Halloween Campaign Opposing the Energy East Pipeline
If it is allowed to go forward, it will have a climate impact equivalent to over 7 million cars. That is why 350.org is shining a light on the Energy East climate nightmare this Halloween.
This Halloween, 350.org is encouraging people to carve "#NoEnergyEast Jack-O-Lanterns." They suggest that people deliver these pumpkins to their local elected offical's office or home.
They also suggest that people take pictures and post them on their social media portals and send them to news outlets. The goal is to build a national narrative showing that the Energy East pipeline is a climate nightmare.
Click here to sign up to lead an action! After signing up you will have access to printable Jack-O-Lantern templates and a full action kit.
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Six Simple Steps for a Greener Halloween
1. Decorations
Instead of buying materials for decorations, make your own using materials you have on hand. Avoid the technological gadgets that get used but once a year and often contain toxic materials that do not biodegrade.
Because they naturally biodegrade, pumpkins, gourds and leaves are some of the best decorations. Buy pumpkins from local farmers or better yet grow your own. Use the seeds in your pumpkin and the flesh. If you do not eat your pumpkin make sure you compost it rather than throwing it out and having it end up in a landfill.
If you are going to use electric lighting make sure to use highly efficient low energy LEDs.
2. Costumes
Use old clothes to cobble together your own costumes or shop at thrift shops, second hand stores and yard sales, instead of buying retail.
If you must buy a costume, try to find places that swap costumes rather than buying a new one.
3. Parties
If you are throwing a party avoid disposable tableware and other décor.
Composting all remaining organic matter and recycle other items.
4. Treats
Make your own treats like candy apples or buy locally produced candies and treats. Try to purchase those with minimal packaging or packaging that is made out of recycled materials that will biodegrade.
Make sure that what you buy uses sustainably sourced ingredients. More than half of the world's cocoa is grown in West Africa (Ghana and Ivory Coast) where child labor, trafficking and forced labor are prevalent. To address these problems buy fair trade certified cocoa that meets various labor, social, and environmental standards.
5. Trick-or-Treat Bags
Use (and decorate) household items like cloth (eg pillowcases), paper bags or even a bucket instead of ones made out of plastic.
6. Walk Don't Drive
As much as possible walk to parties or when trick or treating with the kids. This reduces your carbon emissions.
Halloween is a Retailers Dream and an Environmental Nightmare
During the period between October and December, retailers make up as much as 30 percent of their yearly sales numbers. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans are expected to spend a total of 7.4 billion on costumes, candy, decorations and greeting cards this year. This represents a 7 percent increase over last year.
The two worst Halloween buys for the environment are decorations and costumes. Both are commonly made of plastic that end up in landfills and do not break down. Plastics also contain endocrine-disrupting phthalates toxins including bisphenolic compounds like BPA.
Surpassed only by Christmas, Halloween is the second biggest decorating holiday of the year. Decoration sales have gone from $84 million in 2005 to $2 billion this year.
Consumers are expected to spend $2.44 billion on costumes. There are more adult costumes being sold on Halloween than are worn by the estimated 41 million kids that will be going door to door trick or treating tonight. The spend on pet costumes has grown from $220 million in 2010 to $350 million in 2014 as about 23 million people are expected to dress up their pets this year.
The 2014 spend breaks down to an average of $77.52 per person representing a 63 percent increase over 2005. The average spend on costumes is expected to be $27.85, and candy is expected to average $22.37 per person.
Halloween candy has gone from $1.16 billion in 2005 to a projected $2.23 billion this year. Chocolate is the favorite Halloween candy, with more than 90 million pounds being sold, followed by candy corn, more than 35 million pounds of the sweet confectionery are produced each year.
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Phase One of a Massive Solar Project Competed at the University of Arizona
When completed the installation will produce an annual total of 1,986 MWh of solar energy. The project will help TEP to meet or exceed the mandates of Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES). Under Arizona's RES electric utilities must increase their use of renewable energy each year until it accounts for a minimum of 15 percent of their total power production by 2025.
University of Arizona's Tech Park Solar Zone is a multi-technology testing, evaluation and demonstration site. It is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.
Our Planet's Primal Scream -- Is Anyone Listening?
Recent headlines have sounded the alarm on the mounting impacts of climate change. Over the past few months, we have seen everything from the hottest summer on record, to historic droughts and extreme wildfires ravaging communities in California, to vanishing wildlife habitat in Alaska, to toxic algae blooming out of control and contaminating drinking water supplies in America's heartland.
