Partnering for green success

New Web site will assist Canada’s environmental business sector

By John Cooper

A new interactive Web site and e-mail system for environmental businesses is promising to provide Canada’s $15 billion environment industry with a dynamic way to source new business opportunities.

Launched in March by Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Vancouver-based non-profit GLOBE Foundation, GLOBE-Net provides market intelligence to companies dealing in environmental goods, services and technologies.

The joint undertaking by the foundation and EDC is set to provide a Canadian window on the global environment industry by ensuring easier access to up-to-date global information, financing and business tools, market intelligence and details on increased market opportunities.

“There are great opportunities for Canadian exporters and investors in the environmental industry as the value of the global market for environmental goods and services is approaching @Socket: trillion per year,” said A. Ian Gillespie, president and CEO of EDC.  “Demand for environmental technologies and services is particularly strong in developing countries where it is growing at some 10% annually.”

Paul Stothart, adviser for environmental and strategic issues with EDC, says the initiative resulted from “a relationship with the Globe foundation that dates back several years. This really came out of a sense that there was a bit of a gap. There isn’t a national voice for this industry. Companies want more information about opportunities internationally. Our sense and the GLOBE Foundation’s view as well was, why don’t we team up and do something in this area?”

Over the past six months the framework was put into place.

Dr. John Wiebe, president and CEO of the GLOBE Foundation, says GLOBE-Net grew out of the success of a series of environment business events and the foundation’s work in international information gathering.

“We gather a lot of information globally and we wanted an outlet for that,” says Wiebe, who prefers using the term “environment business” over “environment industry” to emphasize the sector’s business, rather than clean-up, nature. “One of the things that came back to us was that people needed information about markets, where technology was going and opportunities,” he continues. “Putting those together, we have an organization that has information of various kinds, a need in the Canadian business sector and from the companies themselves of events, activities and opportunities internationally. EDC, being the main underwriter of business deals, was a natural ally in pulling this together.”

The initiative’s partners bring years of experience to GLOBE-Net. A Crown corporation, EDC has provided trade finance and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors since 1944 in up to 200 markets. Established in 1992, the GLOBE Foundation helps environmental firms, corporate environmental managers and financial institutions capitalize on international opportunities in environmental business.

GLOBE-Net was a natural progression for EDC, which has increased its commitment to working with environmental firms over the past five years. In 2003, the organization assisted 270 Canadian environmental companies, working in areas like wastewater treatment and potable water projects, oil spill cleanup, energy efficiency initiatives and hazardous waste management, and metal recovery systems.

All told, Canada is home to about 1,000 companies that deal exclusively with environmental projects and have “good international potential,” says Stothart, adding that unofficially, up to 7,500 firms may have some interest in this sector, which boasts as many as 160,000 workers. The value of the Canadian industry is about $15 billion, with exports of $1-2 billion. To date, Canada has penetrated only 2% of the world market.

GLOBE-Net’s weekly bulletins should provide many business opportunities, says Stothart. While the weekly edition is a good start, it may evolve into a daily edition as more information is added to the database. “There is so much information out there that it’s a case of trying to sift through it a bit and cull it and have relevant information that we can send to Canadian companies,” he says. “There is also an educational element to it, where we will focus on the North American Development Bank, a joint entity of the U.S. and Mexico, (and) there are dozens of organizations and development banks and large buyers internationally. This will give Canadian companies a sense of who they can contact.”

Wiebe agrees. Currently, there are various portals out there, he notes, but “many of them we found quite difficult, most are not focused on this one sector. We were able to capture international information and continue to develop it. There was recognition that EDC would be able to help getting information out.”

With a broad market that stretches across a range of technologies, the environment industry also features sectors that are poised for growth, particularly clean energy.

“In the clean energy field, we’re at the early stages of major global growth,” says Stothart. “It’s a case of getting those technologies energized.”

It’s fitting that Canada leads in many of these technologies, adds Wiebe. From fuel cells and alternative fuels to water treatment and “green building,” Canada is an international leader in the move toward ensuring that cities go green. This is especially crucial in the face of the “urban tsunami,” a term coined by former BC Premier Mike Harcourt referring to the challenge of adding an additional 2.5 billion people to cities in the developing world over the next 30 years.

But the technologies need help getting started, says Stothart, and that means investment.

“The last five federal budgets have set aside hundreds of millions for the technology sector,” says Stothart. “Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDGC) received @Socket: billion in the recent budget. This is to try and help these companies get out there.”

And they’ll have help through GLOBE-Net. The site is easy to navigate and features upcoming events, market reports, and headline news and business opportunities. A project pipeline offers synopses of current and upcoming projects.

Skip Willis, chairman of the Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA) is optimistic of the network’s potential to assist his group’s 160 member companies to maximize their international opportunities. ONEIA is the country’s second-largest environmental business group after the Province of Quebec and represents technology providers, product manufacturers and engineering firms. About half of the organization’s firms have 10-20 employees.

“It’s difficult for smaller member companies to get access in a systematic way to information about business opportunities,” says Willis. Information “is less accessible to smaller companies because they don’t have the same level of awareness.”

Willis says ONEIA represents a mix of companies that range widely in terms of their international exposure. “We have member companies that have a huge amount of experience selling into international opportunities, some with offices in other parts of the world. We expect that this will be an important tool to get (our smaller member firms) to look at export markets and also to encourage exporters already in the market to build on their current experience.”

Canada’s biggest competition in the environmental sector is from the U.S. and Australia, with Europe also in the running.  But Wiebe says that Canadian business is often its own biggest competitor.

“I would say that in some ways our biggest competition is ourselves,” he says. “Canadian companies tend to compete actively with each other. The idea here is to grow the pie, so that Canadian companies can work together for greater opportunities.

“I think that general acceptance of the environment as a legitimate business is increasing,” adds Wiebe. “There’s still the argument in newspapers about how the environment and the economy are two separate things. I think that’s slowly starting to change and companies are seeing the environment as an opportunity and not as a negative. I like to say we’re into developing the business of the environment. Environmental problems are business opportunities.”

John Cooper (tymelco@sympatico.ca) is a Whitby, Ont.-based freelance writer.

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