Senate Endorses Kerry for Secretary of State

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a champion of action on climate change, was approved by the Senate to be Secretary of State. At his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 24, Kerry pulled no punches and took a strong position on climate change and the role of renewable energy in revitalizing the US economy.

At the Senate hearing Kerry responded to a question from Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) by saying:

"The solution to climate change is energy policy. And, the opportunities of energy policy so vastly outweigh the downsides that you’re expressing concerns about … You want to do business and do it well in America, you have to get into the energy race … I would respectfully say to you that climate change is not something to be feared in response to—the steps to respond to—it’s to be feared if we don’t … I will be a passionate advocate on this not based on ideology but based on facts and science, and I hope to sit with all of you and convince you that this $6 trillion market is worth millions of American jobs and we better go after it."

Kerry is widely respected for his position on climate change, as explained by Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke:

“In nearly three decades in the U.S. Senate, John Kerry has distinguished himself as a champion for action against climate change, an advocate for the international cooperation we need to protect the natural resources of a changing world and a visionary promoter of American jobs in the fast-growing market for clean energy worldwide.”

The Secretary of State has significant responsibilities as far as working with other nations on climate change related issues is concerned. As Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said,

“Now, one of the strongest champions for climate action in the Senate will be our nation’s top climate negotiator. We are excited that he will bring his strong credentials on climate to the critical decisions facing our planet, including increasing access to affordable clean energy options and stopping the expansion of dirty tar sands and coal worldwide.”

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Posts
US Secretary of State Clinton Working to Cut Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP)
US Secretary of State Clinton on Water as a Weapon of War
US Secretary of State Clinton on Global Warming and Arctic Resources

Sustainability Past and Future: Executives Review 2012 and Make Predictions for 2013

Here is a Greenbiz article by Liz Enochs titled "What will sustainability look like in 2013?" This January 03, 2013 article asked executives for their views on what they anticipate for the year ahead. They obliged by telling Greenbiz about their accomplishments, frustrations, lessons learned, their thoughts about the biggest issues of 2012 and what they think will drive sustainability in 2013.

A few big themes emerged: the failure to make significant progress at major global conclaves -- Rio+20 and the Doha Climate Change conference in particular -- the lack of urgency and action from policymakers on climate change, and the need for stronger, more transparent standards and ratings systems to meet increased consumer, investor, and corporate demand.

Here's what they said when we asked:

What were the most significant sustainability trends in 2012?

Mark Lee, Executive Director, SustainAbility:

My three young children! And worrying about their future on a hotter planet. It looks bleak on climate change/arresting global warming. What are we leaving them?

Peter Madden, Chief Executive, Forum for the Future:

The fact that the financial sector institutions still have their heads in the sand. They urgently need to start valuing things appropriately and investing for sustainability. But at the moment, they seem to be going backwards, not forwards.

Angela Nahikian, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability, Steelcase:

The scale of change still needed The challenges of globalization: both in implementing sustainability and in the core business challenges it creates.

Aron Cramer, President & CEO, BSR

Climate change is moving much faster than thought, and much faster than action that's needed to transition to low-carbon prosperity.

Amy Hargroves, Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sprint Nextel Corporation:

The lack of standards in reporting, in supplier requirements, in products, is creating unnecessary complexity and work load. Will the new GRI report be better or worse than G3.1?

Neil Hawkins, Vice President, Global Sustainability and EH&S, Dow Chemical Co.:

The specter of a global recession if the Euro crises does not end favorably.

Leisha John, Americas Director of Environmental Sustainability, Ernst & Young:

How we balance our client demand for face-to-face collaboration with our efforts to minimize our emissions related to business travel. Since 2008 we have been able to reduce our carbon footprint by 11 percent in the Americas by focusing on energy efficiency and by promoting business travel alternatives such as videoconferencing. However, as the economy improves and clients demand more face-to-face collaboration, we anticipate a potential increase in emissions related to business travel. As such, to help mitigate the expected increase in travel activity, we are investing in more robust technologies like telepresence.

Beth Shiroishi, Vice President, Sustainability & Philanthropy, AT&T:

2012 was a year of incredible momentum at our company for our sustainability efforts; so my night brain ponders how we continue to keep this momentum going next year. As our company’s sustainability initiatives continue to develop and mature, how do we continue to raise the bar and tackle the toughest issues facing us? The more we do, the more we uncover there is to do, the more we learn, the more we realize we have to learn.

Bridgett Luther, President, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute:

All the sustainability efforts still feel very incremental. Big problems with small steps. Let's pray that Obama makes some big moves this year.

Terry Yosie, President and CEO, World Environment Center:

The cascading impacts of climate change. We've already baked significant climate change potential into the atmosphere with no real basis of optimism that current emission trends can be reversed. It's not only the developing world that is at risk. Disruption is becoming the new normal.

Source: Greenbiz

Related Articles
Consumer Awareness Driving Corporate Sustainability in 2013
Top 5 Sustainability Trends for 2013
Climate Change Highlighted at the WEF in Davos (2013)
The Pervasiveness of Sustainability: Three Trends That Matter in 2013
13 Sustainability Predictions for 2013
Corporate Sustainability Report: Transitioning from 2012 to 2013
The Growth of Corporate Sustainability in 2013
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Sustainability, Science and Weather
Top 10 Sustainability Reports of 2012
Renewable Energy World: 10 Most Commented on Articles of 2012
Harvard Business Review Blog: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
Andrew Winston: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
SkyTruth’s Top 10 Posts on Environmental Impacts of Large-Footprint Industrial Activities in 2012
Greenbiz: Top Sustainability Trends of 2012

Will 2013 Bring a New, Sustainable World?

This article was written by Pavan Sukhdev and published in Guardian Sustainable Business Blog on January 4, 2013. Pavan is an environmental economist and board member for Conservation International. He is also the UN Environment Programme's goodwill ambassador. A former banker, he led the UNEP's green economy initiative and is author of a new book, Corporation 2020.


The new year brings with it a host of ecological, governmental and social issues but a new world is, and has to be, possibleThey were right, the world has ended. The world as we knew it came to an end more or less when the Mayan calendar ran out, on winter solstice, 2012.
The old world that died in 2012 had a stable climate, cheap commodities, governments managing change, high growth in output and consumption, and corporations driving economies and serving societies all deeply infused with a blind belief in free markets.