How much more do we need to know about the devastating effects of climate change before Congress takes action?
In California, the first six months of 2014 were the hottest on record, and 82 percent of the state is currently experiencing extreme drought. And the situation is expected to get worse -- recently scientists predicted that 2014 will end as the hottest year ever recorded. Experts also tell us that climate change has tripled the probability that the drought-causing weather conditions will continue.
This historic drought is contributing to more frequent and intense wildfires. In the past, California's wildfire season lasted about three months out of the year, but now it is virtually year-round, and that is straining our state's budget.
Disturbing pictures in Alaska showed 35,000 walruses -- almost all females and calves -- stranded on a beach. They should have been able to use the Arctic sea ice to dive for food, but the ice is gone. Temperatures in Alaska's North Pacific Ocean are the warmest ever recorded, and the amount of Arctic sea ice shrank to one of its lowest levels on record. According to new peer-reviewed findings, the warming waters and melting ice have also led to sea levels rising at rates unprecedented over the last 6,000 years.
In August, toxins were found in Toledo's drinking water supply after an algae bloom formed over an intake pipe in Lake Erie. An emergency water ban was imposed to protect 500,000 Ohioans from the dangerous toxins, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and harm to the liver. Scientists have warned us for years that poisonous algae blooms are exacerbated by climate change.
The examples in California, Alaska, and Ohio are major wake-up calls about the damage that has already been done to our planet.
However, instead of confronting this crisis, congressional Republicans are trying to gut our clean air protections that help tackle dangerous climate change. Over the past four years, the Republican House has voted well over a 100 times to repeal the health-based standards that are the heart of the Clean Air Act, including trying to roll back the president's authority to limit carbon pollution.
President Obama has taken important steps to address climate change, such as proposing standards to control dangerous carbon pollution from power plants. Cutting carbon pollution will also reduce many types of other air pollutants that threaten human health with respiratory illnesses like asthma. We all benefit from having clean air to breathe -- it literally saves lives.
We also know that safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, and growing the economy work together. Since the passage of the Clean Air Act four decades ago, air pollution emissions have dropped 72 percent while our economy has grown substantially. During the same period, the U.S. gross domestic product grew 219 percent and total private sector jobs increased by 101 percent.
This environmental success story is now threatened by climate change deniers, because failing to address climate change now will only increase the harmful impacts and financial burden on all Americans. When our water supplies are contaminated, who pays to clean it up? When wildfires grow out of control, who pays to put them out? When record temperatures put lives at risk, who pays for community cooling centers? The American taxpayers foot the bill.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has a report coming out early next month that is expected to once again tell us that we have a very short window to act on climate change, and scientific evidence is overwhelming that we must reduce dangerous carbon pollution before it leads to irreversible impacts for human health, food and water supplies, and vital infrastructure.
What we need is a price on carbon pollution to reflect its true costs on society. Last year, Senator Bernie Sanders and I introduced the Climate Protection Act. Our bill would establish a fee on each ton of carbon pollution emitted from the petroleum, coal, and natural gas that we produce and import. Under our bill, 60 percent of the revenue would be returned directly to taxpayers, and the remaining portion would be reinvested in promoting renewable energy, enhancing job growth in a clean energy economy, and increasing the resilience in the nation's infrastructure.
The American people want Congress to address climate change, as poll after poll has shown. Just last month in New York, 400,000 people demonstrated their support for action on dangerous climate change.
Congress must respond to this citizen call for action. I ask colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in this fight. We owe it to future generations to take meaningful steps to address dangerous climate change now. There is no more time to waste.
Democrats Getting Paid to Oppose Climate Change
If you follow the science or even know how to read, it is hard to understand how anyone could ignore the overwhelming body of evidence supporting climate change. It is especially hard to understand how these officials could support the fossil fuel industry and oppose climate legislation.
Republicans ignore climate change as part of a party wide strategy to oppose President Obama and support the fossil fuel industry. Resistance to climate action from a Democrat's perspective seems somewhat incomprehensible, that is until you factor the financial incentives. To illustrate the point, consider what Democrats in Arkansas and Alaska are getting in return for their fossil fuel advocacy and refusal to support climate legislation.
