Sustainable enterprises in emerging economies take another step forward this month, this time in Brazil. On December 14, New Ventures Brazil will host its 3^rd annual Investor Forum. The new 2006 selection of New Ventures enterprises, including companies from seven states working in clean technology, new materials, organic agriculture and other sectors will be presented at Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo. This was preceded by a separate Investment Forum on December 6-7 hosted by FINEP, Brazil’s Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which featured New Ventures enterprises among other small businesses presenting their business models to potential investors - check out Linax's great presentation as an example of some of the great material we saw (in portuguese). 

Some may ask what significance this flurry of activity holds. Think-tanks and development organizations seem to constantly be convening forums and conferences around specialized issues, so what is important about small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and why support them?

Another sustainable company success story to take you into the weekend:  this one starts with a relatively simple concept.  Chinese industry is experiencing plenty of growth right now, and can in many ways be considered the engine driving the country's healthy economy.  But this rapid expansion has brought about significant inefficiencies - 58 percent of energy consumption in East Asia can be attributed to China, and much of this to the industrial sector.  Much of this consumption, up to 60 percent in some facilities, ends up being wasted energy.  Why not turn this incredible output of energy into cost savings?