The new world that begins now, in 2013, will be defined by frightening climate instability, commodity and food prices ratcheting skywards, impotent governments reduced to spectators in their own countries, continuing recession, and corporations either being hounded as common criminals or laurelled as champions of virtuous change. An internet-enabled anarchy of the wronged will pull entire countries along unplanned roller-coaster rides through a Disneyland world of commotion and crises. Briefly, here is why I think so.

Breaching the Limits of the World's Ecosystems

Our world is rapidly approaching planetary boundaries – across climate, biodiversity, nitrogen, phosphorous, ocean acidification, freshwater scarcity, inter alia. Economies worldwide are still headed in the wrong direction – towards resource exhaustion, social disparities, and persistent poverty. What we need is change at the speed of light, driven by bold leaders. What we have is change at the speed of change, hesitantly nudged by cautious governments. Too little, too late, such prevarication will spill into natural disasters. We saw some as 2012 ended – we shall see more as the earth's ecosystems do what all systems in equilibrium try their best to do: stay in equilibrium, until they simply cannot. Until what we call "resilience" is replaced by "thresholds" being breached, planetary boundaries being crossed.

Breached thresholds will lead ecosystems into new states of equilibrium, which may not be any good for human life, society, or economy.

The Vulnerable will Suffer Most

Increasing climate disruptions will cause higher price volatility in agricommodities, due to crop failures and crop losses. The world is over-invested in intensive agriculture, and due to a corresponding lack of investment to improve yields and resilience for smallholder farming, the poor will actually suffer the most from these supply disruptions and price shocks.

Bold Leadership

In the absence of political leadership, others will provide bold leadership, such as corporations, who are the lion's share of today's economy, GDP and jobs. Some have already shown real leadership in 2012, such as by measuring and disclosing their externalities (Puma), or lengthening their investor and analyst horizons by stopping quarterly reports (Unilever). Many more will follow these trendsetters in 2013.

An End to Crony Capitalism

At the same time, adherents of the old model of corporation – profit-fixated, externality-churning, disconnected from social purpose – will find the going tougher. Public patience with being exploited by the freedoms of freemarket capitalism is running thin. Public outrage at investment banking excesses has not died even four years after the global financial crisis. "Corporate externalities" is no longer an obscure term hidden at the end of economics textbooks, but a common phrase in news media.

Corporations that habitually free-lunched off global and national governance weaknesses and cheap natural resources will realise that their free lunch is nearly over; mainly because the "crony" governments of their crony-capitalist alliances are either emaciated, or bankrupt, or cannot toe the line of corporate profitability any longer in the face of scientific evidence and citizen activism. Indeed, from the first Arab Spring uprising to a campaign of moral outrage in Britain over corporate tax avoidance, which immediately yielded millions from Starbucks, the internet-enabled anarchy of the wronged has become the vehicle of successful change.

Many years ago, Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things said: "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Winter solstice, 2012, was a quiet day. The earth's magnetic field did not flip. Planes did not fall out of the sky. A nuclear holocaust was not launched. A giant meteorite did not slam into earth.
But if you had listened for a quieter strain, you would have heard her. A new world had begun.

Source: Guardian Sustainable Business Blog 

Organizations Leading the EPA’s Annual Green Power Partnership Lists

The EPA’s annual Green Power Partnership lists includes dozens of organizations that are now using 100 percent green energy to power their US operations. Organizations achieve this amazing feat with the help of renewable energy certificates, on-site generation and utility green power products.

The "100 percent" list is updated quarterly and identifies a range of organizations (businesses, government agencies, organizations and universities) that use only renewable energy in their US operations. (Usage figures are based on annualized partner contract amounts, such as kilowatt-hour, not calendar year totals).

As stated on the EPA's site, "Using green power helps reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and supports the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide."

The top three companies on the EPA's 100% Green Power Users list are Intel, Kohls, and Whole Foods.

1. Intel

Intel had the largest annual green power usage on both the general and the 100 percent green power lists, with 3.1 billion kilowatt-hours from biogas, biomass, small hydro, solar and wind sources generated on-site and purchased from provider Sterling Planet.

 2. Kohl’s Department Stores

Kohl’s followed on both lists with 1.53 billion kWh from solar and wind green power sources. Kohl’s meets its 100 percent green power standard through on-site generation and from providers 3Degrees, Nexant and Sterling Planet.

3. Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods had the third-largest amount of green power usage among those using 100 percent green power, with 800 million kWh of solar and wind power via on-site generation and provider 3Degrees. Staples, the District of Columbia, City of Austin, TD Bank, EPA, Deutsche Bank and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust rounded out the top 10 100 percent green power users.

Other companies that made the list

TD Bank, Deutsche Bank, NYSE, EuroNext, BMO, Harris Bank, Adobe Systems

To go the EPA leaders in each category see below:

100% Green Power Users.
National Top 50
Top 20 Retail
Top 20 Colleges and Universities
Top 20 Local Governments
Top 20 On-site Generation

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
The EPA's Top Green Powered Organizations
EPA's Energy Winners for 2012 Energy
EPA's Green Power Partnerships
EPA's 2012 Green Power Partnership Winners
EPA's Top Green Powered Organizations
Top Companies in the 2012 Climate Leadership Awards

13 Sustainability Predictions for 2013

Here are some sustainability predictions published in the UK based site BusinessGreen. Accordingly, most of the predictions focus on the UK. They were written by By James Murray, the founding editor of BusinessGreen. James is one of the UK's leading commentators on the low carbon economy. He writes occasionally for the Guardian newspaper and has also reported for BBC Radio on a number of green technology stories. He reports daily on a wide range of green business issues, with a particular focus on low carbon policy, economics and technology.

Here are the 13 predictions that BusinessGreen is making for 2013. They are in no particular order and we make no guarantees as to their accuracy, but these are the key developments we expect to see over the coming year.

1. The Green Deal will get off to a steady start

Before the end of the month the government will launch its Green Deal energy efficiency scheme. Backed by a multi-million dollar communications campaign and over $407 million of incentives worth up to $1,630 per household it should make quite a splash. However, with concerns mounting over the effectiveness of the scheme compared to the phased-out Warm Front initiative and a relatively limited number of companies offering Green Deal services, it is likely to get off to a steady rather than a stellar start. The Green Deal has the potential to be transformative for businesses and households alike, but it will take time.

