Track 2 - Embracing Value, Innovation and Change
Thursday, 11/12, 9:30 a.m. - Climate Change: What It Means to Your Business
Moderator
- Clive Crook, Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Panelist:
- Timothy Urban, Washington Council Ernst & Young
- Christopher Flavin, President, Worldwatch Institute
- Selim Bassoul, Chairman, President and CEO, Middleby Corporation
- Amit Chatterjee, CEO, Hara
Energy efficiency investments are gaining traction in the U.S., but accelerating their adoption will depend on companies' ability to narrow the time it takes for consumers and businesses to realize related energy savings, a panel of experts at Ernst & Young's Strategic Growth Forum.
While more and more American consumers are willing to pay more for “green” appliances and other products that save energy, they shy away from those whose payback periods extend beyond a few years, said panelist Selim Bassoul, chairman and CEO of Middleby Corporation. Bassoul said his company made a strategic shift at the turn of the century to focus on making “greener” commercial ovens, and demand has really picked up in the last couple of years as energy costs soared and climate change awareness grew.
“There is a huge political force from our consumers saying, ‘I would rather pay a little bit more for green,'” Bassoul said. “But it's all about payback. Nobody is interested in a payback that is longer than 2 ½ years.”
U.S. consumers are widely seen as more cost-conscious than their European counterparts when it comes to adopting clean technologies. Market demand in Europe, by contrast, has been driven by environmental concerns and social responsibility. Economic concerns in the U.S. have made it difficult for Congress to push through a climate bill that would put a national price on carbon emissions, and several panelists concurred that the onus is great on clean technology companies to make the business case for their products.
“You can't compromise the profitability of U.S. companies and expand the environmental story,” said Amit Chatterjee, CEO of Hara, an energy and environment management software company.
Most of the panelists agreed that the passage of a climate bill would level the playing field for clean technologies by increasing the relative price of fossil-based energy sources. But Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute, cautioned that compromises needed to pass a bill would likely dilute the impact.
More on session tracks:
Or return to the welcome page to see an outlined overview of all sessions.
