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Mark Clifford
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The Greening of Asia: The Business Case for Solving Asia's Environmental Emergency (Columbia Business School Publishing) Kindle Edition

by Mark Clifford (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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One of Asia's best-respected writers on business and economy, Hong Kong-based author Mark L. Clifford provides a behind-the-scenes look at what companies in China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand are doing to build businesses that will lessen the environmental impact of Asia's extraordinary economic growth. Dirty air, foul water, and hellishly overcrowded cities are threatening to choke the region's impressive prosperity. Recognizing a business opportunity in solving social problems, Asian businesses have developed innovative responses to the region's environmental crises.

From solar and wind power technologies to green buildings, electric cars, water services, and sustainable tropical forestry, Asian corporations are upending old business models in their home countries and throughout the world. Companies have the money, the technology, and the people to act—yet, as Clifford emphasizes, support from the government (in the form of more effective, market-friendly policies) and the engagement of civil society are crucial for a region-wide shift to greener business practices. Clifford paints detailed profiles of what some of these companies are doing and includes a unique appendix that encapsulates the environmental business practices of more than fifty companies mentioned in the book.

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  1. Print length
    322 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Columbia Business School Publishing
  4. Publication date
    April 7, 2015
  5. File size
    2555 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The Greening of Asia is an easy read and is filled with anecdotes that make the stories come alive. They range from the humorous and light-hearted to the sobering to the downright horrifying, and serve as a reminder that the region is complex, multi-faceted and needs solutions that are as diverse. -- Jean Chua ― EcoBusiness

Thought-provoking. -- Preeti Dawra ― Mint Asia

Essential reading for policy makers and business leaders considering the effects of climate change on Asia and the rest of the world, including the world's political landscape.... [The Greening of Asia] should be on the shelf of every library. ― Choice

Picking up a copy of Mark Clifford's new book is a good way to start the New Year. [it] is a terrific reminder that innovation and a core commitment to sustainability can push change in transformative ways. That gives us all something to celebrate in 2015. -- Elizabeth C. Economy ― Asia Unbound

it is refreshing to see a clear-headed argument... that markets and greenery can go together. Asian companies, he says, are ready to clean up. ― The Economist

In this well-researched and ultimately optimistic account, Mark L. Clifford makes the case that environmental policies 'can and must be fixed' and gives us examples of companies that have worked to find private-sector solutions. In doing so, he sheds much-needed light on the workings and future of the region's efforts on the environment and on the need for governments to set clear rules so that business can do its part to solve the region's environmental crisis. -- Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics

With wisdom and insights sprinkled throughout, The Greening of Asia demonstrates that innovation and a core commitment to sustainability are beginning to build a greener prosperity in the world's fastest growing region.... A well-researched, hopeful book. -- Doug Ogden ― Asian Review of Books

Clifford is an astute analyst of the financial dilemmas at Asian companies that are either in "green" businesses or have visionary owners, as at Esquel and CLP, who want to adopt environmentally sustainable policies -- Victor Mallet ― Financial Times

About the Author

Mark L. Clifford is the executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asia Business Council. During his prize-winning twenty-five-year career in journalism, he served as editor in chief of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and held senior editorial roles at BusinessWeek and the Far Eastern Economic Review. He has lived in Hong Kong since 1992.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00U7Y5SM4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia Business School Publishing (April 7, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 7, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2555 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 322 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0231166087
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

About the author

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Mark Clifford

Mark Clifford

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Mark L. Clifford is the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation. He was a director of Next Digital, publisher of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper that was shut by the Hong Kong government in 2021. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Hong Kong. An honors history graduate of the University of California Berkeley and a Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, he lived in Asia from 1987 until 2021. Previously, Clifford was executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asia Business Council, the editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), and publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard (Hong Kong). He held senior editorial positions at BusinessWeek and the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong and Seoul.

For more, visit www.markclifford.org

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Todd Myers
5.0 out of 5 stars Raises interesting questions about businesses and the environment
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
I teach courses dealing with environmental issues in Asia and the litany of environmental problems that plague the region can be a bit overwhelming. My solution to that sense of being overwhelmed was to turn to Mark Clifford's book to take a look at what businesses are doing in Asia to try to address some of these difficult problems. The book provided a wide range of case studies that raised some interesting questions while giving glimmers of hope here and there.

The Chinese model of expanding production in solar panels and wind turbines to the point of creating conditions that led to giant companies collapsing because they could not compete at the low prices that were eventually achieved by competitors raised some doubts about how sustainable massive movements into environmentally friendly initiatives can be based on current business models. I suspect many of those looking for a sustainable economy are not concerned about maintaining the status quo, but the collapse of Chinese businesses because of overexpanded capacity and fierce competition created by massive amounts of state capital would leave many mainstream economists scratching their heads.

