Resource Revolution (06/09/14)

Today’s two billion middle class consumers will more than double globally over the next two decades. But while cities in China, India and other developing countries will be teeming with citizens in need of housing, cars and electronic gadgets, natural resources are dwindling. The silver lining? Consumer demand has sparked a third industrial revolution - one that is driving massive innovation, from Teslas to smart meters to less wasteful building methods. How are companies adapting to meet the demands of a changing world? Matt Rogers co-authored “Resource Revolution: How to Capture the Biggest Business Opportunity in a Century.” “If you see two and a half billion new people entering the middle class, you say, my goodness, we are going to run out of resources,” says Rogers. But in researching the book, he says, they found enormous potential instead. Changing the way we both produce and use resources, Rogers adds, will avert the economic and environmental disasters that seem to threaten us. “Companies and technologies are in fact changing fast enough,” concludes Rogers. “It’s going to be one crazy ride for the next 20 years, but…we’re going to end up in a very good place.” John Hofmeister, Former President, Shell Oil Company Amy Myers Jaffe, Executive Director, Energy and Sustainability, UC Davis Graduate School of Management Matt Rogers, Director, McKinsey & Co.; Co-Author (with Stefan Heck), Resource Revolution: How to Capture the Biggest Business Opportunity in a Century (New Harvest, 2014)

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