The climate crisis is becoming an issue that cannot be ignored. Many countries and companies are making claims that change is occurring. It is important for consumers to understand what progress is actually being made towards a green future.
Written by Emma McEvoy, Ottawa, October 23, 2026
A reoccurring headline in business media is environmental concerns, their progression, and the immediate steps needed to be taken in everyday practices to mitigate impacts. The climate crisis is becoming an issue that cannot be ignored. Many countries and companies are making claims that change is occurring, but with a problem this big in industries so vast, it’s easy for executives to cover up what they might not be doing. It is important for consumers to understand what progress is actually being made towards a green future, and whether or not firms they give business to line up with that progress. Energy is one constant relied on by many modern-day economies. This means that a shift from combustible energies to renewable ones has a list of impacts.
Why a Change to Renewable Energy?
Examples of renewable energies include hydropower, wind, solar, etc. What all of these have in common is that they “renew” themselves faster than humans consume them. Unlike fossil fuels, there is no chance of using them all up. Renewable energy is also made of natural resources that do not release carbon emissions when in use. The manufacturing and disposal processes are the only time when any emissions are released. This is still a significantly lower carbon impact than combustibles (United Nations, n.d.).
Years and years of ecological damage is finally catching up, the clock is ticking and time is running out. In a society where convenience and materialism hold large value, lowering production of goods and services is not an easy task. This is where renewable energies come into place. By changing to more eco-friendly power sources, society’s materialism may hold less of an ecological cost.
How are Businesses and Global Economies Adapting?
Value chains are at the centre of any business’ operation, and the efficiency of these processes is important in a world that functions off consumerism. A Chinese study dives deeper into a relationship between renewable energy, digitalization, and their relation to carbon emissions. China is a world manufacturing giant, a key component in many businesses’ value chains, so it was expected to find that renewable energy integration lowers the emissions produced within value chains. Yet, the digitalization transformation is where the needs for efficiency and needs for sustainability diverge (NewsRx, 2025).
Digitalization is the process of turning physical analog copies of data into computerized data. Taking advantage of these digital technologies is becoming a standard business practice. Unfortunately, the act of digitalization uses a large amount of energy, which increases the amount of carbon emissions released (NewsRx, 2025). Digitalization is a key aspect in running smooth supply chain operations, for emerging economies and businesses to keep up with stronger competition, digitalization seems to be non-negotiable. Finding a balance between prioritizing green practices and doing what is best for operational efficiency seems to be the most responsible choice. It’s what economies of all sizes are trying to figure out on different scales across all industries.
Some may argue against renewable energy as it is reliant on weather conditions, and therefore may not be the most reliable choice. There are many solutions to this problem, a specific example being geothermal energy. Geothermal energy comes from the Earth’s internal heat, a consistent source not affected by external weather conditions. A study on Italy’s business sector and geothermal energy usage breaks down whether or not it is a solution worth developing. To find strong heat reserves, considerable geological research is needed. Along with these development costs, associated risks include seismic activity, water contamination and air pollution. These are all caused by the invasive nature of geothermal energy. The study revealed that society appreciates honesty; when risks were disclosed to communities, they were more accepting of the decision to move forward with geothermal energy. This is backed up by proof stating that long-run positive effects outweigh potential harms. Future benefits include reaching sustainability targets while achieving lower operational costs (Arcuri et al., 2025).
Geothermal energy is one small industry under an umbrella of many renewable energy solutions, yet the fact learnt about honesty is powerful enough to carry forward to other options. If transparency is sustainable amongst all future endeavours, businesses and their stakeholders should have no problem adapting to a renewable energy revolution.
Progress of Economies’ Current Efforts Towards making a Sustainable Future
Past and current harmful events across the world call a need for economies to reassess their commitment to the triple bottom line. Due to criticism of the triple bottom line being too broad of a framework, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) act as a way to further refine how companies should be moving towards sustainability. Many countries seem to be unorganized and scattered around the SDGs, increasing the urgency for economies to start developing amongst them (Kumari et al., 2025).
