Green Innovation Forum - "How to grow your business through green investments?" was held on October 29 at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia.

The aim was to raise the awareness on environmental issues by presenting winning eco strategies and internationally acclaimed approaches for addressing environmental challenges to national businesses. Forum speakers were established international specialists in the field of environmental sustainability from leading world companies and NGOs. You can see who they were here.

Here is the press release of the event:

In these times of great change there are two types of companies - those that react by adopting the path to sustainable development and others, which cling to the past and fight for their economic survival.The world's rising green tide is not the next modern theme. It is a conceptual change in the way we think and do business. Green companies not only respect the law, plant trees, and pollute less - they create value. The green transformation is a huge opportunity to invest in innovations, modern products, and winning ideas. If you want to know how ecologically sustainable strategies can be combined with financial prosperity, join us at the first Green Innovation Forum.

Their motto is “Strong economy in the XXI century is a clen economy”.

The forum is organized by one of the biggest media Groups in Bulgaria – ECONOMEDIA.

The Bulgarian mobile operator GLOBUL supported it as part of their long-therm eco-campaign GLOBUL Green. Representatives of COSMOTE and GLOBUL showed how the ICT sector can contribute towards a low carbon economy and society, and presented the opportunities for building a green image in our country. Another partner of the event was denkstatt Bulgaria. Aurubis and Dundee companies also support it.

The fee for participation was 90 euro. Beyond the Bulgarian green glasses, there was almost none international media response on the forum. This raises the questions - shall it be any tax for taking part in such event? Why the government don`t do such forums and where is the role of business angels? Can we teach our business to change that fast and if it can how can we help it? And after the seminars they even haven`t published in public the presented projects! What does this mean? Green is hidden, green is power??? YES?!

“Green investments bring concrete benefits to the companies – financial stability and better reputation. They lead to change into the procedures, products, add more value, and create good practices. Green is not just another outlay or new track for advertising messages, it is an investment in the business, which leads to measurable takings,” said Gergana Nikolova, an event manager in Economedia.

I do not agree with her paradoxicality. From one side it is not a track for ads, from another it is good for the reputation.

But of course, the good reputation is another advertisement, isn`t it!

So, they sell green to get green…

I hate when people bluff and can`t tell the truth. Just speak it out loud, it isn`t that deadly! Green can bring money, because there is aways a win-win idea out there! Of course that it can and that is even without creating expensive technologies or spending huge amounts of money on factories. It can be done by means of media and popularization. Because people read, hear and believe media, which as we all know is the 4th power. After all media develops, changes the mind of people, even mutates them sometimes.

Let`s now think how all could be happy. Companies sell, because they earn good “standing” money, because they officially support green ideas. Somebody have the guts to realize these ideas and other at least know about it and that changes the society. I believe green marketing is on the way and there

is nothing bad about it. All is a lifecycle, which needs the appropriate algorithm to be realized.

Maybe one day the businessmen won`t give any prize, but the best green CSR report award.

Here come also our governments. Do they bluff also or no? COP15 is coming in town…soon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Economedia, Green Awards