In the two years since Stefano Bertamini moved to Shanghai to become CEO of GE China, he has a sense that the days are less smoggy and more sunny. This is more anecdotal than scientific, but it's among the reasons that Bertamini believes that, with GE's help, China will eventually go green--clean up its air and water, become more efficient and develop less-polluting sources of energy.
"The Chinese will lead the way in these technologies," Bertamini says, "just because they will have to."
By most accounts, China has already become the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (although on a per capita basis, it still lags way, way behind the United States). Its air and water pollution problems are well-documented. People in the United States and the European Union can buy all the compact fluorescent light bulbs and hybrid cars they want, but without China's help, the climate crisis can't be solved.
A big part of Bertamini's job is selling environmentally-friendly products to China as part of GE's much-publicized "Ecomagination" strategy to become a leader in green technology. And GE appears to be making headway.
Source: Fortune, http://money.cnn.com