Why 2016 could be the best year EVER for sustainable business

If that Paris accord was anything to go by, 2016 is the year that the green industrial revolution will gather pace; sustainable businesses will go from strength to strength and low-carbon infrastructure investment will boom. But will any of these promises actually be realised?


Why 2016 could be the best year EVER for sustainable business

Last year was, in itself, a sustainability success story. It began with record-breaking renewables figures and surges in clean energy investment; and went on to see a huge array of ambitious pledgesinitiativescollaborations and innovations which together proved that the green economy really is starting to motor.

So, where does all of this leave us? Will 2016 be the year that fully ‘circular’ business models come to fruition? Will the public become more engaged with green issues? And will the Tories provide a more stable policy framework to drive that low-carbon investment that we all know is so urgently required? 

Some significant hurdles will need to be overcome if the answer to any of those questions is ‘yes’. The development and refinement of key energy efficiency schemes and the establishment of the UK’s fifth carbon budget off the back of a barage of punitive green policy changes stand out among the crowd. 

But if we can carry the positive momentum of Paris into the New Year and achieve just a few of the resolutions set out in our two-part series this week, then 2016 could in fact be the green economy’s best year yet.

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