Experts praise Bahrain for turning green energy vision into reality

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

New paradigms in green business models were emphasised by a leading entrepreneur, pedagogue and author while speaking at a leading forum yesterday.

Gunter Pauli, the green advocate known for his work The Blue Economy, was speaking at the CC Forum on Global Investment in Sustainable Development, at Four Seasons Hotel, when he highlighted the need for a paradigm shift in business models.

“Innovation is the engine of growth in the Blue Economy,” he said, adding that innovations that generate cash flows without depending on public subsidies and grants are considered sustainable solutions.

“It is the cash flow that matters in any business, more than the capital,” he pointed out. Mr Pauli highlighted the coffee-mushroom equation as the inspiration to move forward. “Coffee grounds can be reused as manure for mushrooms and for this they have to be certified organic. And this ensures the mission’s success.”

“The connections between the problems is very relatively simple to identify opportunities. The discovery that resulted from such a screening was that coffee grounds are not manure but substrate for mushrooms.”

“Introducing more innovative technologies and marketing based on the Blue Economy concept will generate new cash flow, which in turns create jobs and build social capital,” he added. Top social entrepreneur Lord Nat Wei of Shoreditch said financing innovation has been one of the biggest challenges towards implementing the concept of Blue Economy.

“According to various estimates, a behemoth $250 trillion is required for the transition by 2050. It is definitely expensive and there has to be a four-pronged strategy to overcome this challenge.” He highlighted green crypto and algae tech should go handin-hand with government and private finances to achieve the target while addressing the funding difficulties.

Earlier, speaking at the forum, Max Studennikoff, Chairman and Founder of CC Forum, said the idea has been conceived as a platform “where governments present their innovative new strategies; where inspirational scientists relay to the world their revolutionary discoveries; where large corporations and small companies alike make global announcements, and where the brightest startups connect to the savviest of investors”.

“CC Forum is, simultaneously, considered a place where the world’s most formidable thought leaders are granted a unique opportunity to express their very opinions – even when they are highly controversial, and even when they are the polar opposites to what have become standard norms.

We, at the CC Forum firmly believe that it is only via public discussions, debates and brainstorming that some of the most complex issues society is facing today can be resolved. It is where iron sharpens iron.

“Hence a vast range of topics covered, stretching from Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Waste Management to Impact Investment, Social Inclusion and Philanthropy with the emphasis on how emerging technologies can help humanity resolve the existential issues we are all facing today. “CC Forum thus facilitates change by virtue of its elite and foremost thinkers in the sphere where high technology crosses finance.”

The first day of the forum also saw panel discussions, where experts shared their views of the road ahead as well as the challenges.