Politician turned climate change champion Al Gore told The New York Times that “Once the world makes it clear that we are going to follow a roadmap to a low-carbon economy, the best-managed businesses will seek to race out in front of that emerging trend.” In other words, as public awareness of the causes and consequences of environmental degradation increases with time, market demand for “green” products — those that are produced in an environmentally friendly way, and can be used without risk of environmental damage — will increase as well. “The environment is no longer a burden on the market,” said Edgar Chehab, energy and environment program manager of the United Nations Development Project in Lebanon. “Now it’s part of being a competitive industry: if you don’t produce products in an environmentally friendly way, you lose out on key markets.” In the last few years, markets in Europe and
