Results show an increased awareness of the opportunities ‘green’ areas present, and consequently such renewable energy and carbon markets have seen money flowing in, reports the Press Association.

Investment in renewable energy reached $52 billion (£26 billion) in 2006, showing a 33 per cent increase on the previous year.

According to the Press Association report, Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin said: “It is breathtaking to see how much innovation has been unleashed by the wave of concern about climate change that has broken across the world in the past year.”

Areas once considered irrelevant to business are now ‘rewriting the rules’, the group went on to say.

In 2006, Richard Branson announced his decision to invest $3 billion (£1.6) in renewable energy over the next decade, the Financial Times reports.

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