Stories about Gerardo Ablaza's Manila Water being able to provide Filipino consumers freshwater more effectively than the city government fit more into a traditional narrative of how businesses respond to incentives to meet the needs of ordinary people. Similar tales of architectural firms being able to market environmental designs to businesses fit into a market-based narrative. There are also some interesting case studies showing how customers' preferences can be used to motivate businesses to use factors of production that are managed in a more sustainable way such as when a youtube campaign was used to shame Nestle for killing off the orangutan by using palm oil from agribusiness engaged in unsustainable agricultural practices.

Asia having massive pollution problems and a great many needs for resources is a prime market for those who can deliver more by using less. Good old fashioned efficiency can go a long way to improving environmental conditions. It is not clear that such efforts will be sufficient to address environmental problems at the global level, but markets may be responsive to local incentives creating demands for better environmental conditions.
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Breakingviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Green growing pains
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2015
Asian entrepreneurs are searching for smog’s silver lining. “The Greening of Asia” by Mark Clifford sets out to show that local businesses can - and do - profit from efforts to avert an environmental emergency. But his eulogy to green business inadvertently highlights new technologies’ unhealthy dependence on subsidies and debt. It’s a flaw that Asia’s eco-capitalists must confront.

It’s true that environmental emergencies can stimulate entrepreneurs. The author, a former journalist and director of the Asia Business Council, is at his most persuasive when he shows how companies react to pollution and scarcity by making their operations both greener and leaner. One chief executive sums up this commonsense strategy succinctly: “Anything you waste you are paying for.” Such pragmatism can pay off. In Hong Kong, an index of listed companies with a strong record of sustainability is up 20 percent so far this year, trumping the local benchmark. Clifford’s suggestion that Asia could become a crucible for green business sounds credible.

The problem is that his most exciting case studies undermine the book’s hypothesis. The author highlights young technologies like renewable energy and green vehicles that have yet to demonstrate they can be commercially viable. Take the book’s opening chapter, which looks at the solar industry. First up is Suntech, which was briefly the world’s largest solar panel producer but collapsed into bankruptcy in 2013. Clifford goes on to feature Hanergy, which is currently under investigation by Hong Kong regulators for market manipulation; LDK Solar, which narrowly avoided liquidation last year; ReneSola, which has been loss-making since 2011; and Yingli Green Energy, a company which recently admitted there was “substantial doubt” about its future as a going concern.

The emphasis on breakthrough technology inadvertently brings to the fore a persistent clean-tech conundrum – where’s the money? New science is capital-intensive, and the payoff is distant and uncertain. Fickle government policies have made it dangerous to rely on subsidies or support. Infrastructure lags behind, creating overcapacity when new products hit the market. Competition from more established, dirtier industries is entrenched. These problems plague not only solar but also other fledgling clean-tech industries like wind and electric vehicles.

Despite these issues Clifford remains relentlessly optimistic because, as he says, “the technology is here”. However, even he admits that much needs to change in policy and finance if his bullishness is to be justified.

His wish list is long. Government policies will need to go beyond unsustainable subsidies and other artificial props. Instead, authorities should invest in infrastructure to help make clean technology more practical, efficient and affordable. China wastes as much as a fifth of electricity from wind supply because it never reaches the grid, Reuters reported in May. Clifford thinks the figure could be even higher. Fixing that glitch could be more useful than paying feed-in tariffs.

Clifford also suggests that Asian governments could pare down the region’s excessive subsidies and policies that favour dirtier industries. Countries in emerging and developing Asia blew more than $2 trillion - nearly 15 percent of the region’s GDP - on coal and petroleum subsidies in 2013, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund. Turning that down a notch could help to nurture fledgling green tech.

He could go further. For example, corporations could seek out new sources of financing to help wean themselves off subsidies. Asia is only just catching on to the development of new financial instruments which are helping to attract dedicated investors to sustainable projects in Europe and elsewhere. Green bonds, which raise funds for sustainable business projects, are one example – global issuance may reach as much as $100 billion this year, according to the Climate Bond Initiative. India recently issued inaugural green bonds, and China is likely to follow suit this year. Last year, Toyota became the first company to issue corporate green bonds to help fund work on hybrid vehicles.

With so many caveats, Clifford’s argument only half succeeds. Even so, this is a sincere effort to find the business case for solving Asia’s environmental emergency, and that makes it well worth reading. The absence of so-called “greenwashing” is admirable. It’s just that such honesty shows up the flaws as well as the merits of his case.

- Katrina Hamlin
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Walter B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Near zero marginal cost of energy
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2015
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An insight on the path Asia is leading towards an (almost) free solar energy production, that will be determinant to a future free of fossil fuels and other problematic energy source choices, like nuclear and hydro.
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Jeffrey Grauer
5.0 out of 5 stars Mark Clifford makes his best book yet
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2016
Verified Purchase
Clearly the burning question in the environment is the air quality. This book gets
Into major pollution topic .. Mark Clifford has championed telling everyone about what's been happening that we can see..5 stars
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Top reviews from other countries

Christoph H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great companion for my Asian trip
Reviewed in Germany on August 8, 2019
Verified Purchase
A quick to read book that summarizes most of the conversation in a very accessible way. I read it in preparation for a business trip to the ASEAN region. The content is well researched and embedded in rich context. I highly recommend to read it!
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