2. The electric car revolution will be deferred again

Evidence that electric cars represent a cost-effective and reliable alternative to the internal combustion engine grows ever more compelling. As such, 2013 will see plenty more fleet and taxi operators following the example set by the likes of General Electric and GreenTomatoCars by placing orders for electric vehicles (EV). But despite high fuel prices and clear environmental benefits, it is going to take longer than manufacturers hoped for EVs to make it into the mainstream.

3. The battle for a power sector decarbonization target will reach fever pitch

The year in Westminster is going to kick off with a fearsome row over whether to impose a decarbonization target on the power sector. With an amendment for such a target tabled, Lib Dem backbenchers and green Tories are going to come under immense pressure to rebel against the government. Meanwhile, Labor is sounding more bullish on environmental issues than they have in years, paving the way for 12 months of potentially vote-winning attacks on the fracking-infatuated chancellor and the climate-skeptic dinosaurs on his backbenches.

4. Work will start on the U.K.'s first nuclear power plant in a generation

The government has repeatedly said it will not be held to ransom and will demand value for money from any new nuclear reactors. But, in reality, if EDF and Hitachi walk away from their plans for new nuclear power plants, the government's entire energy strategy will be left in tatters. It would be little short of a miracle if a deal is not brokered that allows new projects to move forward, much to the chagrin of many environmentalists.

5. Renewable energy investment will start to accelerate

With the U.K.’s Energy Bill promising policy stability for larger projects, the feed-in tariff continuing to offer good returns for most technologies and the renewable heat incentive due to launch soon, concerns over an investment hiatus should start to evaporate. We'll see regular announcements on the world's largest offshore wind farms, biomass plants, anaerobic digestion sites and marine energy projects. Add in the fact that the cost of key technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels is continuing to fall and 2013 should be a good year for the renewables industry (although policy U-turns could undermine this prediction in the blink of an eye).

6. U.K. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will drink at the last chance saloon

It is arguably the biggest scandal of the U.K.'s energy strategy.  The chancellor's gas strategy is simply incompatible with the country's carbon targets without working CCS technology, and yet the government has repeatedly fumbled the ball when it comes to making CCS happen. This year should finally see the award of $1.6 billion to a large-scale CCS demonstration project and the successful dishing out of similar funding from Brussels. But after repeated delays to previous funding awards, the industry will be holding its breath. If progress is not made soon, the U.K.'s chances of becoming a CCS hub will go up in smoke.

7. Several unlucky countries will face dire climate impacts

Sadly, it is the safest of predictions. The latest wave of scientific and security projections for the coming decades are the most worrying yet, with talk of a fast-closing window to avoid temperature rises of between four and six degrees in the later part of the century. Extreme weather will continue to wreak havoc with increased frequency, and the corporate and political focus on climate adaptation and risk management will continue to intensify.

8. Carbon reporting will be pushed up the agenda, making energy efficiency an ever more attractive investment

This year, the U.K. will become the first country in the world to require listed firms to report on their greenhouse gas emissions, while investors and exchanges around the world will seek ever more information on corporate sustainability performance. The combination of reporting rules and rising energy prices will force companies to take carbon and energy management more seriously – and when they do they will quickly realize energy efficiency investment makes sense.

9. U.K. shale gas drilling will resume, with protesters in tow

The U.K. will continue its tentative experiment with fracking after earth tremors last year led to a suspension of drilling. Environmentalists and energy industry insiders alike will be fascinated to see whether relatively clean gas can indeed be extracted from Northern England and the home counties at reasonable cost. But with local communities likely to be a bit more concerned about the prospect of earthquakes and pollution leaks than the government -- and green groups arguing that increasing fossil fuel production isn't exactly the safest route to a low-carbon future, the political battle over fracking will continue to escalate.

10. The EU's resolve on aviation (and shipping) emissions will be sorely tested

Late last year the EU called a truce in the global battle over its plans to introduce an emissions levy on flights in and out of the bloc, suspending its proposals for one year to give time for the international community to come up with a better mechanism for tackling airlines' emissions. Talks are now ongoing,  but with a breakthrough a long way off, the EU will face the prospect of a vicious trade war if a deal cannot be brokered and it reintroduces its carbon pricing plans. A similar row is already brewing over plans for shipping emissions pricing, meaning the future of global efforts to tackle escalating transport emissions rest on the diplomatic skills of the EU.

11. Corporate sustainability budgets will increase modestly as green ambitions grow

Analyst firm Verdantix recently released the results of a poll suggesting the majority of corporate sustainability budgets will increase next year. The results looked about right with around half of respondents predicting increases of one to nine per cent and one in 10 looking forward to larger increases. Large businesses with flagship green strategies, such as Unilever, O2, Sainsbury's, IBM and M&S, to name but a few, will continue to invest heavily in clean technologies and business models. Others will face more constrained budgets as nervous managers sit on considerable quantities of capital waiting for the economy to recover. But with green regulations becoming more demanding, energy prices rising and clean tech markets prospering, it will be a rare company that cuts back on its sustainability spending.

12. Any recovery in the carbon market will be anemic at best

The carbon market will continue to prosper as a concept with more jurisdictions introducing schemes, and struggle in practice as carbon prices hover at record low levels. There may be some sort of recovery this year if the EU makes good on its plans to tackle the surplus of credits in the market. But even the most ambitious proposals coming out of Brussels fall short of what is required, meaning any recovery in carbon prices is unlikely to have the transformational impact green businesses hope for.

13. Obama will have to decide whether to join the climate battle

Following his victory in November, President Obama has a few months to decide whether to make action on climate change a central part of his second term. The outlook does not look that great. True, the President has offered some encouraging comments on his desire to address the issue, but with so much else on his plate and the Republican-dominated House of Representatives as resistant to climate policy as ever, Obama would have to display uncharacteristic boldness to deliver really meaningful action. Sadly, without a drastic change in the U.S. position, 2013 will provide another year of painfully slow progress towards an international climate change treaty.

Source: BusinessGreen

Related Articles
Corporate Sustainability Report: Transitioning from 2012 to 2013
The Growth of Corporate Sustainability in 2013
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Sustainability, Science and Weather
Top 10 Sustainability Reports of 2012
Renewable Energy World: 10 Most Commented on Articles of 2012
Harvard Business Review Blog: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
Andrew Winston: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
SkyTruth’s Top 10 Posts on Environmental Impacts of Large-Footprint Industrial Activities in 2012
Greenbiz: Top Sustainability Trends of 2012
2012 Summary of Best Practices in Responsible Management Education (Part 1)
2012 Summary of Best Practices in Responsible Management Education (Part 2)

Verdantix: Eight Predictions for Energy Management in 2013

Here are some forecasts found in a Verdantix report titled "Eight Predictions for Energy Management in 2013."  As predicted in this report, companies will ramp up on-site power generation, from pilot projects to multi-site deployments.

