Companies are turning to a new model of sustainable business in an effort to reduce their dependence on finite resources

The sense that our planet is running out of the minerals, metals and organic matter required to sustain its rising human population has helped to fashion a new concept for our times: the circular economy. At its core is the argument that the old, linear model of conducting business – extraction, consumption and waste – is past its sell-by date.

To its standard bearers, the circular economy promises a radical break with the past. Materials should not be cast away and expended, rather they should be re-used and replenished, so the argument goes. But how transformative is this new philosophy and to what extent does it present an opportunity for business? Is it a revolutionary reimagining of economic theory or merely a recycling of, well, recycling?

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Water is the essential ingredient for all kinds of products made in developing countries, yet assessing its value raises issues

As American financier Warren Buffett once said, “price is what you pay, value is what you get”. Price is set by the market. Value needs to be assessed and determined. This is worth bearing in mind as we consider the value of water – for it is worth far more than what we pay for it.

All sorts of factors influence water prices: supply and demand, technology and regulation. Determining value is more challenging, especially in many developing countries where water is regarded as priceless.

As the world’s population swells, climate change intensifies and water usage by agriculture and industry continues to increase, water demand grows. It is estimated that by 2030 demand will outstrip the capacity of existing infrastructure by about 40%, rising to over 50% in rapidly developing countries. A whopping £13tn of investment is needed in the world’s pipelines, storage and treatment plants to keep pace.

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Flexible working has led to an exodus of people to the country. But does rural living really beat the city for health and wellbeing?

It has been the dream of retirees for thousands of years: to escape the urban sprawl and settle down in the countryside where the air is cleaner, and the life is quieter, and healthier.

Even Roman emperor Diocletian retired to the coast, so taken was he with the idea of getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The first ruler to voluntarily abdicate, he swapped persecuting Christians for the simple pleasures of tending a vegetable patch.

These days, thanks to technological advances, growing numbers of professionals are choosing to base themselves in the countryside, not to retire, but because in many industries there is simply no need to be chained to a desk in the city. A broadband connection and the choice of a phone, tablet or phablet is all that you need.

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Renewal that promotes sustainable business is vital for cities seeking to reverse a downward economic and social spiral

You could be forgiven for thinking the 21st century had turned its back on Detroit: its once mighty industries have been hollowed out, the city authority is bankrupt, and ghostly is the word ascribed to districts where abandoned buildings are the norm, not the exception.

In Detroit, there is just one job for every four residents and a total of 20 sq miles of land – about the size of Manhattan – is vacant. The population is little more than 700,000, down from almost 2 million in the 1950s.

Detroit’s fall from grace has been neither swift nor painless. But its predicament is not entirely unique. Around the world, cities that rose on the back of the industries of yesteryear are facing up to similar harsh realities.

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Displaying water inputs on consumer items is an idea floated frequently, but is it any closer to becoming reality?

That 130 litres of water goes into making your average coffee is a statistic that amazes most people. Even more surprising is that hardly anyone, even in the business community, has the foggiest idea how much water goes into manufacturing our favourite consumer products, from field to factory.

Seeking to address the dearth of information on the water required to produce a single product, from ready meals and soft drinks to t-shirts and electronic items, a variety of organisations have over the years floated the idea of water footprint labelling.

The general premise is that quantifying water inputs, like nutritional and calorie labels on food items, will help to influence purchasing habits, encouraging consumers to resist highly water intensive products. It would incentivise product manufacturers to scale back unnecessary waste and awaken consumer consciousness about water insecurity.

Fears over timber traceability have created opportunities for technology startups – but also challenges for certification bodies

The prized tropical hardwood merbau was once found in abundance from east Africa to Tahiti. It is beloved of homebuilders and furniture stores around the Asia-Pacific region, but, thanks to decades of merciless logging, today only New Guinea holds enough to be harvested in commercial quantities.

Verifying that merbau, which fetches about $2,500 a cubic metre on the open market, is genuinely sourced from sustainably forested areas, either in Papua New Guinea or West Papua in Indonesia, gives the conscientious buyer an almighty headache. But it is also proving a boon for wily technology companies.

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Human rights charities and sustainable businesses are often working towards the same goal, but partnerships between the two remain controversial

It’s the perfect match. A company grappling with a minefield of human rights issues and rules partners with an advocacy group, perhaps for expert policy advice or to take part in a joint campaign. In return, the non-profit organisation, run on a wafer-thin budget, receives financial compensation for its efforts.

On the face of it, the arrangement – fully disclosed – makes a lot of sense. Yet such partnerships between human rights organisations and companies are far from common. Is the corporate sector too afraid of getting into bed with firebrand campaigners or are worrisome NGOs keeping companies at bay? The answer depends on who you ask.

Peter Frankental, economic relations programme director for Amnesty International UK, sees little room for partnerships with companies. In straitened times – in Britain, one in six charities say they may close owing to falling revenues – Frankental concedes there is “always a strong temptation” to get into bed with a corporate donor, but insists it should be resisted.

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Developers of new digital apps designed to track and promote happiness hope to prove the haters wrong, but is the argument convincing?

What is the cost of happiness? It’s free, the saying goes. How much is it worth? That’s an entirely different question. To the startups behind a series of new phone and tablet apps designed to make you smile, happiness is big business.

Nataly Kogan, founder and chief happiness officer of Happier Inc, which launched a phone app in February encouraging users to reflect upon and share pleasant everyday moments, believes her business – which has already generated more than 1m happy shares – could one day be worth $1bn.

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Advances in research and technology challenge assumptions that trains are automatically greener than transport by road.

Almost universally accepted by business, and rarely challenged, is the received wisdom that rail transportation is greener than travel by road. But does this assertion still hold true?

This is no mere academic pursuit. Transportation is one of the fastest growing contributors to climate change, accounting for around a quarter of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Many experts foresee a five-fold increase in transport-related CO2 by 2030 in Asia alone.

In India, annual vehicle production has rocketed by 110% over the past six years. Production lines churned out 20.4m vehicles in 2012, compared to just 9.7m in 2006. In China, the world’s second largest economy, the vehicle population is set to soar to about 300m by 2030, from 65m in 2010.

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What are the new and emerging technologies that will help business overcome the scarcity of clean, fresh water?

The well was a transformative invention, though it is often overlooked. This source of freshwater, vital for the expansion of inland communities, dates back nearly 10,000 years – 3,000 years before the wheel was ever imagined.

The well is but one of a long list of innovations in water technology that have enabled human development to continue apace. Sophisticated pipeline networks and treatment plants today furnish us with this elixir of life and industry.

As intense pressure is placed on the planet’s limited water supplies, businesses are again turning to technological innovation. New and emerging inventions should see human civilisation through the 21st century and, with any luck, the next 10,000 years.

Nanotechnology in filtration: According to the World Health Organisation, 1.6 million people die each year from diarrhoeal diseases attributable to lack of safe drinking water as well as basic sanitation. Researchers in India have come up with a solution to this perennial problem with a water purification system using nanotechnology.

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