MUCH HAS been made of the potential rewards for Ireland in pursuing a “green” economy. Promises of thousands of jobs and a bright eco-friendly future offered much-needed shelter to politicians during the constant drip-feed of job losses and business closures last year.

From tapping our own natural resources and reducing our national fuel bills, to becoming a hub for green investment and carbon trading in a “green IFSC”, the green economic model has been heralded as our rescue plan from recession.

In a nation still smarting from falling flat on its face after buying the hype of previous promises of endless growth, it’s understandable that many regard promises of 80,000 “green jobs” by 2020 with a great deal of cynicism.

For a start, the promise of up to 20,000 new jobs in a green IFSC that would focus on carbon trading, green bonds and investment, and other green financial services, needs to be put into perspective. In California, a US state that has focused on green technology and investment for over a decade, a recent independent report claims that 42,000 jobs were created in the sector over the last 13 years. That’s in a state with a recorded population of 37 million in 2008 (see page 22).

Nevertheless, there are opportunities for Ireland. Focusing on the global interest in green business and reducing emissions can not only reinvigorate our financial investment sector, it could rejuvenate our ailing manufacturing sector.

But there are significant risks involved: not every nascent green business will survive and the global focus on this sector means that competition will come from some serious heavyweight economies and companies.

Firms need to build their enterprises on credible business models and not simply “greenwash” existing practices. Consumers are quick to spot the difference between earnest efforts and marketing hype.

The Government needs to do its bit as well. Ireland needs to clean up its own emissions record if we are to be credible as a green economy on the world stage. It also needs to be careful that any tax incentives don’t initiate another bubble, in the way that it inflated the property market.

In both the business and political realms the excitement and innovation of a future green economy needs to be tempered with the lessons of excess from the last decade.