On-site power generation will grow and energy storage will be the hot smart grid technology this year. The report says Ikea has already installed solar PV at 40 of its stores across seven countries, and has funding for an additional 124 projects, while BT plans to install 250MW of renewable energy across its UK sites by 2016.

EV sales will take a backseat until 2015. The report attributes this to lack of charging infrastructure, long charge times and high sticker prices. It uses FedEx as an example: the logistics company has a worldwide fleet of more than 40,000 vehicles and only 43 EVs.

Energy consumption management will filter down to supply chains. HP reported that, in 2011, 12 of its suppliers in China had reduce energy consumption by a total of more than 6 GWh. Verdantix says other big consumer electronic brands like Apple and Sony will be forced to follow suit in 2013.

Utilities will deploy big energy data analytics to protect grid and customer assets. Colorado’s Fort Collins Utilities already uses load forecasting and baseline calculation analytics from Aclara and Calico Energy Services, according to the report.

Grid energy storage will garner the most attention of any smart technology. As an example, the report says Italian firm Terna has allocated €1 billion ($1.3 billion) to invest in up to 240 MW of battery capacity over the next four years.

Companies’ employees will hit refresh on energy-efficiencies. They’ll move beyond turning on lights and monitors and follow the likes of Shari’s Restaurants, which hired Ecova and saved $700,000 in a year.

Shale gas in Europe won’t match the growth seen in the US market, which drove down gas and electricity prices. The report says smaller projects — like the Cuadrilla Resources developing test wells in the UK and exploratory drilling by Chevron in Lithuania and Poland — will move forward. But overall strict regulations, limited tax breaks and less favorable geology will limit shale gas development.

China will dominate global smart meter installations as it launches its plan to install 300 million smart meters by 2016. Verdantix says this will provide huge opportunities for manufacturers such as Elster and Itron, and firms offering meter data management capabilities and services, such as Deloitte and IBM.

A Verdantix study published earlier this month said CA Technologies, CarbonSystems, IBM, Schneider Electric and Verisae lead the global market for energy management software.

Source: Energy Manager Today

Related Articles
Top Green Energy Management Software from (Verdantix Report)
Corporate Sustainability Report: Transitioning from 2012 to 2013
The Growth of Corporate Sustainability in 2013
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Sustainability, Science and Weather
Top 10 Sustainability Reports of 2012
Renewable Energy World: 10 Most Commented on Articles of 2012
Harvard Business Review Blog: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
Andrew Winston: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
SkyTruth’s Top 10 Posts on Environmental Impacts of Large-Footprint Industrial Activities in 2012
Greenbiz: Top Sustainability Trends of 2012
2012 Summary of Best Practices in Responsible Management Education (Part 1)
2012 Summary of Best Practices in Responsible Management Education (Part 2)

Burgeoning Consumer Awareness Driving Corporate Sustainability

Consumers growing environmental awareness will continue to drive sustainability in 2013 and beyond. The American economy appears to be inching slowly in a positive direction and a spate of extreme weather events over the last couple of years is contributing to consumer's burgeoning environmental awareness. Increasingly consumers are looking beyond the barcode to help them make their purchasing decisions. Businesses need to respond to consumer demand to gain customers and avoid losing their market share. Here is a succinct summary of salient sustainability trends for 2013:

A short time ago consumers carbon footprints meant nothing to consumers. Now many consumers not only understand the concept of environmental impacts they are demanding that businesses act to make their operations more sustainable. Consumers can increasingly be expected to seek out products and services with smaller footprints. This can include everything from manufacturing to packaging.

Consumers and investors want environmental impact information, they expect to see annual sustainability impact reports. Some stock exchanges already require sustainability metrics. 

Buyers are increasingly asking suppliers to measure their environmental impacts and carbon emissions in their value chain. In many cases failure to provide such information, or performing poorly can undermine these business relationships.

Related Articles
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Sustainability, Science and Weather
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Environmental Communications
Corporate Sustainability Report: 4 Ways to Transition from 2012 to 2013
Consumer Spending for a Greener World
Green Consumers Really Can Save the World (Video)
Sustainability is the Future of Consumption
Consumption and the Earth's Carrying Capacity
The War Between the Earth's Carrying Capacity and Rising Demand
The Revolutionary New Model of Consumption
The Frugal Green Consumer
US Environmental Attitudes 2007 - 2020
Consumers Skeptical of Environmental Claims
Surveys of America's Greenest Brands
Don't Count on the Young to Save the Planet
The Power of Social Media and the Importance of Market Segmentation
The Cycle of Climate Change Acceptance
US Consumer Attitudes on Green 2011
Consumer Groups Push for a US Vehicle Efficiency Standard
Consumer Demand for Green (2009)
Green's Coming of Age
Green Opportunities in Volatile Times
Consumers Continue to Embrace the Burgeoning Green Market
People Remain Loyal to Green Even in an Economic Downturn
Carrotmob's Partnership with Unilever
The World's First Global Carrotmob Campaign
Carrotmobs: Adding Incentives to the Consumer Arsenal
Educating Consumers about Sustainable Consumption
Profiting From the New Rules of Green Marketing

Top 5 Sustainability Trends for 2013

This article was written by Brandon Tidwell and published in Environmental Leader at the beginning of the year. Bandon is the manager of sustainability for Darden Restaurants. Here are his top five sustainability trends for 2013.

In years past, companies would provide recycling receptacles and install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and consider themselves “green.” But with pressing forces of climate change, strained resources and transparency, corporate sustainability has evolved and become embedded deeper in business decisions. It now defines company culture and corporate reputation.

A number of significant sustainability developments occurred in 2012, contributing to our need for increased collective action around climate change. The Dodd-Frank Act mandated companies to disclose information related to their supply chain. The US drought grew and became more extreme, impacting agriculture and commodity prices. Conversations after Hurricane Sandy showed the need for increased adaptation and resiliency necessary for the future.

