WITH global warming hot on the agenda, long gone are the days when businesses could afford to be eco-ignorant. Companies can no longer dismiss climate change as irrelevant to them, because whether they believe the prevailing science or not, a raft of changes are coming their way – environmental, legislative and demand-driven.
As part of this month’s eco feature, Brisbane Business News is profiling two locally-grown companies that are not swimming against the current of change. Cars and electricity are two inventions that have led to high carbon emissions, but the success stories of Redflow and Freedom Fuels are changing the ways we use them. The former makes a battery that stores renewable energy and has secured contracts with Ergon Energy, while the latter distributes sustainable fuels using crops grown in Australia.
As the earth changes, so too do the ways we do business and never before have ‘green’ credentials become so important. We speak to the experts who tell us why the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will have just as much impact on SMEs as the GST, as well as how the scheme itself is a form of ‘insurance’ for society – even if you don’t think you’ll crash your car tomorrow, you insure just in case. The same goes with climate change.
Nicholas Hinton from Pradella talks about the subtleties of green star ratings for buildings and why some are more sustainable than others, while Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Michael Kerry discusses a green rating tool for infrastructure.
Brisbane business is heating up as we cover the winners of the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards, including media company Hoodlum which won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for its work with the hit TV series Lost.
Cutting Edge Post CEO Ray Smith, tells us how his company competes on the international stage from Tokyo to London, having worked on movies such as Wolverine and Australia. Closer to home, the company behind Tourism Queensland’s ‘Hey hey this is Queensland’ campaign tells us why the advertisement was only meant to get sales and was never intended to be ‘beautiful’ or ‘creative’.
Nomis Innovative Products founder Simon Skirrow, has the message ‘lend us your feet’ with his specially-designed football boots that are competing with big names like Adidas and Puma. Jeff Dunn from the Cancer Council highlights the leadership needed to reduce cancer cases and TechnologyOne CEO Adrian Di Marco calls for more action from governments to support innovative companies, citing examples of preferential treatment to multinational firms.
We also take a look at Australand’s controversial $160 million Kangaroo Point Development, keep you updated with upcoming events and new appointments, new directions in HR and in our travel section we take you to the scenic natural limestone skyscrapers of the southern Chinese town of Yangshuo. It’s an edition for all tastes with all you need to know on how to make your business enviably green.
Camilla Westerlund
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