From Home Runs to Base Hits

Abstract

It is these two elements—the unpredictable nature of startups and the critical supporting role of business ecosystems and infrastructure—that underlie the unique challenge of catalyzing the green entrepreneurship and eco-innovation sectors of developing countries. And in today’s world, cultivating an army of innovators to tackle environmental challenges across the globe is a topic worthy of policymakers’ attention. First, it offers a grassroots alternative to governments that are already pulling all available policy levers to combat rapidly eroding topsoils, mounting air pollution, and other environmental predicaments. And second, the security and sustainability of the planet depend on it. Increasing affluence and growing populations mean that the developing world will soon surpass the CO2 emissions levels of industrialized countries, thereby placing an unprecedented burden on the planet’s waste sinks and accelerating climate change.