Greetings from New Delhi! I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that, no matter what we do in the U.S. to address the issue of global warming, it won’t be enough unless China and India get their act together. In today’s CNNMoney.com column, I took a look at GE, eco-magination and its activities in China. This week at the FORTUNE Global Forum in Delhi, I’ll be paying special attention to energy and environmental issues in India. I had fascinating visit already with one of India’s most creative green activists and I will blog about it as soon as I find the time to do so. Alas, it’s hard to sit at the laptop when there’s so much to see and do here.
In the meantime, here’s how the GE and China column begins:
In the two years since Stefano (Steve) Bertamini moved to Shanghai to become CEO of GE China, he has a sense that the days are less smoggy and more sunny.
This is more anecdotal than scientific, but it’s among the reasons that Bertamini believes that, with GE’s help, China will eventually go green – clean up its air and water, become more efficient and develop less-polluting sources of energy.
“The Chinese will lead the way in these technologies,” Bertamini says, “just because they will have to.”
We hope he’s right. By most accounts, China has already become the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (although on a per capita basis, it still lags way, way behind the United States).