Democrat Mark Pryor is a Senator from Arkansas who was first elected in 2003. According to the Center for Responsive Politics he has received more than $111,000 from the oil and gas industry between 2003 and 2008. From 2009-2014, he received $247,000.
Democrat Mark Peter Begich is a Senator from Alaska who was first elected in 2007. Begich did even better than his colleague from Arkansas. He got $142,000 from the oil and gas industry between 2007 and 2009. Since then, he has gotten more than $366,000.
Why do Democrats ignore the facts about climate change? Because acting in the interests of their constituencies is nowhere near as lucrative.
Europe Leads the Way Towards a Global Climate Agreement
This is yet another reason to buoy optimism that a global climate agreement can be reached in 2015. Some Europeans wanted even more ambitious targets to further reduce the continent's reliance on natural gas and provide jobs in the green energy sectors.
Europe's leadership is welcome news as we await a draft climate treaty which is scheduled to be produced in Lima, Peru this December. National declarations are due in the early part of 2015. It is clear that the world must go far beyond the tepid pledges made at the Copenhagen talks in 2009.
The talks in Durban and Cancun as well as the recent talks in New York give us reason to hope that progress is possible.
"We have sent a strong signal to other big economies and all other countries: we have done our homework, now we urge you to follow Europe's example," the EU climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, said.
An Upside to Low Oil Prices?
Declining oil prices are attributable to the fact that there is now more supply than demand. The low oil prices may be part of an effort by OPEC to leverage market forces that will slow extraction of tar sands oil in North America.
As oil prices decline extracting oil becomes less profitable. This particularly applies to dirty energy and resource intensive tar sands oil. By reducing margins it reduces the incentive for extraction. This applies downward pressure on the rush to exploit the Alberta tar sands and the Bakken shale in North Dakota.
To be profitable tar sands oil demands prices of between $60 and $100 per barrel. Goldman Sachs has predicted that oil prices will fall to around $70 per barrel in 2015. That is just ahead of the low end of the breakeven range. The current price of oil is around $80 per barrel.
At $70 a barrel this is below the break-even price for Bakken shale oil which is about $77 per barrel. The break-even point for Alberta's tar sands are even lower at $63.50 per barrel.
Even if low oil prices manage to slow extraction of Bakken shale oil and the Alberta tar sands, it would still encourage more oil use and this will increase emissions. Cost cutting measures to maximize profit margins may also eat away at emissions reductions efforts associated with the extraction and refining of these dirty sources of energy.
Low oil prices will have a harmful impact on renewable energy as they will decrease investment and slow the growth of renewable energy.
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Climate Change in the Levant and Socio Economic Impacts
The Levant, also known as the Eastern Mediterranean, is a geographic and cultural region consisting of the eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt. The Levant today consists of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria, and part of southern Turkey. This area is already suffering from climate change and water scarcity in particular.
Climate change impacts are compounded by weak governments and fragile economies. Like many parts of the Arab world, population growth is placing even greater demands on resources that are already severely strained.
Climate change sets in motion or compounds a vicious cycle where population growth, water scarcity, diminished agricultural yields all come together to make life very difficult. Add to the mix military conflicts and self interested political partisanship and you have a recipe for disaster.
One of the world's leading experts on climate change impacts in the Levant region is Dr Hamed Assaf. He holds a PhD. in Civil Engineering, specializing in water resources. In 2009, he led a workshop titled, "Climate Change, Water and the Policy Making Process in the Levant and North Africa." He was also the Lead the writer of the water chapter in the World Bank’s "Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Region: A Climate Change Flagship Progress Report." The findings of the report were incorporated into IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
Assaf and others have predicted that water scarcity in the region will have a cascade of socio-economic impacts. In light of inefficient irrigation techniques, agricultural self sufficiency will be made almost impossible in a world ravaged by climate change. The interrelated chain of water scarcity, increasing food insecurity and poverty could also exacerbate social tension and lead to conflict.
The Levant region is already forced to import much of the food it consumes and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this situation is destined to get far worse. The entire Arab world is expected to get even hotter and drier.
According to a number of general circulation models (GCMs) the Levant region will be severely impacted by climate change. This is expected to cause extreme water scarcity. Research by the Arab Development and Environment Forum the Levant states will see further reductions of water ranging between 15 and 50 percent in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. The Nile is expected to see its flow diminish by 40-60 percent and it there will likely be droughts with increasing frequency and intensity.
