Active Planet: Talking to GE: their take on business needing a framework

GE surprised the world in 2005 when it pioneered with an "Ecoimagination" strategy. It had identified that the future was in eco-products and operational processes to generate long-term sustainable growth. Each year it has returned profits and growth from its eco-business.

I asked why there were some businesses pushing the area of sustainability whereas most were not. Among GE’s competitors it was the first to move into the area, but now all companies are doing it. The reluctance, it has found, is in the consumer segment, where consumer behaviours and trends make it difficult for progress to occur.

The price premium is an unattractive proposition to consumers. It is this reason that business expects governments to act on a framework, by creating a carbon price to balance out the polluters with the energy savers. Consumers would have to pay extra to pollute, the reverse of the current position.

GE has faced difficulties getting its smart metering into the market, as consumers complain about data privacy and protection. A smart meter measures energy use, and manages where the energy in the grid moves around. It involves tracking the energy use of all homes, and hence privacy is an issue.

Consumers have expressed their reluctance to have wind farms or carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities near their homes. For wind, consumers do not want to see turbines above them distracting their view. For CCS, consumers do not want energy stored underneath them. It is looking for governments to take a stance and say that this is the way we need to go because it is right and thus direct consumer attitudes.

GE is also hoping for government to provide capital in two areas. Firstly, it expects business to support energy infrastructure development and other major projects. Looking back in history, all major energy upgrades were government funded, the GE representative naming nuclear, gas and wind as examples of this. It is not sensible for business to become involved in major infrastructure investment without public-private partnership.

Also, GE expect governments to incentivise R&D spending. A representative pointed out that we have the technology in place to reduce our CO2 emissions by an adequate level from now to 2020, but for 2050 and 2080 we need some major technology breakthroughs. A major component of this is the intellectual property rights issue.

In summary, business can operate in many areas without waiting for government. But in areas of major infrastructure investment it is impossible without them. For GE, it sees consumers cannot follow an environmental lifestyle without governments enforcing control mechanisms to reward environmental lifestyles.

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Darren Willman heads the world’s first all-youth event-specific press agency, G-1 Billion

G1-Billion is covering the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit

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