The Ideas
It is widely appreciated that a green revolution is needed in the private sector to drive a sustainable transition, and that the existing market ecosystem does not favour the development and expansion of nature positive, net zero enterprises. The agenda for the discussion was to examine the successes in the burgeoning industry, and the obstacles to its necessary growth.
Representing an exemplary selection of enterprising leaders in the field of ecopreneurship – ranging from self-styled ‘environmentally and socially progressive’ fashion, to supply chain material management, industry coordination, and the carbon market – the experts opened with a series of presentations on their respective ventures, providing a valuable set of case studies to contextualise the discussion.
Summarily, the experts’ pioneer projects exhibited successful daring and innovation with much potential: the prospect of a just, equitable and safe economy that respects the boundaries of the planet was entertained with the demand-led pricing of carbon in the form of a successfully piloted currency backed by carbon mitigation outcomes of offsets or credits; a software for circularity and sustainable materials that capitalises upon accountability standards was proffered; and a bold plan to mainstream sustainable shoes by sharing experience and mechanisms with the public domain was revealed.
In analysing the current landscape, experts pointed to a necessity to foster collaboration within the sector, democratise the space, and change perspectives in promoting ecopreneurship. By engaging with others in the Villars community, as well as reaching beyond the silos of the “eco echo chamber” to appreciate diversity, alignments can be found that will catalyse mutually beneficial arrangements.
The existing Uplink programme, a platform of the World Economic Forum, was raised as a successful example of connecting financial stakeholders to ignite a “revolution for people and planet”. Touching upon the importance of intergenerational collaboration, the experts also referenced the upcoming Villars Intensive Program on Ecopreneurship as an exciting development.
Leveraging the Villars Institute Summit framework to ‘identify, investigate, inspire and initiate’, the experts then provided participants with two provocations: identify barriers for scaling ecopreneurs; and identify characteristics to inspire more ecopreneurial solutions to scale.
The Perspectives
Participants raised the underlying issue of the absence of valuation of natural systems. One participant posed the salient question: “How can you get fast growth in a market when you’re producing benefits that don’t have a price and no one wants to pay for?”. Unanimously, it was concluded that an internalisation and pricing of externalities would be a critical and beneficial driver of change. However, participants agreed that its implementation would require greater intervention from corporations and governments in tackling the lack of existing standards and systems.
Addressing the early-stage barriers to growth, participants suggested that a shortfall of clear investor entry-exit strategies is a detriment to ecopreneurs. They surmised that there was a necessity for greater and more concrete planning to secure initial funding. The discussion also delved into some of the perennial issues: such as time-consuming development from innovator to company; the value of corporations in piloting and exit-strategies, and their need to be incentivised to engage with startups.
Equally, it was stressed that scalable business models need to solve real problems, such that consumer values are aligned with supplies and businesses; it is about finding the right market at the right time. This pointed towards the fact that successful businesses have both found a good entry point and been translatable to other markets. Participants similarly reflected upon the importance of bold leadership and good partners for ecopreneurs in the form of networks (like Uplink), business partners, legal partners, and the right team.
A discussion on the lack of understanding also played a key role. It was argued that most investors – even green funds – comprehend too little about ecopreneurial businesses to comfortably engage with them. Participants pointed out an opportunity for the ecosystem to educate the entire hierarchy of investors in order to unlock the flow of capital. According to participants, a large-scale education programme for investors, as well as the capacity for ecopreneurs to feed investors information in a pre-emptive, digestible manner, would bridge the gap in understanding.
Finally, commenting on successful ecopreneurs, participants pointed towards the pivotal role that a compelling narrative tied to one’s product plays in scaling. On the nature of narratives, it was highlighted that stories would need to be receptive and adaptive to social factors for the most impact. Likewise, participants touched upon the success of ‘cool’ products that provided co-benefits stacking behind the value proposition – a factor they dubbed ‘the Tesla® effect’.
