No cover-ups!

Wise Words: cover

Business Spotlight 4/2009 is a special issue — and not only because we've changed our logo. We hope it catches your eye. We decided to make a dramatic one-off change, but for a very good reason. It’s the first time we’ve had an 18-page special report on one topic. It should be obvious from the colour of our logo what the topic is.

Here are some highlights from our “Going Green” report:

• Carol Scheunemann tests your knowledge of green language and helps you to discover how green you are in your everyday life.
  
  
• Vicki Sussens-Messerer asks whether the current green boom is a lasting trend or just a green bubble — and comes up with some surprising answers. Is there more hype than reality?
  
  
• Talitha Linehan focuses on genetically modified crops and India. You can read two opposing views on this topic in Head-to-Head. (Our Premium Members can read the article online.)
  
  
• Sarah Mann spoke to Australian environmental activist Cam Walker about his work with Friends of the Earth in Melbourne.
  
  
• Bjørn Lomborg, best-known for his controversial book The Skeptical Environmentalist, focuses on environmental issues in Denmark and on the follow-up treaty to the failed Kyoto Treaty, which politicians and businesspeople will discuss in December in Copenhagen.

As you can see, we've covered a lot of green issues in the magazine. We hope you read it from cover to cover. You'll also find a number of articles and exercises on this topic in our Special Green section of our website.

More expressions with cover

When it comes to environmental issues, by the way, some companies are guilty of using "cover" with a different, more negative meaning. You’ll find the word pops up quite frequently in combination with “up” — as in “cover-up”.

If you cover something up, you put something over it. If you're guilty of a cover-up, you have tried to hide illegal activities.

Climate change and global warming are major issues that businesses, consumers and politicians have to address. So, no more attempts at cover-ups for activities that harm our environment.

It's time to come clean — and to go green.