1. GlobalWarming:UndeniableScience
As the climate changes, what had been considered “natural” disasters like flooding and hurricanes are increasing. The changing climate is forcing cities to deal with such acute challenges as storms, heatwaves and water shortages. It also imposes a wide array of long-term impacts such as droughts, the spread of diseases and the demise of historically important industries.
2. Loss o fNatural Capital
A stable climate is an important contributor to economic stability, but it is only one of the many services that intact ecosystems provide to our economy
3. Strategic Resource Trends: Peak oil, water scarcities and other constraints
There are two key resources that business has taken for granted for at least a century: cheap fossil energy and the availability of sweet water. A growing consensus that the availability and cost of these two vital resources are going to significantly change over the next decades.
4. LOHAS: The Sustainability Imperative
There exists a large and growing market in the U.S. and Europe for goods produced in ways that do not harm the environment or people. Approximately 30 percent of the adults in the U.S., or 63 million people place significant value on buying goods that do not worsen the trends mentioned above or that help to solve them.