Successful entrepreneurs take the attitude that for every threat there is an opportunity, and the threat of global warming is no different. The Stern Report on the economics of climate change puts the cost of saving the world economy at roughly one per cent of global economic output by 2050, or £335bn in today's money. But Stern also identifies a potential market for low-carbon technologies of more than £257bn by 2050-and that is only part of a phenomenally fast-growing environmental sector.

Recent government surveys show that "environmental" industries-whether products such as wind turbines, or services such as waste disposal-have grown in three years from employing 170,000 people, with revenues of £16bn, to a £25bn industry employing 400,000. The time is more than ripe for a book charting where the growth is and what the opportunities are, especially for small firms, with their ability to establish niche markets against big global players.

For a UK reader, this book concentrates too heavily on large US corporations, such as General Electric and DuPont, though any company would benefit from its tips on assessing environmental risks and opportunities. The emphasis is on saving costs rather than creating new business and impressive though the numbers are-3M saved an estimated $1bn in the first year of just one eco-efficiency project-it is tantalising not knowing more about where product innovation is happening.

Michael Porter, an authority on competitive strategy, has said that having to address tough environmental issues can be the spark a company needs to propel it out of its comfort zone in pursuit of innovation. One of the first examples of forced environmental innovation was the race among chemical majors, including ICI and DuPont, to find a replacement for the refrigeration compound chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), internationally banned in the mid-1990s. The imminent prospect of more green regulation could stimulate a wealth of new products and services.