In the midst of these pressing issues, I see the following five trends emerging in the world of corporate sustainability in 2013:

1. The intersection of technology and sustainability. Across industries, technology is being utilized to find operation management efficiencies or drive sustainability into purchasing practices. These advancements allow companies to look at real-time data on a host of issues, such as carbon and water use, and make immediate recommendations that will conserve resources. At Darden, we are exploring how to leverage technology to view the performance of each of our restaurants in real time. Our goal is to identify and gather key insights from the top performing restaurants to employ across our operations.

2. Growing interest in supply chain and product sourcing from consumers. When and where a consumer buys a product – be it a purse or a meal at Red Lobster – they want more information. Where was this product sourced? Who made the product and what were their working conditions? Were there any environmental impacts in the production cycle? Issues related to supply chain and product sourcing will be a topic for the private sector to address, and ideally, will help to increase proactive transparency and engagement.

3. Leveraging employees to implement sustainability. Corporate sustainability is less about the size of the staff and more about how people across the company are embedding sustainability throughout their work. A trend has begun to make sustainability a part of performance evaluations in an attempt to drive sustainability throughout an organization. Companies like Intel and Shell link sustainability as a part of their review process. How a company integrates performance management and sustainability will help drive large-scale change. By working with key groups, such as human resources, sustainability becomes integrated into a company’s culture.

4. Increased focus on our natural resources. As our growing global population consumes more food and energy, businesses are competing for fresh water. Seventy percent of water is used for agriculture and 47 percent of the world’s population could be living under severe water stress by 2050. This means that from an ecosystems perspective, we are all interconnected. Water is critical to the broader economy because products, services and jobs all depend on this natural resource.

5. A broader definition of “sustainability.” Creating a sustainable business not only benefits the planet, but it also impacts people – from employees and consumers to partners and local communities where we do business. Through innovative partnerships and involvement from a multitude of stakeholders, an opportunity emerges to collaborate and spark real change. By evolving the way we view sustainability and breaking away from a narrowed focus on just the environment, we will move closer to a broader definition around the core of corporate responsibility.

Source: Environmental Leader

Related Articles
Corporate Sustainability Report: Transitioning from 2012 to 2013
The Growth of Corporate Sustainability in 2013
The Green Market Oracle's Top 20 Stories of 2012: Sustainability, Science and Weather
Top 10 Sustainability Reports of 2012
Renewable Energy World: 10 Most Commented on Articles of 2012
Harvard Business Review Blog: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
Andrew Winston: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012
SkyTruth’s Top 10 Posts on Environmental Impacts of Large-Footprint Industrial Activities in 2012
Greenbiz: Top Sustainability Trends of 2012
The Green Economy is the Right Solution for our Troubled Times
The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment

Bill Mckibben Climate Change Is







In just 42 minutes, Do The Math: The Movie, tells the story of the growing climate movement, from the new fossil fuel divestment campaign to the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline. Thousands of people screened the movie for Earth Day 2013. As we have yet to agree on global solutions to climate change, people need to understand what is at stake and what people are doing about it. The movie is brought to you by 350.org, and they want as many people as possible to see it as it is intended to be the springboard for the big plans they are making for this summer and beyond. Please share as widely as you can, it may very well be one of the most important things you do this year.





Related Articles

Video - Bill McKibben and NEI President Bob Massie: "Divestment And The New Economy" 

Video - Bill McKibben: Climate Change is an Environmental and Economic Problem

2013 Global Power Shift in Istanbul Turkey

Debate: McKibben vs. Epstein—Are Fossil Fuels a Risk to the Planet? (Video)

350.org's Connect the Dots End Fossil Fuel (2012)

350.org's Bill McKibben on Connect the Dots (2012)

Bill McKibben: Global Warming's Terrifying New Math

Rio+20: 350.org Campaign to End Fossil Fuels (2012)

350.org's Bill Mckibben Calls Hurricane Sandy a Wake-up Call (2012)

Bill McKibben on The Fight of Our Lives Video (2012)

Business and Climate Impacts Day from 350.org (2012)

Success of the End Fossil Fuels Campaign (2012)

350.org's Power Shift Rally at the US (2011)

350.org's Moving Planet: Beyond Fossil Fuels (2011)

Bill McKibben and the 350 Team's Global Strategies for 2011

The Next Big Thing from Bill Mckibben and the 350.org Team (2011)

350.org and Business (2011)

350.org's The Global Work Party (2010)

350.org's 10/10/10 Global Work Party Message for Governments (2010)

350.org's 10/10/10 Event (2010)

Bill McKibben Goes to the White House (2010)

350.org Succeeds in Getting the White House Agrees to "Put Solar On It" (2010)

350.org Makes History (2009)

350.org: International Day of Climate Change Action (2009) 

New Support for the Interconnectedness of the Environment and the Economy

Two new reports reiterate the scientific veracity of anthropogenic climate change while reinforcing the interconnectedness of the economy and the environment. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report 201 clearly points to the interrelationship between the environment and the economy.

A draft of the third National Climate Assessment Report indicates that climate change is both an environmental and economic issue. The draft report was prepared by a federal committee and offers a comprehensive analysis of the latest and best peer-reviewed science on the extent and impacts of global warming on the US. The report restates the fact that climate change will have a wide range of impacts ranging from agriculture to water.


The 2013 NCADAC report, which engaged more than 240 authors, indicated that one of the salient reasons given for the rapidly changing climate is the copious burning of fossil fuels. Following two consecutive years of extreme weather, the report makes the connection between the increased incidence and severity of extreme weather and anthropogenic climate change.


According to the report, between 1980 and 2011, the overall losses from weather catastrophes was over $1 trillion. In 2012, there were a record number of extreme weather events which were eclipsed only by the number of such events in 2011. Hurricane Sandy alone cost an estimated $60 billion.
In an emailed statement, Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, said the NCADAC report confirms what many Americans already know:


“Climate change presents a major challenge for society,” the NCADAC committee’s leadership said in a letter addressed to the American people. The committee’s letter went on to say:


“This [NCADAC] draft report sends a warning to all of us,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat and chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, in an emailed statement. “We must act in a comprehensive fashion to reduce carbon pollution or expose our people and communities to continuing devastation from extreme weather events and their aftermath.”


Why is it so hard to get science-based legislation through Congress? The reason is that the Republicans control the House of Representatives.


For more than a decade, Republicans have vociferously resisted climate science. When it was published in 2000, the first NCADAC report was attacked by conservatives. The Bush administration went so far as to suppress its findings.


