Ultimately, what it all comes down to is quite simple: we need a people-focused Green Revolution in Africa.

(Composed on BlackBerry; links to come in future.)