The vital importance of investing in green businesses, despite pressures on public and private budgets, is underlined by Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, the nonprofit making agency leading the drive to cut carbon emissions.  The move to a sustainable lowcarbon future will drive efficiency into every aspect of the economy, he says. If the nation fails to pursue a green agenda, UK plc will be fundamentally weaker in ten years' time. "We must open our eyes to the world. Real sustainable products and services are already coming out of India and Brazil and, while China is building power stations to meet present energy demands, it is also growing the renewable energy market faster than anywhere else in the world."  The trust is practising what Delay preaches because it is already engaged on projects in China, where it is working with a state-owned company with $5bn in assets and 30,000 employees.  It plans to extend its operations across South-East asia and is looking for work in South america and South africa.  This expansion overseas is possible because of the transformation the trust is undergoing, moving from being a Government-funded agency to a private non-profit company limited by guarantee.  Delay says: "We are right to make this change. Government funding is likely to be constrained for some years and we will be free to do new things, such as international work, which was a sensitive issue when funded by the British Government.  "We have been building up commercial activity for five years and will now rely on work with our partners and from providing services for customers.  Our aim is to earn ?8 of private money for every ?1 of revenue from the public sector."  The trust will continue to provide specialist advice and finance to help UK businesses to cut carbon emissions and save energy and thus stimulate the move to meet international targets for lower emissions and increased energy security. It does this by opening markets for low-carbon technologies, investing in start-up companies and initiating collaborative programmes.  Delay outlined the trust's aims and the argument for green growth at a high-profile gathering of 50 business leaders, who met in London last month to debate the question: Can UK plc afford not to go green? Organised by The Times and the Carbon Trust, it attracted executives from leading industries, including BaE Systems, British Gas and Rolls-Royce, and from environmental agencies and professional services companies.  The consensus was that it is e