Today’s Republicans are far more conservative then they were when George W. Bush was President. Despite the extremism of many Republicans in Congress, many GOP voters think their leaders are not conservative enough. This view was articulated in a Rasmussen Poll, which found that 63 percent of Republicans across the country believe congressional Republicans are out of touch with the party’s base. In addition, only 30 percent of likely GOP voters think Republicans in Congress have done a “good job representing their party’s values over the past several years.”


The economy is the only concern that seems to resonate with many on the right. While Republicans are infamous for their war on climate science, perhaps the GOP will be motivated to consider the environment when the problem is rendered in terms of GDP.


As was written in the NCADAC committee letter, “climatic changes are having wide-ranging impacts in every region of our country and most sectors of our economy,” The 2013 National Climate Assessment draft concluded that efforts to address climate change “paves the way for economic opportunities”.


The interconnectedness of the environment and the economy is made clear in the WEF’s eighth edition of its Global Risks Report for 2013. This report ranks climate change from rising greenhouse gas emissions as a major global threat. Also high on the list is the failure of governments and businesses to mitigate or adapt to climate change.


The WEF works with governments to develop mechanisms for managing risk. The report rates the top global risks based on a survey of over 1000 experts from industry, government and academia. The 2013 report sampled respondents from more than 100 countries, although the majority came from Europe and North America. A total of 40 percent of respondents came from a business background.


The 2013 report indicates that ongoing economic weakness detracts from our ability to tackle environmental challenges. At the report’s launch, John Drzik, the CEO of the risk and insurance services group Oliver Wyman, said, “We see two big risks coming together, one is an environmental storm and the other is an economic storm, and we see them on a collision course.”


Climate change poses very significant cost to governments. As Drzik pointed out, governments are having to step in to help those impacted by extreme weather events. However, economic difficulties put constraints on government’s ability to respond.


While the costs of climate change are significant, the situation will only get worse if we continue with business as usual. According to a September 2012 study titled “Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet,” the current economic impacts of climate change are more than $1.2 trillion a year or 1.6 percent of global GDP. By 2030, the cost of climate change and air pollution combined will rise to 3.2 percent of global GDP. In the US, climate change is expected to shave a full 2 percent points off the GDP by 2030.


According to a study released by the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and UNEP Finance Initiative, global environmental damage caused by human activity in 2008 represented a monetary value of $ 6.6 trillion, which is equivalent to 11% of global GDP.


The UNEP Finance Initiative report titled Putting a Price on Global Environmental Damage” estimates that global costs could rise to $28 trillion by 2050 or almost half of the current global GDP.


As these reports indicate, the failure to protect the environment and respond to climate change will incur much greater costs down the road. The longer we wait the greater the costs and if we are too slow to acknowledge the value of the environment, we may find that we hit irreversible tipping points from which no amount of money will enable us to recover.
Source: Global Warming is Real


The draft report was prepared by a Federal Advisory Committee known as the “National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee” (NCADAC). The report was mandated by Congress in 1990 with the passage of the Global Change Research Act, which requires that a national climate assessment be conducted every four years and the results be issued to the President and Congress. As a consequence of the 1990 legislation, the US Global Change Research Program was formed, which is an inter-governmental body involving 13 federal agencies and departments
“Hurricane Sandy and the historic droughts, floods and heat waves happening across the country aren’t a fluke, but the result of a climate warming much faster than previously thought,” he said. “If we put off action on climate change, the costs of addressing its impacts will only rise and this extreme weather will be just the beginning. This report should serve as a wake-up call that it’s time to act.”
The 2013 draft report states that the climate is changing and this is attributable to human activities. The report provides elaborate explanations on mitigation and adaptation, as well as how to improve scientific understanding and concludes that Americans must face the necessity of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Summers are longer and hotter, and periods of extreme heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced. Winters are generally shorter and warmer. Rain comes in heavier downpours, though in many regions there are longer dry spells in between.”
The letter references drier weather, wildfires and receding sea ice and the draft report states that sea levels are expected to “rise by another 1 to 4 feet in this century”. The report further indicates that the US requires better national plans for adaptation to a changing climate.

Related Articles
Climate Change Highlighted at the WEF in Davos (2013)
WEF Global Risks Report 2013
The Green Economy is the Right Solution for our Troubled Times
Greentech and Renewables Help the Economy and Create Jobs
Historic Opportunities in the Green Economy
Corporate Sustainability is Driving Green the Green Economy
Launching of the New Global Green Economy
The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment
British Government to Lead the Green Economy
The Growth of London's Green Economy
Republican Governors See Value in Green
California's Government Partnerships are Driving the Green Economy
State of Green Business Report 2012
The Circular Economy (Video)
A Resource-Based Economy (Video)
China Leading the Green Economy (Video)
Building Gateways to the Green Economy
Action on Climate Change

Climate Change Highlighted at the WEF in Davos (2013)

As we emerge from a global recession, climate change is once again on the global agenda. During the week of January 21 -25, many of those present for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland, acknowledged that climate change has very significant economic ramifications. Both President Barack Obama and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon highlighted climate change as a top priority in Davos.

"There was mostly silence on climate change for the last two years at Davos," said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense "But that has changed. The US drought, especially, has grabbed people's attention here in Davos because that has had a real effect on prices."

"The US has to be among the leaders in this global discussion, so it is a positive development," Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, said of Obama's inauguration speech, in which he made climate change a priority for his second term.

At the Davos summit, UN chief Ban Ki-moon indicated that he was also encouraged by Mr Obama's speech, while warning that climate change was approaching "much, much faster than one would expect".

Former Mexican president Felipe Calderon warned of "a climate crisis with potentially devastating impacts on the global economy".

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, made the point by saying: "Unless we take action on climate change, future generations will be roasted, toasted, fried and grilled."

However, the scope of the response from politicians and businesses is nowhere near what it needs to be if we are to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. The United Nations sponsored climate talks have agreed on a mandate to draw up a climate change plan by 2015 but it will only come into force in 2020.

While renewable energy continues to grow, the rapid growth in shale gas has hampered the growth of renewables. According to a WEF study, the world will need to invest $700 billion each year to curb fossil fuel use. The International Energy Agency warned that current trends indicate the world will burn around 1.2 billion more tonnes of coal per year by 2017 than it does today

Although more businesses are getting involved with sustainability, they require a clear regulatory framework from governments if they are to effectively plan for the future. As yet, this regulatory framework is not forthcoming.

And an analysis by Ecofys for Greenpeace, presented at Davos, found that just 14 carbon-intensive projects worldwide are set to increase global CO2 emissions by 20 per cent, or 6 gigatonnes. They range from coal expansion in Asia to the tar sands of Canada.

Addressing a packed plenary, Lagarde made the case for tackling the environment. Climate change she said, is “The biggest economic challenge of the 21st century… Make no mistake: without concerted action, the very future of our planet is in peril.”

Despite the slow pace of progress, it is heartening that world leaders are once again talking about the importance of acting to protect our environment from human activity.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
New Support for the Interconnectedness of the Economy and the Environement
WEF Global Risks Report 2013
The Green Economy is the Right Solution for our Troubled Times
Greentech and Renewables Help the Economy and Create Jobs
Historic Opportunities in the Green Economy
Corporate Sustainability is Driving Green the Green Economy
Launching of the New Global Green Economy
The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment
British Government to Lead the Green Economy
The Growth of London's Green Economy
Republican Governors See Value in Green
California's Government Partnerships are Driving the Green Economy
State of Green Business Report 2012
The Circular Economy (Video)
A Resource-Based Economy (Video)
China Leading the Green Economy (Video)
Building Gateways to the Green Economy
Action on Climate Change

National Day of Action in Canada Protesting Conservative's Assault on the Environment

On January 28th Canadians from across the country will be protesting the environmental policies of the ruling Conservative government. Last year the Harper Conservatives made countless efforts to undermine democratic protections, including two massive omnibus budget bills that gutted environmental laws, cut services and infringed on Aboriginal rights and title.

Canada's Members of Parliament are returning to Ottawa on Monday, January 28th, and people from across the country are planning a national day of action to show the government that Canadians are coming together to stand up for our democracy.

The Day of Action is being staged by a broad range of civil society groups have organized a new network called Common Causes to coordinate their efforts to hold this government accountable and promote democracy, environmental protection and human rights. These groups are hosting this Monday’s rallies across Canada to welcome MPs returning to Parliament,

Common Causes has planned this Monday’s day of action with the Idle No More movement, and the joint rallies will support the movement’s goals of defending Aboriginal rights and title and protecting our shared environment.

Common Causes Rallies and Events - Monday January 28th

Common Causes Rallies
Idle No More

Ottawa – March and Rally 
Place and Time: 11:10am Victoria Island March. Gather at #CommonCauses banner and march together in solidarity to Parliament Hill for Speeches. 2:15pm Parliament Hill - Maude Barlow delivers a message on behalf of Common Causes. Contact: Anil Naidoo anil@canadians.org

Courtenay/Comox – Rally
Place and Time: 12:00 noon at 3310 Comox Road across from the I-Hos Gallery. Contact: Kathie Woodley, riverside11@shaw.ca

Edmonton – Solidarity Event
Place and Time: 12:15pm – Churchill Square Contact: Bill Moore-Kilgannon, billmk@pialberta.org

Guelph – Screening and Discussion
Place and Time: 7pm, Room 103, University Centre, University of Guelph – Toxic Trespass screening with Q&A (Possible mid-afternoon march TBC) Contact: nrchaloner@hotmail.com

Halifax – March and Rally
Place and Time: 10am – Gathering at the Holiday Inn parking, March across the MacDonald Bridge, rally at either Halifax Commons or Citadel Hill Contact: Angela Giles – agiles@canadians.org

Kamloops – Information Evening with Idle No More
Place and Time: 6pm at the Smorgasbord Deli, 225 - 7th Ave. Kamloops Contact: Anita Strong, dnastrong1@gmail.com

Kelowna – Rally at Enbridge Hearings
Place and Time: 12:30pm at the Sandman Inn, 2130 Harvey Street, Kelowna Contact: Lois B, loandcoagain@hotmail.com

London – Rally
Place and Time: 10:30am – 546 King Street (at William), London - in front of Conservative MP Susan Truppe’s constituency office Contact: jkennedy@golden.net

Montreal – Film Screening and Solidarity Statements
Place and Time: 7pm, Concordia H110, Hall Building, 1455 Maisonneuve W. Montreal Contact: Abdul Pirani, abdul.pirani@cgocable.ca

Nanaimo – Rally
Place and Time: 12:00 noon – Diane Krall Plaza (in front of the Library) 90 Commercial Street, Nanaimo Contact: Paul Manly, paulmanly@shaw.ca

Oakville
Place and Time: 8:00am Oakville GO Station start The Reclaim Our Democratic Canada Get off the Omnibus Tour Contact: Clare Henderson, reclaimcanada@gmail.com

Peterborough
Date: Wednesday, January 30 Place and Time: George St. United Church, 7:00 - 9:30 pm Contact: Roy Brady, rbrady1@cogeco.ca

Prince Albert – Video Release
Place and Time: Video and press release on January 28th of weekend action Contact: Rick Sawa, rj.sawa@inet2000.com

Saint John – Townhall
Place and Time: 7pm - Saint John Arts Centre, 20 Hazen Avenue, Town Hall with Rob Moir, Pat Riley and Stephanie Merrill Contact: Leticia Adair, adairl@nb.sympatico.ca. For Information: 506 633-0398

Saskatoon – Townhall
Place and Time: 11:00 am - Multi-purpose room at Station 20 West 1120 20th Street West, Saskatoon Contact: Rick Sawa, rj.sawa@inet2000.com

Sechelt / Sunshine Coast – Rally
Place and Time: 4:00 to 5:30pm - Gather at the corners of Wharf Street and the Sunshine Coast Highway, 4:00 to 5:30pm – Action along Sunshine Coast Highway Contact: Jef Keighley, keighley@dccnet.com

Summerside – Rally – Note the Change
Place and Time: 12pm Noon - 250 Water Street in front of National Revenue Minister Gail Shea’s MP Office Contact - Leo Broderick, lcb45@eastlink.ca

Toronto – Banner Drop
Place and Time: 8-9am - Banner Drop along Don Valley Parkway at Wynford overpass (North of Eglinton) Banner Message - Don’t Sell Out Canada’s Future commoncauses.ca Contact: Mark Calzavara, mcalzavara@canadians.org

Vancouver – Rally with Idle No More
Place and Time: 12:00 noon at 1138 Melville Street, Vancouver, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Contact: Harjap Grewel, hgrewal@canadians.org

Windsor – Rally
Place and Time: 4pm - 186 Talbot Rd. Essex. Windsor - in front of Conservative MP Jeff Watson's constituency office Contact: Douglas Hayes, dhayes18@cogeco.ca

