LEONARDO LIMA
GREEN INTERN
The impact of the Covid-19 has affected the entire world, and in the year 2020/2021, the rate of unemployment is one of the most worrying problems to the global economy. According to the Economy Research (2020), the unemployment rate at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) reached 14.8%, a higher number than the 2008’s crisis.
In parallel, climate change is growing and affecting several important ecosystems. On the Global Climate Change website developed by NASA, it is possible to find the information that the planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities. In addition, the years 2016 and 2020 are tied as the warmest years on record.
What do youth unemployment and climate change have in common?
The future of humanity is more sustainable!
The new generation is following the purpose to cause a positive impact on the world, especially on the environment. To follow these goals, the youths are developing incredible ideas, as new eco-friendly products and services. Currently, The Green Economy has different problems to solve, and these problems are good opportunities to undertake and make benefits. The Otlas Website says that “the green economy can create 15 to 60 million new jobs, helping reduce poverty through sustainable management of natural capital”.
A new term called “Eco-Entrepreneurship” has been used. Seth (2020) affirms that Eco-Entrepreneurship is “enabling entrepreneurs to harness the power of green practices to create a difference. The solutions offered by the eco-business owners are helping in aligning the business for sustainable development, making eco-entrepreneurship be rigueur.”
Benefits of Eco-Entrepreneurship
Eco-Entrepreneurship has a lot of benefits, It brings growth to the economy, makes the marketplace more competitive, makes individual firms more productive through technological change, and creates jobs, added value, and welfare for the members of society. The youth can be motivated to make an impact for several reasons, such as, national and international challenges, a life purpose, something that impacted a lot in their life, to make money, or other reason. The study conducted by Kushwaha and Sharma (2017) affirms that “the entrepreneurial aspirants are influenced towards sustainable entrepreneurship mainly due to green marketing factors, changing consumer behavior towards ecological products and favorable market conditions for the entrepreneurship.”
Alan S. Gutterman, an international entrepreneurship researcher claims that “sustainable entrepreneurship should be carried out using a business model aligned with the principles of sustainability, which means that the model does not deplete resources, but rather replenishes them (for instance, natural resources, human resources, knowledge and technology foundations and so on.). Furthermore, the business model creates value and material and non-material wealth (i.e., well-being and happiness) for all stakeholders through actions which are ethical and just.”
A young Eco-Entrepreneurship is a key to achieve the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, moreover, it is necessary to remember that an important part of that key is encouraging young leaders to follow their own pathway and start the action. For this one, some entrepreneur approaches are being implemented at the schools and universities and giving undertaker experiences, knowledge, and skills for those young future sustainable leaders.
This approach could be in the area, Tourism, Agriculture, Buildings, Waste, Forestry, Transport, Energy supply.
In each area, the Eco-Entrepreneur can build a new startup company and contribute to changing the society, creating new environmental technologies to cause positive impact, decreasing the effects of climate change effects and increasing the number of jobs.
Opportunity: The GreenPreneurs is a global network of youth competing to take their green growth solution from idea to the business plan. Inside on the website (https://www.greenpreneurs.co/), you can read about the Teams (startups), and learn about the initiatives of young entrepreneurs.
Lecture suggest: Exploring entrepreneurial readiness of youth and startup success components: Entrepreneurship training as a moderator.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444569X1730001X
Article References
Economy Research. Unemployment Rate. 2020. Available in: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE. Access in: 23 May 2021.
GUTTERMAN, Alan S. Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. 2020. Available in: https://seproject.org/topics/sustainability-entrepreneurship/. Access in: 22 May 2020.
KUSHWAHA, Gyaneshwar Singh; SHARMA, Nagendra Kumar. Factors Influencing Young Entrepreneurial Aspirant’s Insight Towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Iranian Journal Of Management Studies, [S.L.], v. 10, n. 2, p. 435-466, abr. 2017. College of Farabi, University of Tehran. http://dx.doi.org/10.22059/ijms.2017.224885.672467.
NASA. Climate Change: How Do We Know? 2020. Available in: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/. Access in: 22 May 2021.
OTLAS. Youth Eco-Entrepreneurship for Future of Green Economy. 2020. Available in: https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/otlas-partner-finding/project/youth-eco-entrepreneurship-for-future-of-green-economy.9359/. Accessed 22 May 2021.
SETH, Bhrigu. Eco-Entrepreneurship: Steering the world towards responsible living. 2020. Available in: https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2020/08/eco-entrepreneurship-concept-india-future/amp. Access in: 22 May 2021.