More heat, less rain, expanded desertification and urban expansion will come together to diminish agricultural lands. This will in turn drive up the price of produce. Countries like Jordan and Syria are already dependent on water from outside their own borders.
As reviewed in a report by Mohammed El Raey sea level rise is a major concern for Arab countries. Rising sea levels could contaminate aquifers on which the people of Gaza depend (the situation in the Palestinian territories is further compounded by Israel's stringent control of water resources). Sea level rises could also cause salt intrusions into Iraq and Lebanon.
Climate change impacts on coastal communities will be widespread and include the areas of agriculture, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries. Lebanon will be among the worst hit as its largest cities are coastal and they account most of the countries primary economic activities (commercial, financial, industrial, agricultural, fishing and tourism).
While more research is required to better understand and manage the situation, it is difficult for economically disadvantaged and weak governments to conduct such research, particularly amidst sectarian strife and war.
Climate Denial will Soon be Political Suicide
Speaking at Yale University, on Tuesday, October 14th, the United States' lead climate negotiator said that climate change denial could soon become a political liability.
"We have all seen in recent years the abruptness with which hot-button issues can suddenly become the stuff of consensus," Todd Stern, the special envoy on climate change for the US State Department, told students, faculty and members of the public.
Either as a function of the scientific evidence or as a consequence of persuasive extreme weather events like super storm Sandy, Americans will be forced to come to terms with the reality of climate change. This will shape public opinion and make climate denial political suicide. Once public opinion achieves a critical mass, Republicans will be forced to adopt climate friendly positions.
"I doubt, even a year from now, whether major political candidates will consider it viable to deny the existence of climate change," Stern said.
The speech came just a few weeks ahead of US midterm elections scheduled for November 4. Stern will be present at the 20th meeting of the UN climate conference in Lima, Peru scheduled for December of this year. It is hoped that this meeting will chart the course toward a successful international climate agreement in 2015.
NWF EcoLeaders Community
NWF’s EcoLeaders is the first online community of its kind where student leaders can connect with student leaders across the country for support and inspiration. They can also access resources, start projects and track actions and share updates. Those who participate in EcoLeaders earn national recognition for demonstrated leadership skills and positive impact on the environment. The NWFs Campus Ecology program has been working with colleges and universities for more than 25 years to protect wildlife and habitat through campus sustainability efforts. The EcoLeaders community recognizes and supports students as catalysts for change. The also provide an opportunity to both learn about environmental issues and act on them. To collaborate with leaders and develop sustainability skills.
NWF EcoLeaders was at the recent AASHE conference, which is the world's largest gathering of gathering of higher education sustainability professionals and students in North America.
Sunday, October 26, they shared stories from student sustainability leaders. At this workshop they addressed best practices and collaboration approaches to realize successful projects.
On Tuesday, October 28th they explored the use of online tools in support of offline action and innovation. The used a number of real world examples and case studies to illustrate how to build support and recruit participants to their programs.
On Tuesday, October 28th in a seminar titled "Years of Living Dangerously," Hollywood’s brightest stars and today’s most respected journalists explored the issues of climate change and recounted intimate stories of triumph and tragedy. Present at this event were James Cameron, Jerry Weintraub and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
For more information click here.
Chart - Efficiency National Rankings (GGEI)
Polling Data: Climate Change and the US Midterm Elections
In Pew Research’s 2014 Political Typology survey, 61 percent of Americans said there is solid evidence that Earth’s average temperature has been getting warmer over the past few decades. However, 18 percent said the warming mostly because of natural environmental patterns.
A 2013 survey by Stanford University showed that a majority of citizens in every state—including energy-producing ones—agreed that the US should do more to address climate change and limit greenhouse gases from businesses and power plants.
Even though Americans want to see more action on climate change, several studies show they do not perceive it to be a priority issue. An August 2014 poll asked Americans to prioritize global threats, the results show that climate change ranked very low. The survey stated that Americans are far more concerned about the militant group ISIS (67%), Iran’s nuclear program (59%) North Korea’s nuclear program (57%) Russia (53%) and infectious disease (52%). Climate change was considered a global threat by less than half of Americans (48%).
According to an international poll in 2013, the US is among the countries whose people are least concerned about climate change. In a January 2014 poll, global warming was at the bottom of American priorities for President Obama and Congress with only slightly more than one quarter of Americans (28%) saying it was a top priority.
The January poll suggests a decline in American's prioritization of climate change. A November 2013 poll asking Americans about their long range foreign policy goals ranked climate change well behind guarding against terrorism (83%) and jobs (83%). Only 37 percent of Americans identified climate change as a priority.
The difference between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans remains a stark study of contrasts. As revealed in a Pew Poll, about nine-in-ten Solid Liberals (91%) said the Earth is getting warmer, but just two-in-ten conservatives (21%) agreed. A total of 75 percent of conservatives thought we have gone too far to protect the environment while only only 2 percent of liberals shared that view.
A September, CBS News/New York Times Poll found that 63 percent of Democrats think climate change should be given top priority while only 40 percent of Republicans felt the same way. Conversely 51 percent of Republicans thought that economic growth should be given top priority while only 34 percent of Democrats shared that view.
When asked if global warming is having an impact now, 61 percent of Democrats said yes while 26 percent of Republicans agreed. Only 24 percent of Republicans think global warming will pose a serious threat to their way of life in their lifetimes, while 56 percent of Democrats said that it would.
The Pew Research Center/USA Today poll indicated that a total of 68 percent of Democrats think climate change is a "major threat," while only 24 percent of Republicans share that view.
A similar divide also exists between old and young. According a recent poll by the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), nearly 80 percent of voters 35 and under nationally said they are more likely to vote for someone who supports climate action. However, young people tend not to vote in midterm elections. Democrats are also less likely to turn out to vote in the midterm elections than their Republican counterparts.
Even though people may support action on climate change it does not always influence their voting decisions. This has created a situation where many politicians can afford to hold ideologically motivated climate positions which are at odds with their constituents’.
These polls have clear implications for climate change in the forthcoming midterms and the legislative agenda in the coming year. A Republican advance will stymie even the most modest efforts to engage climate change.
This midterm election may have repercussions not only for the future of the US but for the globe as a whole. Republican control of the Senate could very well make it difficult for President Obama to sign a global climate agreement in 2015. If the world's largest economy refuses to sign on it will all but dash hopes of keeping global temperature increases below the internationally upon 2 degree Celsius upper threshold limit.
© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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Nobel Prize Winning Economist Supports Immediate Emissions Reduction
While some of Tirole's research has focused on climate change, his Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded for his analysis of market power and regulation in natural monopolies and oligopoly.
The 61 year old French professor of economics focuses on industrial organization, game theory, banking and finance, economics and psychology. In 2001 he calculated the optimal prices for the regulation of natural monopolies and wrote a number of articles about the regulation of capital markets.
The fact that someone with the intellectual insight and experience of Dr. Tirole strongly advocates for an immediate and binding international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions is important. His support is premised on a lifetime of understanding market dynamics and regulation. Along with many others, Tirole argues that it will be more costly and difficult to reign in emissions the longer we wait.
Tirole directly challenges the pillar of conservatism that suggest markets work best when left alone. He has shown how markets can both fail and be inefficient. He therefore suggests that both policy and regulation must pay heed to these facts.
Tirole reiterates something Sir Nicholas Stern said in 2006, "Climate change is the greatest market failure the world has ever seen."
Chart - Green Cities Ranking (GGEI)
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Global Green Economy Index 2014
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Systems Thinking and Sustainability
A system is a set of interrelated elements that make a unified whole. As explained by John Muir, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." The logic behind this approach suggests that we cannot fully understand anything apart from the larger systems in which they exist. Systems thinking encourages us to appreciate terms of relationships, connectedness, and context.
A systems approach is one in which a collection of interrelated parts are brought together to achieve a set of objectives. Ludwig von Bertalanffy, often called the father of the systems approach said "In order to understand an organized whole, we must know both the parts as well as the relation between them."
Systems thinking is crucial in our era of big data. It is vital to the task of overseeing the diverse array of components associated with sustainability. In fact the complexity and the sheer volume of information demand a systems approach.
The average company can have anywhere from 10 to 30 different sustainability focus topics. A systems approach ties these elements together in meaningful ways that enable better strategic decision making.
Just as understanding the natural world necessitates an appreciation of the relationships between various aspects of an ecosystem, reports that document interrelationships are important to business leaders. For CEOs and CFOs, timely and accurate sustainability information is vital. Reporting that is integrated, material and in context is a value driver, informing decision making and facilitating access to investment. Keys to success are internal collaboration, internal knowledge transfer and above all removing the silo mentality.
Sustainability drives financial value and a systems approach is an important way of bringing together components that are far too often fragmented.
Global Green Economy Index 2014
Here is a summary of their results:
• Germany (perception) and Sweden (performance) top the 2014 GGEI, confirming a trend observed in prior editions of strong results by Germany and the Nordic states. Besides performing well on both the economic and environmental areas of the GGEI, these nations display consistent green leadership and receive global recognition for it.
• Costa Rica performs extremely well, ranking third on the GGEI performance measure behind Sweden and Norway and receiving strong recognition on the perception survey, an impressive result for such a small country. Click here for the complete list of countries.
• Like in 2012, Copenhagen is the top green city as ranked by our survey of global experts, reinforcing the continued strength of the Danish green brand. Tracked for the first time this year, Vancouver and Singapore also rank in the top 10 of green cities.
Emerging Trends
• Many of the fastest growing economies in the world rank poorly on the GGEI performance measure, highlighting an urgent need to reorient their economies to greener growth pathways. Regionally, these countries are mostly in Africa (Ghana), the Gulf (Qatar,United Arab Emirates), and Asia (Cambodia, China, Thailand, Vietnam);
• There are concerning results related to more developed countries as well – notably Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States – where perceptions of their green economic performance dramatically exceed their actual performance on the GGEI. These countries appear to receive more credit than they deserve, an information gap that requires further exploration;
• Despite its leadership founding the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea continues not to register as a green country brand on our survey and performs poorly, ranked 39th out of 60 on this year’s GGEI. Despite better perception results, Japan also performs poorly on the 2014 GGEI, ranked 44th out of 60;
• While the United Kingdom performs adequately in most areas of the GGEI, it doesn’t excel on any one topic, possibly due to inconsistent political rhetoric and policy related to green economy there. While gradually improving in each successive GGEI edition, the UK still lags behind its northern European and Nordic competitors;
• Five European nations - Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Spain – reveal performance scores that exceed their perception ones significantly – signaling an urgent need for better strategic communications and information exchange of their green merits and associated investment opportunities.
• The GGEI results reveal a similar observation for a variety of non-European states - including Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda and Zambia in Africa and Colombia, Chile and Peru in Latin America – again suggesting a need for these states to better position their green economies on the international stage.
The GGEI also suggests how to reorient global growth towards a low carbon, resource efficient pathways. To access the full report click here PDF.
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Ranking of National Performance in the Green Economy (GGEI)
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The Best and the Worst Climate Performers (CDP)
The Business of Sustainability: A Frame for Analysis and an Antidote to Short Term Thinking
Engaging sustainability is not just to placate shareholders or even preempt the activities of government regulators. Employing sustainability analysis is a forward looking strategy of corporate governance that can offer beneficial outcomes for companies, shareholders, governments and societies.
Short term planning (short-termism) is one of the biggest hurdles impeding long term growth. Looking at the world from a sustainability perspective expands time horizons and forces leaders to look at the longer term.
Sustainability projects that cut emissions or reduce energy consumption have life spans that are commonly a decade or more, and so they demand a willingness to invest for the long term. Far from being a liability, stepping outside the narrow confines of short term-termism adds value.
While investors commonly demand immediate returns on their investments, their is a growing understanding in the investment community of the risks associated with ignoring the long term view.
In the final analysis, sustainability is about being able to capture, create and deliver more economic value. However, to succeed in this endeavor firms must be able develop long term plans. They must connect and communicate these plans across their entire organization, as well as to their value and investment chains.
Analyzing business operations from a sustainability perspective can lend itself to an approach that integrates tactical elements into a cohesive long term strategy.
Event - Solar Network Summit
This event will take place on October 29-30 in Washington, DC. Distributed solar has the potential to be a trillion dollar industry. This invitation-only conference of principal players in the solar industry is Powered by Distributed Sun and the Distribute Solar Network team. The agenda includes keynote guests, presentations and thought-provoking, informative discussions about the latest trends in deal origination and finance, risk evaluation and common practices. Come develop new partnerships that can help you build your business and accelerate the growth of the marketplace.
Speakers
Conrad Burke – Global Marketing Director, DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions
Evelyn Butler – Director of Business development, Underwriters Laboratories
Brian Carey – Principal, PwC
Trevor D’Olier-Lees – Director, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Michael Eckhart - Managing Director, Citi Corporate & Investment Banking
Brian Graham - President, BancAlliance
Terry Grant – Managing Director, Marathon Capital
Pamela J. Newman – President and CEO of The Newman Team at Aon
Curtis Probst – MD, Rocky Mountain Institute
Jigar Shah – Founder, SunEdison
Chase Weir – CEO, Distributed Sun
To register click here.
Event - International Conference on Ocean Energy
Hosted by Marine Renewables Canada in partnership with the Government of Canada, Government of Nova Scotia, and Offshore Energy Research Association, the 2014 ICOE will be a North American first.
ICOE is the global venue for exchange of information and building relationships, in order to grow a world-wide marine renewable energy industry. ICOE was first established in 2006 and is now held every two years. It has grown to almost 1000 participants from almost 40 countries, had a significant tradeshow in 2012, and is now recognized as the world’s pre-eminent industry-development event.
The goal of the conference and exhibition is to advance industry development by sharing recent experiences from development, demonstration and technology transfer efforts. It aims to accelerate development by stimulating collaboration between companies, researchers and development centres. It also targets engagement of operators with experience in related marine and power industry sectors.
This year’s conference is expected to engage the developing world of marine renewable energy and continue growing industry- to- industry linkages. It will also continue to strengthen the engagement of the International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy (INORE), ensuring that the young professionals who will build this industry connect with its current pioneers.
To register click here.
Event - Net Impact Conference and Expo: Breaking Boundaries
This event will be attended by 2,700 emerging leaders, 350 inspirational speakers and more than 100 sessions.
This year's lineup of keynotes and speakers features corporate leaders, nonprofit visionaries, and innovative entrepreneurs. The 2014 Net Impact Expo networking event connects you with more than 90 companies, nonprofits, and social enterprises.
To see a video and get more information on the event click here.
Event - Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development
This year, Eco-Business and Global Initiatives will convene the third Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development - the region's largest and highest-level event for responsible and sustainable business.
Themed ‘Building prosperity with economic, social and natural capital’, the forum will bring regional and global leaders from business, government and the NGO community to share practical solutions for sustainable growth. Topics discussed will include equitable economic growth, creating shared value, inclusive business and next-level integrated reporting.
High-level working groups across seven sectors - building & urban infrastructure, consumer goods, financial services, food, beverage and agriculture, forestry, renewable energy and shipping - will produce actionable recommendations for building a more prosperous society and planet.
Confirmed speakers include:
George Tanasijevich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Marina Bay Sands
Luisa Diogo, former Prime Minister, Mozambique & member, UN Secretary-Generals
High-level Panel on Sustainable Development
Grace Fu, Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore
Mark Kenber, Chief Executive Officer, The Climate Group
Sally Uren, Chief Executive Officer, Forum for the Future
Malcolm Preston, Global Head of Sustainability Services, PwC
Mark Kramer, Managing Director, FSG
Azman Mokhtar, Chief Executive Officer, Khazanah
Peter Chambers, Managing Director, Rajawali Group
Richard Mattison, Chief Executive Officer, Trucost
Signe Bruun Jensen, Head of Sustainability, Maersk Line
Jon Johnson, Chairman and Academic Director, The Sustainability Consortium
Tod Gimbel, Managing Director, Landmark Asia
Namita Vikas, Senior President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Yes Bank
Rob Morrison, Chairman, Kiwibank
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC (video)
Toby Heaps, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Knights Inc
Mark Ingram, Chief Executive Officer, Business for Millennium Development
Simon Bennett, General Manager-Sustainable Development, Swire
Jessica Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, ASRIA
PJ Simmons, Chair, Corporate Eco Forum
Lory Tan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, WWF Philippines
Amir Emami, Director of Development, Earth Observatory of Singapore, NTU
Edwin Khew, Chairman, Sustainable Energy Association Singapore
Nigel Stansfield, Chief Innovation Officer, Interface Inc
Amanda McCluskey, Co-Head of Sustainability Funds, First State Investments
James Lowrey, Global Banking – Resources, Energy and Infrastructure, ANZ
Ishan Palit, Chief Executive Officer, TUV SUD
Nguyen Quang Vinh,General Secretary, Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development
Kaveh Zahedi, Regional Director & Representative for the Asia and the Pacific, UNEP
Todd Freeland, Director General, Private Sector, Asian Development Bank
Please join us to help shape the future of responsible business for your industry.