Related Posts
Canada is an Environmental Pariah at Rio+20
Canadian Government Spending on Dirty Projects
Conservative Budget Guts the Environment
Canadian Conservative's Support for Dirty Energy
Canada has the Dirtiest Oil on Earth (Video)
Canadian Conservatives Silence Opposition to the Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline
Canadian Conservatives Admit to Killing Environmental Dissent
Report: Canadian Government is Not Helping Business Prepare for Climate Change
Report: Canadian Businesses are Unprepared for Climate Change
Merkel and Harper: Two Opposing Energy Visions
Canada's GHG Ranking
Canada's Green Provincial Report Card
Action to Defend Canada's West Coast from Big Oil
How the Hell did Enbridge get on the DJSI?
Enbridge withdraws from Canada's Carbon Capture Farce

The Pervasiveness of Sustainability: Three Trends That Matter in 2013

This article was written by Carol Sanford and published at the end of 2012. Carol is CEO of InterOctave, Inc., a global consultancy and author of The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success (Jossey Bass). Carol has been leading major consulting change efforts in both Fortune 500 and new-economy businesses for more than 30 years. Her client list includes Colgate Europe and Africa and DuPont Canada, US, Asia and Europe. She also works with new-economy companies like Intel, Agilent and leaders of corporate responsibility such as Seventh Generation.

Carol was shortlisted for Best Business Book of the Year (out of 11,000 Biz books) and was named to Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior for 2012. She combines her economic development experience with her extensive business education and background when working with Responsible Governance in Community, Provincial and Regional Policy and Education.


Carol has published dozens of works in 10 languages, including a series of articles in Executive Excellence, Stephen Covey's newsletter and At Work, a Berrett-Koehler Journal. Central to Carol's philosophy and approach is a fresh look at what makes an organization truly responsible.

The rise of a new business culture that values young people exercising their personal agency. The hunger to know what is ‘trending’ is insatiable. Twitter notwithstanding, it takes a bit more of a step back to see patterns that are evolving rather than what is trending in the moment. I see three patterns that have been emerging for the last few years and signs of a much bigger place in the consciousness of business next year.

1. Looking Within: Creating Healthier Systems

Businesses are increasingly working across sections of targeted stakeholders, not just to get their input, but to create healthier systems with them. Five years ago Wal-Mart took the decision to reduce its own carbon footprint by collaborating with its elaborate supply chain. Now this is the pattern. Leaders inside businesses are seeing systems they affect and realizing that they can bring change across those systems. If the business is a key player in a field they can now potentially be the player that causes a shift.

For example, Google Food Services wants to change the way we think about food, our relationship with the food we consume and how Google – and our use of its services – impacts outsourcing suppliers. Can Google form a ‘united’ front to work on knurly challenges like behavior?

Setting such ambitious aims is a big shift, an exciting trend where the big players see their role in responsibility going far beyond their walls to match up with the challenges ahead.

2. Social Responsibility Becomes Pervasive

Social innovation and responsibility is becoming more transparent and pervasive as a way of being a good business. When I wrote The Responsible Business four years ago, I felt I was standing in an echo chamber listening to myself say that sustainability had two problems that needed to change soon if its intentions were to be achieved.

The first concern I had was that businesses were separating ‘sustainability’ into a distinctive function, which for the most part was isolating who thought about it and increasingly creating fragmented initiatives not systemic enough to really matter in a timely way.

Second, sustainability had people constantly working on creating less harm and not looking at how things worked when we have a healthy, evolving planet and community.

My metaphor: stop beating your wife less and work on a healthier marriage. We're still nowhere close to thinking like that but the conversation is shifting. I call this way of thinking, “above the line” because it joins with creating healthy systems rather than seeking to get us out of the way and slow down our actions.

The sustainability bookshelves and chat rooms everywhere are now filled with this conversation.

I look forward to a sense of responsibility that starts with strategy for healthy systems and fans out into all the work in a business, not just a department that counts reduced damage.

3. Leaving the Job Search in Search of Entrepreneurial Solutions

More and more high school students and young people are pursuing entrepreneurial ventures and ignoring the traditional job search, embedding responsibility along the way. From how they set up the business to how they employ, sell, create and market. They are not starting their careers with a sense of skepticism and instead taking the challenges head on with a clear understanding of sustainability and how they can impact our future.

This trend is the one I am very excited about.

I know that this surge was partially affected by the recession but what was born out of desperate times is now becoming a path of choice. On every continent, from Africa to Europe, Asia and South America, entrepreneurship is becoming part of high school curricula and businesses are becoming sponsors of social enterprise incubators.

As I work with economic development in places like the Finger Lakes regions of New York, I see economic development councils working with schools to enrich their small business offerings and to fund incubators within the schools. Then there is social media, like YouTube, which continues to stream thousands of entrepreneurial courses, many created by youth for youth. I expect to see a flood of new businesses in coming years, but more evidently, a new business culture that values young people exercising personal agency. And it is being advocated far and wide by media.

Taking the sum of these trends together, I am excited about 2013.

With responsibility becoming a question in all our actions and decisions, systems improvement goes beyond the walls of philanthropic ventures to business missions and the rise of a new and expanding generation of entrepreneurs.

Source: CSRwire

Related Articles

The Overwhelming Logic of Sustainable Business
Sustainability is an Unstoppable Megatrend
Sustainable Practices are a Strategic Priority for Business
Sustainability is an Economic Imperative: Meet 2012 CK Prahalad Award Winners (Video)
Message to the Federation of Small Businesses: Every Business Can Go Green (Video) 
The Business Community is Moving Forward with Sustainability
CFOs are Embracing Sustainability and Seeing Benefits
The Green Economy is the Right Solution for our Troubled Times
Corporate Sustainability is Driving Green the Green Economy
Launching of the New Global Green Economy
The False Choice Between the Economy and the Environment
Data Shows that Sustainability Pays
Sustainability Offers a Competitive Advantage and Better ROI
CDP Report Shows a Growing Number of Companies See the Risks Posed by Climate Change
Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point
The Growth of Sustainability as Revealed by 3 MIT Reports
MIT Survey Shows More Businesses are Embracing Sustainability and Turning a Profit
The Benefits of Sustainability in Business (Video)
How sustainability can Save your Business (Video)
The New Sustainability Advantage (Book)
Sustainable Successes and Failures
Cost Benefit Analysis of Sustainable Business