The triple bottom line is a business guide revolving around three pillars: people, profit, and planet. The SDGs consist of 17 goals revolving around reforms of all kinds. This means that environmental awareness is a part of many foundations for a sustainable future, yet as mentioned above, this framework is not being met. Therefore, more attention needs to be focused on taking steps towards meeting SDGs’ specifics. One of the 17 SDGs is affordable and clean energy (United Nations, n.d.). This creates hope that a modern future consists of supporting its environmental needs, not straining them. The UN states other goals such as creating sustainable cities and communities, supporting responsible consumption and production, and climate action that all encompass steps regarding clean energy production. The first step has already been taken: identifying inconsistencies revolving around the SDGs. Now that the gaps have been analyzed there is an increased amount of knowledge to help build future success.
From a microeconomic perspective, how are businesses planning to adapt to future needs?
Economies grow off of competition, meaning there is a long list of efforts made by individual business trying to gain a competitive edge. In an age where sustainability is at the top of society’s priority list, different firms are trying to one up each other with their green practices. This seems like good news for the planet, but how much effort is too much effort? Product development is costly in both environmental and monetary value. The more a business creates, the more natural resources are depended on. The more a company spends on creating a competitive advantage through eco-friendly innovation, the less it will have to build foundations in established renewable energies such as solar or hydro. The climate crisis does not have time to see who has the most creative ideas, it needs collective adaption and innovation.
A single change in one industry can impact how individuals and companies across the country conduct business. An example of this is encompassed in a Canadian study on the logistics of adapting off-grid electric vehicle (EV) charging stations (Akram & Abdul-Kader, 2026). Transportation is the backbone of society, and looking back on its history, the industry has been dominated by combustible energy. The automotive industry has been under a transition over the past few decades with the adaption of EVs. The study highlights the chances of off-grid charging to be successful in remote northern Canadian communities. Although challenging climates and lack of infrastructure compared to urban settings pose threat of inconsistent efficiency, national policymakers have the opportunity to incentivize off-grid charging through grants and subsidies. Government funding also creates the opportunity for northern communities to develop the infrastructure needed to maintain and sustain these charging stations. Akram and Abdul-Kader (2026) state how “The proposed system fully eliminates operational emissions...” (p.25). Granting remote communities access to clean off-grid energy solutions will allow businesses across the country to incorporate zero-emissions transportation into everyday operations. This will not only save on carbon emissions but also act as a large step in favour of the eco-friendly reform. This outlines the natural progression of a new era. An era where eco-friendly practices know no geological boundary, where microeconomic developments end up impacting entire countries.
We are now in an era where environmentally conscious practices are no longer a gesture, they’re a necessity. Energy is not just the power of operations; it’s the power of economies. This creates a high chance that completely shifting to renewable energy will create a snowball effect, encouraging all other economic practices to go green. Crude oil’s power and value make this no overnight task. That is what makes current economics interesting. Balancing economic and environmental needs are no simple task, especially amongst current political landscapes. The future is unknown, the only thing that is, is the fact that we are running out of time.
References
Akram, M. N., & Abdul-Kader, W. (2026). Designing a Sustainable Off-Grid EV Charging Station: Analysis Across Urban and Remote Canadian Regions. Batteries, 12(1). http://dx.doi.org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.3390/batteries12010017
Arcuri, A., Giolli, L., & Magazzino, C. (2025). Harnessing a Renewable Resource for Sustainability: The Role of Geothermal Energy in Italy’s Business Sector.
Energies, 18(7). http://dx.doi.org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.3390/en18071590
Kumari, A., Ghosh, M., & Singh, M. P. (2025). Deep Dive Into Sustainable Development Goals Through the Lens of Triple Bottom Line: Past, Present, and Future. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 42(3), 352-376. https://doi-
org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.1002/cjas.70004
NewsRX. (2025). Researchers at Wenzhou Business College Target Renewable Energy (Sowing the seeds of sustainability: Digitalization, renewable energy, and carbon emissions in emerging economies’ global value chains). Global Warming Focus, 585. https://go-gale-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA855590428&v=2.1&it=r&aty=ip&u=otta
77973&p=AONE
United Nations. (n.d.). The 17 Goals. https://sdgs.un.org/goals
United Nations. (n.d.). What is renewable energy?
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy
