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Six Types of Sustainability

September 10, 2015 Add Comment Edit

Sustainability is an expansive concept that applies widely. Commonly, the definition of sustainability is narrowly defined particularly by entrepreneurs and some members of the business community.

Many focus on profitability, at the expense of the five other dimensions of sustainability. Profitability is only one of the three pillars of the so called three legged stool of sustainability (people, planet and profits).

While no one can deny the importance of profitability, some fail to recognize how the other elements of sustainability can also contribute to or detract from the bottom line.

The three legged stool can be further subdivided into six overlapping sub-components of sustainability.

Commercial sustainability is largely about the importance of generating a profit to sustain a company's viability. Environmental sustainability is about the environmental impacts associated with a business while ecological sustainability is about the impacts on bio diversity. Economic sustainability is a reflection of the market's ability to carry a business while social sustainability deals with the social impacts of a business. Finally regulatory sustainability is about being onside with government regulations and laws.

Failure to understand and incorporate issues on any of these dimensions of sustainability can have adverse implications for the others.

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Event - The Proudly for Purpose Telesummit: Demystifying the Purpose Economy

March 23, 2014 Add Comment Edit

The Proudly for Purpose Telesummit: Demystifying the Purpose Economy will take place on March 24 – 28, 2014. Join 12 thought leaders as we explore the purpose economy. Register here FREE to discover how our economy is shifting from profit-driven to purpose-driven, and what it means to you and your company.

There is growing global awareness that the existing business model is ‘self-serving’ and outdated, and that growth and wealth need to be defined by a holistic mix of ethical, natural, financial, manufactured, intellectual, human and social capital. Our economy is entering a new period where purpose arises as the ultimate capital and the cornerstone of making a difference to the kind of lives future generations have the right to expect.

You are invited to share in the insights of the thought leaders and action heroes driving the purpose economy!

Ralph-Thurm

24 March 2014 at 14:00 (GMT+00) Ralph Thurm Co Founder – ThriveAbility Consortium & A|HEAD|Ahead The Netherlands

Principles of ThriveAbility: Shaping the next economic paradigm.

ThriveAbility offers an elegantly simple way of ensuring the survival of our species by finding new ways of integrating sustainable breakthroughs into thriving lifestyles, organizations and communities.

The ultimate goal is to create a new attractor to encourage actions that enable life conditions for healthy human emergence and a thriving planet. Therefore, ThriveAbility offers frameworks and insights that radically simplify many of the tough decisions we have to make on a daily basis to ensure our wellbeing and that of future generations. In short, we learn to live lives that thrill us with their richness and lightness of footprint, while inspiring others to follow in our footsteps.

Wayne-Visser-PR

24 March 2014 at 15:30 (GMT+00) Dr. Wayne Visser Transnet Chair of Sustainable Business – GIBS; Director – Kaleidoscope Futures; Founder – CSR International UK and South Africa

Future Fitness: Making the Purpose Economy Safe, Smart, Shared, Sustainable and Satisfying.

What are the mega-trends shaping our world? And what futures-thinking tools will you need to be more resilient and successful in the 21st century? In short, are you fit for the future?

Will your product, organisation, community, city or country survive and thrive in 10, 20, 50 or even 100 years? How can we – as individuals, businesses, communities and policy-makers – prepare for the future?

How can we maximize our chances of success, not only by being ready, but also by helping to shape the future that we desire? This interview will explore answers to these questions.

Michael-Townsend

25 March 2014 at 14:00 (GMT+00) Michael Townsend CEO & Founder – Earthshine Solutions & The Sustainable Economy Project United Kingdom

Sustainable Economy: Inspiring the Quiet Revolution.

We do not have to be constrained by our current dysfunctional system of capitalism, argues Michael Townsend. Capitalism is at the crossroads. Since the onset of the worst financial crisis in living memory, capitalism is suffering a crisis of liquidity, reliability, and confidence.

It is facing accusations of failing to create shared wealth, of neglecting the planet, of generating an ever-widening gap in our societies, and even in failing its primary allies – the shareholders. But there is much cause for hope.

People are already finding and implementing more attractive alternatives. A quiet revolution is under way…

Aaron-Hurst

25 March 2014 at 15:30 (GMT+00) Aaron Hurst Founder – Taproot Foundation & CEO – Imperative United States

The Purpose Economy.

35 years after his uncle, Marc Porat, coined the term ‘Information Economy’ and predicted the rise of Silicon Valley, Aaron Hurst lays out his case that the next evolution of the American economy is emerging. This time based on the creation of purpose.

Building on his experience catalyzing the $15 billion pro bono service market and working with a new generation of entrepreneurs, Aaron describes how the new economy is changing work, organizations and markets to better serve people and the world. He is touching onto ways to thrive in the new economy and change the world in the process.

Jim-Armstrong

25 March 2014 at 17:00 (GMT+00) Jim Armstrong Founder - MAP: Message and Purpose United States

How to Unearth, Capture and Communicate your Noble Purpose.

Organizations, businesses and leaders can find their best laid plans and communications drifting off course, straying from their authentic voice and intentions and roaming through a wilderness of rudderless tactics, empty words and disconnected images resulting in pained expressions such as ‘Where are we?’, ‘Who are we?’, ‘Where are we going?’ – all lined up behind the most important question—‘Why?”.

The route to meaningful, authentic, confident and even courageous planning and communicating starts at a place called ‘Purpose’ – a place realized when you begin to ask ‘Why’. Even guru Peter Drucker understood this when he proclaimed “If we want to know what a business is, we have to start with purpose”. But how does a business realize it’s noble purpose? Jim Armstrong will share his approach of unearthing, capturing and communicating a noble purpose through his MAP: Message And Purpose process.

Nicola-Robins

26 March 2014 at 14:00 (GMT+00) Nicola Robins Co-founder & Director – Incite South Africa & Global

Purpose as a Driver of Value, Innovation and Competitiveness.

Profit is a useful mechanism. But short-term profit at any cost is dysfunctional. Purpose is another useful mechanism. But purpose alone, within a profit-obsessed society, will be constrained in its impact.

When purpose and profit operate together, they create a vortex of change that reshapes the world. How do companies respond skilfully to the social pressures that limit their potential? They do their homework. They create opportunities that deliver social innovation – at scale – as a business proposition. For disruptive innovators, this is nothing new. What’s new is that companies that fail to engage in this space are starting to wonder where they went wrong.

Tracey Webster

26 March 2014 at 15:30 (GMT+00) Tracey Webster Executive Director – African Leadership Institute South Africa & Africa

Building Purposeful, Visionary and Strategic Leadership Across Africa.

The African Leadership Institute exists to build the capacity and capability of visionary, innovative and strategic leadership across the African continent. We believe that without strong leadership all other excellent initiatives will be stifled. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the patron of the institute and The Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship is the flagship programme of the Institute.

Twenty Tutu Fellows are selected every year from across the continent through a nominations only process – these are the brightest and most innovative leaders spanning all sectors under the age of 40. By the end of the year there will be 200 Tutu Fellows across the continent who are determined to journey together and play a role in the transformation of Africa.

Tracey takes us through what the values underpinning this network of young leaders are? What is the moral compass we are trying to nurture in our actions as leaders.

Deon-Robbertze

27 March 2014 at 12:30 (GMT+00) Deon Robbertze Founder & Director – Change Agent; Founder & Director – Sustain Our Africa; Creator – The Good Report South Africa & Global

Sustainability at the Crossroads: Time to Embrace the Digital Revolution.

Cedric-Scheepers

27 March 2014 at 14:00 (GMT+00) Cedric Scheepers Founding CEO – Quainted South Africa & Global

Human Capital Growth: New innovative ways to weave it into the DNA of your business.

Wendy Addison

27 March 2014 at 15:30 (GMT+00) Wendy Addison Creator & Owner – SpeakOut SpeakUp United Kingdom Ethical

Capital and Moral Courage: What Boards Should Know.

How were shareholders of LeisureNet Limited blindsided? LeisureNet was supposed to have hired the best and the brightest, and for a long time many people knew that illegal practices were abounding, books were being cooked, and lies were being spread about the success of the company even as it was failing. The system did not empower people to question or challenge anything even though it was going horribly wrong.

It is what has come to be known as “administrative evil” in which systems adopt legal-political ideologies that enable any means necessary to achieve the desired end goals of profit, success, of “better, faster, cheaper.”

Teaching Moral Courage that will build systems that create atmospheres of empowerment for everyone within their orbit of power is surely in the spirit of the King III Report.

Allon-Raiz

28 March 2014 at 14:00 (GMT+00) Allon Raiz Chief Excitement Officer – Raizcorp South Africa

A Purpose Driven Prosperator: The Journey.

Growing entrepreneurial businesses remain the backbone of a sustainable economy. Raizcorp, Africa’s premier business incubator model, is driven by one purpose – to grow profitable entrepreneurial businesses.

Through a rigorous selection process, programmes are targeted to those with the highest potential to succeed. Once selected, the entrepreneurs are exposed to a high-touch support programme that continues to produce excellent results.

We learn from Chief Entrepreneurial Officer, Allon Raiz what inspires him to walk this journey, what inspires the entrepreneurs he takes along this journey and which characteristics make these entrepreneurs successful.

Peter Hayward

28 March 2014 at 15:30 (GMT+00) Peter Hayward CEO & Founder – Hayward’s Grand African Safari’s South Africa & Africa

Conscious Leadership Rooted in Ubuntu: Africa’s role in the renaissance of business ethics and purpose driven economies.

Before production, before profit, before technology or even administration comes the subject of ethics, and the viewpoint that everything is interconnected and creates the universe we see around us.

Ubuntu is the African’s ancient look at what is presented and how it is approached so that the social order benefits and therefore the individual survives well into the future in a sustainable way.

Click here to register for one of these webinars.

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Event - Ceres Conference 2014

January 19, 2014 Add Comment Edit

This conference will take place on April 30 and May 1, 2014 at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston Massachusetts. The Ceres Conference 2014 to connect with fellow leaders creating the innovative solutions that will build a more sustainable global economy. Throughout the two-day program, attendees will engage on a broad range of topics, including: Sustainable agriculture, clean energy investment opportunities and corporate sustainability for the 21st Century.

The future is now

The future is now and our mission is more urgent than ever. So join us and more than 600 sustainability leaders in Boston at the Ceres Conference 2014, April 30th - May 1st, to celebrate Ceres’s 25th anniversary and build a sustainable global economy.

Program

Urban Climate Resiliency: High Tides and High Stakes for Businesses

As extreme weather events become more intense and sea levels continue to rise, climate resiliency is more critical for businesses and urban infrastructure than ever before. What resiliency investments are city planners making to protect urban populations and businesses? What strategies are companies deploying to mitigate impacts from the ‘next big storm’? Join this session to hear from corporate, city and sustainability leaders who are creating aggressive and innovative resiliency solutions in cities like New York and Boston.

Lost in Translation: Measuring Sustainability Performance in Financial Terms

As corporations implement more sophisticated sustainability initiatives, executives are under growing pressure to demonstrate impacts in environmental, social and financial performance terms. It’s not an easy task. In some cases, the right metrics simply do not exist. In others, certain environmental and social issues cannot easily be translated into financial terms. Still, investors, advocacy groups and companies need to be able to judge the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives. Join this discussion about the evolving expectations of stakeholders and steps companies are taking to capture and disclose their sustainability impacts.

The Road to 2020: Building a 21st Century Sustainable Corporation

The global challenges facing corporations today require profound changes in how businesses operate. To remain competitive and succeed in a world where climate change is threatening our natural resources, companies must be more transparent about how they integrate sustainability principles into their core business strategies. But where should your business focus right now? Join this session to discuss the results of Ceres' latest progress report on corporate performance – which is being released at the Ceres Conference – and explore key areas for achieving the greatest impact.

The Future of Food: Security, Supply and Climate Change

What will the global food system look like in the next decade? What about the next 25 years? Climate change brings various uncertainties to the production and distribution of food across the world. Droughts and erratic weather pose significant risks to staple crops and commodities that are essential for a growing population. How are food companies, suppliers and communities preparing to adapt in a changing world? Expert panelists will discuss the resources needed to support a sustainable food system, and what that system will look like in future scenarios shaped by water and land.

Plenary Panel- Unlocking Sustainability Innovation: The Business Case for Empowering Women

Across the globe, women disproportionately feel the acute impacts of climate change, constrained natural resources and inequitable working conditions. They represent half of the world's population and do two-thirds of the world's work, yet earn only one-tenth of the world's income and own less than one percent of the world's property. To solve global sustainability challenges we must access the innovation and business acumen of women. There is growing evidence that when this happens, the potential for change is significant and the pay off is huge. Join us as we explore how leading investors and companies are recognizing the business case for empowering women to overcome social and environmental challenges, unlock innovation and unleash economic potential.

The 21st Century Investor Part 1: Tapping into Today’s Clean Energy Investment Opportunities

Early investments in clean technology and renewables had mixed results, discouraging investors from committing capital to investment funds, products and structures labeled “green” or “clean.” More recently however, this market has matured and is showing increasingly competitive returns based on sound financials. Join this session to learn from investors who are financing clean energy solutions and getting results, even as they face challenges in terms of market capacity, weak investor demand, expertise and overall awareness. This session will highlight the many growing opportunities in clean energy investments globally, while also discussing barriers and strategies to scaling the success of these investments.

Measuring Performance: Companies, Credit Rating Agencies and the Sustainably Ratings Frontier

As investors continue to sharpen their analysis of opportunity and risk in equity and credit markets, they face scores of sustainability ratings methodologies utilizing more than 2,500 issues and indicators. The Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR), a new standard, aims to steer equity and credit markets toward the companies and issues holding the greatest prospects for long-term performance excellence. Join this session to get an update on the progress GISR has made over the previous year and to hear how this initiative is already having an impact on companies and rating agencies.

The Clean Trillion: Closing the Clean Energy Investment Gap

To prevent the worst impacts of climate change, substantially more investment is needed globally in clean energy. The International Energy Agency pegs the figure at an extra $1 trillion a year – or $36 trillion overall by 2050 to limit temperature increases to 2 degrees. Closing this clean energy investment gap is only possible if businesses, investors and policymakers join forces. Join this session to learn from business, investor, and NGO leaders who are working together to make the clean energy future a reality. This interactive session will map out action steps to expand clean energy at the speed and scale required to address the climate challenge.

Growing Responsibility: Advancing Sustainability in Agricultural Supply Chains

Major food and beverage companies have massive global supply chains that, through their agricultural practices, are significant drivers of deforestation, water pollution and scarcity, greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and in many cases, human and labor rights violations as well. These are not just environmental and social challenges, they also pose significant business risks; including commodity price volatility, concerns about product quality/contamination, reputational risk, and the viability of long term sourcing of materials. Case studies on palm oil and other agricultural commodities will demonstrate how growing pressure from investors, NGOs and consumers are moving companies to set specific targets to increase the use of sustainably sourced and certified raw materials, particularly for commodities where environmental and social concerns are especially high and traceability is a key challenge.

The Future is Now: Business Solutions for a Sustainable Global Economy

Companies are integrating sustainability into the core of their business strategies and getting results. From renewable energy sourcing to advancing more efficient and equitable supplier networks, these businesses are positioning themselves for competitive advantage in a resource-constrained world. Join this session to learn from two innovative business leaders who are building environmental and social solutions that are boosting their bottom lines and transforming the economy.

Sustainable Stock Exchanges: Building a Unified Global Reporting Standard

While we’re still lacking an internationally recognized standard for corporate sustainability reporting, investor interest is growing - and consensus is building - to achieve a unified listing standard for disclosure of material ESG issues by listed companies at the world's stock exchanges. Measuring and disclosing sustainability performance is essential to increasing corporate transparency and accountability and ultimately helps investors make better decisions. This session will help participants navigate the many existing reporting options and trends in ESG disclosure, including stock exchange activity. The session will also offer potential solutions for building a more harmonized approach to ESG reporting.

Raising the Bar: Responsible Corporate Engagement on Policy Issues

As the world begins to feel the impacts of climate change and looks ahead to the international climate talks in Paris in 2015, a new standard is being established for responsible corporate engagement in the climate policy debate. What are the actions companies can take today? What is the business case for engaging on policy issues? What are the core elements of responsible corporate engagement on climate policy? As more companies advocate for strong climate policies at the local, national and global level, it is essential that their corporate lobbying practices align with their internal sustainability goals. This workshop will highlight the positive role businesses can play in accelerating climate policy action, using the Guide to Responsible Engagement in Climate Policy – released jointly by the U.N. Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, WWF, Ceres and others as a foundation.

Powering the Future: Exploring the U.S. Energy-Water Nexus

Managing water and energy in a climate-stressed world brings us face-to-face with risks that can threaten unprepared regional communities, companies and investors. Critical industries such as the U.S. electric power and oil and gas sectors are increasingly vulnerable to water shortages and constraints, yet their business models require water at the right time and place to remain profitable. This interactive panel will explore the interdependence between water and energy in the context of how we power our transportation sector. From water use and impacts of shale oil and gas extraction, to the vast water requirements of power generation, to the implications for automotive product design, this workshop will highlight different scenarios and solutions available over the next 25 years.

The 21st Century Investor Part 2: Creating Sustainable Value Across All Asset Classes

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues contribute to value creation in all asset classes. Investors are using ESG factors to drive results – from industry leaders in real estate and farmland creating a set of voluntary sustainable investment standards, to private equity managers achieving value by incorporating ESG best practices, to fixed income and infrastructure managers using ESG analysis to identify projects that pose less risk to principal. While ESG is increasingly being integrated into due diligence and ongoing portfolio management, its value is not often recognized. Join this session for insights from investors on how to drive results using ESG factors and how to demonstrate the value of these factors across asset classes.

For more information or to register click here. economics, definitions, types, explanation, understanding, review, summary, examination, economy, defined

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Event - PAGE Global Conference: Green Economy for Sustainable Development: Progress and Prospects

January 19, 2014 Add Comment Edit

The First Global PAGE Conference "Green Economy for Sustainable Development: Progress and Prospects," will take place on March 4 -5, 2014, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) is a joint initiative by UNEP, ILO, UNIDO and UNITAR to provide comprehensive assistance to countries seeking to develop and implement inclusive green economy strategies. The inaugural conference will be held under the Patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The conference will be an opportunity to review international experience and progress related to green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. It will also consider how greener economies can contribute to the emerging post-2015 development agenda.

More than 300 participants representing governments, the private sector, civil society and development agencies are expected to attend.

The objectives of the conference are the following:

1. Take stock of best practices and lessons learned in advancing an inclusive green economy through policy reforms and shifting investment into key areas of the economy that produce jobs, social equity and income;

2. Share this knowledge through interactive thematic sessions geared toward developing a set of general principles and policy recommendations to realize economic, social and environmental benefits from transitioning to inclusive green economies; and

3. Explore the multiple pathways and partnerships – including PAGE - available to countries as they lead these transitions within their national contexts.

The conference will open with a high-level session with the Prime Minister of UAE, ministers from developed and developing countries, and senior officials of United Nations agencies and development institutions, including UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. This session will be followed by parallel thematic discussions on issues relevant for advancing inclusive green economies.

An outcome document – consisting of a set of general principles and policy recommendations to realise economic, social and environmental benefits from transitioning to inclusive, environmentally friendly and resource-efficient green economies – will be produced at the end of the conference.

To learn more about PAGE click here.

To see the full agenda for the PAGE Conference click here.

To register click here.

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Green Economy and Trade Opportunties (2013 - 2014)

January 06, 2014 Add Comment Edit

Trade has the potential to help the transition to the green economy and the transition to the green economy has the potential of enhancing international trade. This ongoing study from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), ITC and ITCSD is exploring trade opportunities in five key areas:

Agriculture
Fisheries
Forests
Renewable Energy
Manufacturing

It identifies policies that facilitate or hinder the transition.

For more information click here.

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Green Economy Forecasts for 2014 (Sustainability, Renewables, Green Building, and Cleantech)

January 06, 2014 Add Comment Edit

While the overall outlook is good, there is a mixed bag of trends, predictions and problems that will directly impact sustainability, renewable energy, greenbuilding and cleantech in 2014.

Sustainability

The year to come may prove a challenging one for sustainability. According to an Ecova report, the growth of sustainability in 2014 will be complicated by increased energy and resource prices. The report titled 2014 Energy and Sustainability Predictions is based on a survey of 500 energy and sustainability professionals.

The combination of cost cutting pressures and environmental disclosure will push firms to develop a total energy and sustainability management strategy to remain competitive and meet resource management needs, says Jeff Heggedahl, Ecova president and CEO.

A total of 70 percent of respondents predicted that water will emerge as the top sustainability initiative in 2014. The report indicates that water is percieved as a significant opportunity for savings and improvement. The survey states that water concerns are second only to energy. Ford’s 2014 Trend’s Report concurs with the Ecova assessment that water will be the priority issue this year as does a Credit Suisse report titled Water: The Next Challenge.

The Ecova report also states that benchmarking regulations will contribute to an increasingly complex environment. However, it further indicates that peer benchmarking is another area where there are opportunities to capture additional costs and energy savings.

Renewable energy

While there is both good and bad news for the U.S. renewable energy industry in 2014, overall, the skyward trend continues. As reported in Renewable Energy World, on December 20 Credit Suisse released a highly favorable report that predicted unprecedented growth for renewable energy in the U.S.

They attribute their bullish forecasts to a combination of state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and cost competitiveness of renewables when compared to conventional power generation including natural gas. Their report predicts that renewable energy will meet 85 percent of future power demand growth through 2025. This translates to a forecast of 100 GW of new renewable capacity with wind and solar market share more than doubling from 2012 to 2025, accounting for approximately 12 percent of US electricity generation.

Despite these positive predictions for renewable energy, a new report called America’s Power Plan points to problems associated with outdated utility business models in the U.S. As it stands now, utilities are being rewarded for building and maintaining fossil-fuel plants and this is having a deleterious effect on U.S. renewable energy. The report suggests that these problems can be addressed with the right shift in policy.

Kevin Wedman, Vice President of Power and Utilities, Bureau Veritas North America, believes that the biggest obstacle to the development of utility scale renewable energy comes from the absence of adequate transmission infrastructure to support renewable energy projects.

George Danner of the Business Laboratory indicated that he is concerned about the fact that electric utility companies use dated models to predict demand. While Brian MacCleery, Principal Product Manager, Clean Energy Technology, National Instruments, believes it’s time to reward utilities for switching to renewable energy.

Solar

At utility scale power levels, economies of scale have driven down the cost of solar. Due in part to these price declines, the Credit Suisse report anticipates that U.S. solar will increase 11 times and account for 20 percent of the growth in renewable energy between 2012 and 2025. Higher efficiency and the declining price of technology has brought solar into the range of price parity with natural gas. The costs of solar are expected to continue falling for the next several years.

Mercom Capital Group, an Austin, TX-based clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its solar industry outlook for 2014. Their report predicts that new U.S. installations will total 6 GW in 2014 adding to the country’s current total of 10.25 GW.

The report says utility-scale projects and leased residential projects have been the main drivers of U.S. growth. With more than $3 billion in solar lease funds to finance installations, third party-financed residential installations have been the catalysts of growth in 2013.

Mercom predicts that in 2014, the U.S. will install more solar power than Germany, India, Italy and the UK. Only China and Japan are expected to install more solar energy than the U.S. in 2014.

Wind

The Credit Suisse report projects that wind power will double and account for about 80 percent of U.S. renewable energy growth from 2012 to 2025. Wind energy is becoming much less expensive and much more effective at harnessing power and making electricity.

One of the unknowns that will directly impact the future of renewables in the U.S. is the fate of the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which expired at the end of 2013. It remains to be seen what Congress will do when it resumes in January. It is important to note that the PTC has been allowed to expire only to be subsequently resurrected many times in the past.

Green Building

Green building in North America will continue its strong growth in 2014. This is but one of a number of predictions made by Jerry Yudelson, an author and leading green building consultant. He attributes this growth to the confluence of commercial real estate construction along with government, university, nonprofit and school construction.

In 2014, the focus will increasingly be on the greening of existing buildings. He anticipates that we will see growing interest in energy efficiency in all types of buildings involving automation for energy efficiency using cloud-based systems. He calls 2014, “The Year of the Cloud.”

He sees zero-net-energy buildings as the next logical step for building design and development. He further predicts that there will be much more competition for LEED, including the Green Globes rating system offered by the Green Building Initiative.

Other trends that he predicts will continue are Green Building performance and disclosure, healthy building products, disclosures and declarations as well as “Red Lists” of chemicals of concern. Solar power use in buildings will also continue to grow alongside water awareness and conservation.

Cleantech

Cleantech is expected to do well in 2014. This is due to a broad cleantech recovery and the rise of crowdfunding. However, electric vehicles may not perform as well as many had hoped and there are some surprises in store for the rare earth elements (REEs) industry. These are some of the salient predictions from cleantech guru Dallas Kachan, managing partner of Kachan & Co., a cleantech research and advisory firm.

Despite some speculation to the contrary, Kachan believes the term “cleantech” will remain through 2013. He succinctly defines cleantech as shorthand for environmental and efficiency-related technology innovation.

The forecasts offered by Kachan & Co.’s 2014 cleantech predictions are far more optimistic than last year’s assessment or the year before. In 2014, they see an overall upward trend in metrics like corporate, private equity and family office investment, venture debt, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, and new innovation.

While Kachan is bullish about cleantech, he is downright negative about electric vehicles (EVs) for 2014. He anticipates slower-than-expected growth of EVs due to improving efficiency innovations for the internal combustion engine and fuel cell vehicles.

Kachan further predicts that REEs will not generate the huge returns that some had anticipated. He also suggests that this will be due to growth in REEs recycling in 2014.

Kachan’s optimistic assessment is in part derived from an earlier report which compares investments in cleantech with other technology booms. Whether we are talking about dot coms, networking, biotech or the PC, there are parrallels that bode well for the future of cleantech. In all of these technological revolutions there were periods of rapid growth that ultimately gave way to corrections, after which we saw more stable growth. This appears to be where cleantech is at in 2014.

As explained in the Kachen report, “we believe the world turned an important corner in cleantech in 2013.”

Source: Global Warming is Real

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Video - Sustainability in Business is about Waste: The Value of a Circular or Closed Loop Economy

December 14, 2013 Add Comment Edit

This video offers a comprehensive introductory summary of the value of addressing waste in businesses both large and small. The linear consumption based economy is littered with waste. It spends more money on energy than labor. According to the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the world could save $2.9 trillion every year by the year 2030 if it eliminated waste. Businesses have a powerful incentive to use their resources (raw materials, labour and energy) more efficiently through a circular or closed loop economy. Some of the world's leading corporations have demonstrated that by reducing waste they have increased productivity, saved costs, increased profits, and created jobs. In its simplest essence we need to think of the long term rather than just the short term which defines so many business models today.

Waste is an indisputable sign that a business is bleeding money. Waste is any substance that emerges from the business which cannot be sold and is proof that the business is not obtaining 100 percent from its purchases and investments.

We need to think and act for the long terms because it all begins and ends with the environment.

Click here to download complimentary books from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). For more information on The Center for Industrial Productivity and Sustainability click here.

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Economic Benefits of Going from Brown to Green in Europe and Central Asia

October 08, 2013 Add Comment Edit

According to the World Bank, there are tremendous benefits driving Europe and Central Asia to transition toward a greener economic growth model emphasizing climate change mitigation. Until the early 90s countries in Europe and Central Asia were dominated by the former Soviet Union, now they are transiting from a brown economy to green growth.

Europe and Central Asia are already experiencing floods, droughts, heat waves, forest fires, and other natural disasters. To illustrate the point, the region lost between one quarter and one half of their grain crops in 2012 due to extreme weather.

Green growth and climate change mitigation can be accomplished by using energy more efficiently, adopting renewable energy, improving natural resource management and generally making production and consumption more sustainable. Renewable energy both reduces climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions and respiratory diseases caused by pollution.

Perhaps most significantly acting now will save much greater costs if mitigation efforts are delayed. The up-front costs of mitigation are approximately 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year. However these are investments thet pay lucrative dividends economically, environmentally, and in terms of human health.

Climate change mitigation will not only lessen the impacts of extreme weather it will also provide significant economic benefits.

© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Sustainable Production Defined

May 10, 2012 Add Comment Edit

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production offers the following definition: "Sustainable Production is the creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are: non-polluting conserving of energy and natural resources; economically efficient safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers socially and creatively rewarding for all working people."

Products and services are:

safe and ecologically sound throughout their life cycle;
as appropriate, designed to be durable, repairable, readily recycled, compostable, or easily biodegradable;
produced and packaged using the minimal amount of material and energy possible.

Processes are designed and operated such that:

wastes and ecologically incompatible byproducts are reduced, eliminated or recycled on-site;
chemical substances or physical agents and conditions that present hazards to human health or the environment are eliminated;
energy and materials are conserved, and the forms of energy and materials used are most appropriate for the desired ends;
work spaces are designed to minimize or eliminate chemical, ergonomic and physical hazard.

Workers are valued and:

their work is organized to conserve and enhance their efficiency and creativity;
their security and well-being is a priority;
they are encouraged and helped to continuously develop of their talents and capacities;
their input to and participation in the decision making process is openly accepted.

Communities related to any stage of the product lifecycle (from production of raw materials through manufacture, use and disposal of the final product) are respected and enhanced economically, socially, culturally and physically. Continued economic viability does not depend on ever-increasing (i.e., unsustainable) consumption of materials and energy.

For more information from the The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production click here.

Sustainable Business as Defined by Paul Hawken

May 09, 2012 Add Comment Edit

In business sustainability involves living within certain limits, understanding interconnections (economy, society, and environment) and an equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. Perhaps the best definition for sustainability as it applies to business comes from Paul Hawken. According to Hawken*, sustainable businesses is defined as follows:

Replace nationally and internationally produced items with products created locally and regionally.
Take responsibility for the effects they have on the natural world.
Do not require exotic sources of capital in order to develop and grow.
Engage in production processes that are human, worthy, dignified, and intrinsically satisfying.
Create objects of durability and long-term utility whose ultimate use or disposition will not be harmful to future generations.
Change consumers to customers through education.

*The Ecology of Commerce. (New York, New York: Harper Business, 1993), p 144.

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Sustainable Development Defined

May 09, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Sustainable development is concerned with the reasonable and equitably distributed level of economic well being that can be perpetuated continually for many human generations. It also implies using renewable natural resources in a manner that does not eliminate or degrade them, or otherwise diminish their usefulness for future generations.

The 1987 Brundtland Report also know as Our Common Future, is a 400 page book published by United Nations World Commission on development and what to do about environmental sustainability. This report see sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

Our Common Future serves notice that "the time has come for a marriage of economy and ecology, so that governments and their people can take responsibility not just for environmental damage, but for the policies that cause the damage. Some of the policies threaten the very survival of the human race. They can be changed. But we must act now."

All definitions of sustainable development require that we see the world as a an entire system rather than just individual parts.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Sustainability (Sustainable) Defined

May 08, 2012 Add Comment Edit

Although businesses have different ways of defining sustainability, in its simplest essence the word implies the ability to maintain a certain status or process in existing systems. The most frequent use of the term “sustainability” is connected to ecological systems. In this definition it refers to an ecosystems ability to function and maintain productivity for prolonged periods. Practically, sustainability refers to the coordination of economic, social and environmental, issues in support of the long term viability people and the planet.

Although sustainability is defined in different ways, by different groups, (ie: sustainable development sustainable community, sustainable society, sustainable agriculture, sustainable business and sustainable production) most of these definitions share a common reliance on living within certain limits.

Here are seven different but related definitions of sustainability: While this is hardly a complete summary it does encompass some of the differences as well as some of the similarities between definitions.

Merriam-Webster: Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.

Life Sciences: Capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage sustainable development.

Environmental Science: The quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance: The committee is developing sustainability standards for products that use energy.

Ecologically: A means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in the very long term.

EPA: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

World Commission on Environment and Development: Forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needsn

Business: A project that is of economic, social and environmental benefit.

These are but a few of the many variations in the way sustainability is defined. The one thing that they may unite these and other definitions is the fact that sustainability is one of humanities highest and most worthy aspirations.