"Global Warming: Entrepreneurial Challenges"

Experts discussed about climate change an the entrepreneurial strategies to address this issue

Climate Change has become a World issue. Today, the companies that want to be competitive in the short, medium and long-term must take into account the scopes of this issue as well as its implications in their business strategies, competing in an ever challenging environment.

Within this framework and based on the relevance of this issue, representatives from entrepreneur, academic and industrial spheres met in the Entrepreneurial Forum “Global Warming: Entrepreneurial Challenges” organized by Masisa, ICARE, Avina and Viva Trust. The meeting was attended by Stephan Schmidheiny, an important and well known entrepreneur founder of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Fundacion Avina and GrupoNueva and organizer of Viva Trust, as well as by Jonathan Lash and Jonathan Pershing, President and Researcher of the World Resources Institute, respectively.

The discussion panel was made up by Enrique Cibie, Masisa’s CEO; Humberto Fuenzalida, Professor of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Universidad de Chile and Javier Hurtado, President of the Environmental Commission of the Production and Trading Association (Confederacion de la Produccion y del Comercio), in addition to the participants mentioned above.

Jonathan Pershing, Researcher of the World Resources
Institute; Stephan Schmidheiny; and Jonathan Lash,
President of the World Resources Institute.

Enrique Cibié.

The panel considered the questions of those who attended the forum and a debate on the challenges that companies must face to this regard and the competitive advantages that may be generated in the future.

Stephan Schmidheiny, an entrepreneur who is recognized by being one of the first entrepreneurs to include the climate change variable in business strategies stated that “Chile is one of the strictest countries in terms of environmental matters compared to the other countries of the region.”

The meeting was attended by Stephan Schmidheiny.

When questioned about the relationship between entrepreneurs and environmentalists, Schmidheiny was clear in stating that in order to implement clear actions with regard to global warming, a balance is necessary between companies and environmentalist groups, a situation that needs to be improved in Chile. “We are currently facing a key existential crossroads, where the eco-efficiency concept must prevail to foster economic development as well as the protection and conservation of the environment,” he said.

- Masisa has pioneered actions to mitigate global warming effects as part of its business strategy. The company is the first company in Chile in becoming member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a global carbon credit Exchange, and has agreed to reduce its carbon emissions by 6% by 2010.

Masisa considers the global warming issue as a top priority within its business strategy and value creation based on a vision that provides three results: while seeking to maximize the value for its shareholders it is financially, socially and environmentally successful as well. Consequently, the company voluntarily committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% in 2010 through its membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world’s first carbon credit exchange. Masisa has thus become in the first Chilean company to participate in this market and the third of this industry in Latin America. Masisa is currently conducting an internal campaign to create an energy efficient culture that includes the creation of work teams that will generate energy-efficient alternatives that will be implemented in the productive processes.

Based on Masisa’s line of business, the company is a positive player for the solution of the problem. Forests capture carbon from the atmosphere and wood is a renewable and recyclable raw material, therefore, products have a highly positive effect compared with other materials used in construction.

Well-known business men, professors, opinion leaders and others attended the meeting. Global Warming has become a critical issue not only worldwide but locally as well.

The challenge of the companies is to generate in-house innovation processes that will create awareness about this issue, acting directly on the value chain and seeking energetic efficiency to reduce the global warming effect being competitive at the same time due to a reduction of the energy-associated costs. Companies must be capable of including this issue in their business strategies and to address them in a responsible manner in order to obtain better results as a company and as a society.

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