Ecological Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The world’s environmental regimes, from local to global, have deep roots in „Ecological Entrepreneurship“.

Thanks to „Ecological Entrepreneurship“ modern environmental governance has evolved over the past 50 years. To preserve a livable blue planet the world will need ever more of it – in civil society, business, and the public sector.

This essay traces some of the history of the wide field of „Ecological Entrepreneurship“, and spotlights characteristic patterns, roots, and experiences. It reflects on experiences of the author, who has shared in small part in entrepreneurial environmental action, mainly in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, since the 1970ies – in academia, over 20 years at the World Bank, at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and in a variety of civil society and corporate responsibility related functions.

The essay points out how indispensable individual and broader civil society „ecological entrepreneurship“ initiatives have been historically, and how essential they must remain in further evolving local and global environmental care – addressing a host of ethical, governance, scientific, economic, and technical questions.

The world’s environmental regimes, from local to global, have deep roots in „Ecological Entrepreneurship“. To preserve a livable blue planet the world will need ever more of it.