To register or see a detailed review of the issues that will be addressed click here.
Event - AASHE Conference and Expo
AASHE’s Conference & Expo remains the largest stage in North America for sharing effective models, policies, research, collaborations and transformative actions. Poster sessions are an effective forum for the exchange of information and a means to communicate ideas, research, best practices, innovations and programs.
For more information and who should attend click here. Click here for the Conference schedule or to register.
Video - The Mission and Goals of the Center for Green Schools.
On Saturday, September 28th, the Center for Green Schools (a USGBC program) sponsored its second annual global Green Apple Day of Service. Companies, parents, teachers, students, and other organizations engaged in local service projects with the goal of eventually transforming all schools into healthy, safe and productive learning environments.
One-quarter of the population of the United States enter schools everyday. Many of these schools use energy inefficiently and the indoor air may be filled with toxins and mold.
Projects include energy and water conservation, indoor improvements, outdoor planting, recycling and many more.
Make sure to see the article titled, "Comprehensive Green School Information and Resources." It contains links to over 200 articles covering everything you need to know about sustainable academics, student's eco-initiatives, green school buildings, and college rankings as well as a wide range of related information and resources.
Video - The Psychology Behind our Inaction on Climate Change
This video explains the psychology of why we have yet to adequately acknowledge and respond to climate change. This TEDx talk features Dan Miller, managing director and co-founder of The Roda Group, a cleantech venture capital group based in Berkeley, California. Miller discusses the fact that as a slow moving and seemingly invisible threat humans are not evolutionarily programed to respond to climate change. Miller goes on to discuss a Fee and Dividend approach as a model for solving the climate crisis. This approach inspires innovation and will help usher in a new energy economy.
Video - Green California Schools Summit: Why Attend
Who should attend?
Representatives from public, public charter and private schools, and their private sector partners, including:
School District Superintendents
Principals
Board Members
Administrators
Facility Directors
Operations Directors
Facility Planners & Designers
Building Maintenance Managers
Business Officers
Purchasing Officers
Transportation Specialists
Curriculum Directors
Teachers
Government officials and policymakers
County Office of Education Administrators
Architects
Construction managers
Engineers
Finance officers
Energy managers
Waste management specialists
Anyone involved with implementing green and sustainable activities in schools!
For more information and to receive a 20 percent discount click here.
Make sure to see the article titled, "Comprehensive Green School Information and Resources." It contains links to over 200 articles covering everything you need to know about sustainable academics, student's eco-initiatives, green school buildings, and college rankings as well as a wide range of related information and resources.
Video - Companies Combating Climate Change (CDP Report)
In this video, Lord Adair Turner, Former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, James Bevan, Chief Investment Officer at CCLA and Paul Simpson talk about the CDP report which ranks companies in terms of their climate performance. This report comes on the heels of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services which stated that climate change will hit countries' economic growth rates and public finances. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently said that climate change is, "the single biggest risk that exists to the economy today."
The IPCC has also indicated that we are a mere 30 years away from exhausting our carbon budget. The current emissions trajectory is dangerously unsustainable. To address the crisis we face both businesses and governments need to substantially raise their carbon reduction efforts.
Related
The Best and the Worst Climate Performers (CDP)
Climate Action Enhances Profit by 9.6% (2014 CDP Report)
Sustainability is Profitable According to the CDP's 2014 Climate Change Report
CDP Studies: Growth of Sustainability and Profitability
CDP Report Shows Sustainability Offers a Competitive Advantage & Better ROI
Corporate America is Benefiting from Taking Action on Climate Change
CDP Climate Disclosure Leaders List 2014
CDP Climate Performance Leaders List 2014
CDP Global 500 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index 2013
CDP Global 500 Climate Performance Leadership Index 2013
CDP Global Climate Change Leaders 2013: Top 12 Companies According to Both CPLI and CDLI
The CDP's 2013 Top Fourteen US Companies (Disclosure and Performance)
CDP Studies: Growth of Sustainability and Profitability
The Low Carbon Business Opportunity
US Firms are Improving but they are Being Outperformed on Sustainability
Top Ten Companies in the 2012 Carbon Disclosure Project Report
CDP Report Shows a Growing Number of Companies See the Risks Posed by Climate Change
CDP Identifies Germany as the Global Sustainability Leader
CDP Report Shows a Growing Number of Companies are Embracing Sustainability
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