Eco-Gems

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-03-02T09:10:00.000Z

The delusion of PR climbs to new highs (lows?) in the vortex that is the Public Relations Society of America (via NY Times)

“Like beauty, the definition of ‘public relations’ is in the eye of the beholder,” says Mr. Corbett, the 2012 chairman and chief executive of the PRSA.

And what could be more ironic than the PRSA's attempt to crowdsource a 'new definition' of PR to suit the age of social media? I'll let Mr. Corbett spin his own story:

“We tried to engage everyone who would be engaged, and it generated a tremendous amount of dialog,” he said, adding: “Maybe the best way to capture it is to say it was a very transparent and open process. It was basically an exercise in making sausage.”

Maybe, Mr. Corbett, just maybe. Which is surely why the three finalists for the definition are based on minute iterations of the exact same sentiment:

“Public relations is the management function of researching, communicating and collaborating with publics to build mutually beneficial relationships.”
“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
“Public relations is the strategic process of engagement between organizations and publics to achieve mutual understanding and realize goals.”

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-03-01T17:44:00.001Z

In last week's Republican presidential candidate debate, Ron Paul accused his rival Rick Santorum of being “fake”.

Mr Santorum pinched himself and said: “I’m real, Ron, I’m real,I’m real.”

Gem of the day

2012-03-01T17:38:00.000Z

Make the missing link between this fact...

"...the number of secondees in DECC [the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change] from EDF and British Gas/Centrica – a fellow member of EDF's nuclear consortium – far outweigh any other company." (via The Guardian)

...and this headline:

"New Wind Down, Nuclear Up as UK Rethinks Energy Mix" (via CleanTechnica)

Gem of the day

2012-02-28T10:35:00.000Z

I disagree with David Owen on his assertion that renewables 'just don't work as well as fossil fuels do'.

But he is right about this (via Mother Jones):

"Usually there's more funding behind the problems than behind the solutions."

Bonus gem

2012-02-27T12:47:00.003Z

There's a reason why it's right to be highly skeptical whenever a big utility makes noise about a sustainability initiative. This gem reveals yet an author that forgot the golden rule (via Guardian Sustainable Business Hub):

"Once in a while you come across a company initiative that makes you think: 'Here's a firm that's putting sustainability into action.' That was my reaction (and that of many others) this week when British Gas announced a new incentive to help the most vulnerable members of society cut their energy bills through free loft and cavity wall insulation."

Providing free or low-cost insulation to fuel-poor households is required for all energy providers under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target. That's why it's so funny to frame the new British Gas scheme, which offers £50 for locating people who could benefit from free insulation, as a laudably sustainable innovation. For a business that made £3 million in profit per day in 2010, it's paying pocket change to the public to help them comply with the law.

Speaking of which, the choice of timing around this scheme's announcement is nicely strategic. Big 6 profits will be announced within the next day and are expected to skyrocket £2 billion over last year's to total £15 billion, as a quarter of UK households remain in fuel poverty.

Gem of the day

2012-02-27T09:12:00.000Z

Liam Halligan offers one way of looking at the challenges associated with securing a sustainable energy future:

"While there's lots of hype about tar sands and shale fuels, these new technologies often expend more energy than they create, while causing horrendous environmental and water-supply problems. Conventionally-produced crude will remain absolutely critical, and demand for it will spiral, until mankind bans the internal combustion engine, outlaws ammonium-based fertilisers, dismantles the global pharmaceutical industry and learns to live without plastic. I can't see that happening anytime soon."

Zing!

Gem of the day

2012-02-23T09:20:00.001Z

The Earth Day Network's Billion Acts of Green campaign, classic clicktivism at its finest, was proud this week to have reached 500 million recorded acts. And there's just something about the top four that's hard to stomach on a Thursday morning (via the vortex that is TriplePundit):

Plant a garden at school or home (3412)
Change out light bulbs (1854)
Organize an Earth Day event (1673)
Eliminate the use of toxic chemicals in home and garden (1227)

But the 1970s-inspired quote from president Kathleen Rogers really takes it to the next level of gems:

“There are so many wonderful stories from this campaign, from the mother who started a recycling program in a small Louisiana town – to the guy who said that he broke up with his girlfriend because she wouldn’t recycle."

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-23T09:12:00.001Z

No one would ever use the National Security Agency as a case study in liberal management or even decent fairness. But alongside News International and BP, the NSA lends itself all too well as an example of stifling, self-defeating bureaucracy in action. Hence this gem from last year's New Yorker investigation into the government's case against Thomas Drake, who is accused of leaking documents to the old warhorse The Baltimore Sun, that embarrassed the NSA (the worst thing anyone can do to a government agency).

Here's what General Michael Hayden, who took over the agency in 1999, did when he found out Drake and several of his colleagues had criticised the NSA's extraordinary waste, illegal behaviour nad ineffective bureaucracy to a Congresswoman:

"Hayden...sent out an agency-wide memo, in which he warned that several 'individuals, in a session with our congressional overseers, took a position in direct opposition to one that we had corporately decided to follow. . . . Actions contrary to our decisions will have a serious adverse effect on our efforts to transform N.S.A., and I cannot tolerate them.'”

Now there's a man who really understands how innovation happens in an organisation.

Gem of the day

2012-02-21T09:08:00.000Z

Dear Western Strategies & Lake Research Partners,

I invite you to meet me at the local Walmart and test out your theory (via TalkingClimate):

"Western Strategies & Lake Research Partners (2009) argued that ‘our deteriorating atmosphere’ was a more tangible and evocative term [than 'climate change' or 'global warming'] for most people."

Bring tissues.

2012-02-20T11:46:00.000Z

Another invaluable lesson in the art of politically motivated spin (is there any other kind of spin?) from one of the businesses that does it best (via FT):

"Companies have been lobbying to remove a series of conditions that they claim are onerous, unfair or in contravention of local laws and which campaigners say would undermine their value. Executives have attacked the thresholds above which they must disclose and argued that they should not be required to violate laws in countries, such as Qatar, which deem information on resource payments to be confidential for reasons of national security."

Here's another view for Shell to consider: do they want to disclose the information while they still have control over how it is received, or do they want to wait for Wikileaks to just disclose it for them in the next few years?

Gem of the day

2012-02-17T09:04:00.001Z

The corporates revealed as funders of the Heartland Institute in this week's big leak have been working hard to deflect widespread criticism that accuses them of blatant hypocrisy.

Microsoft, for example, managed to churn out this statement yesterday, via Think Progress Green (about two days too late):

"As part of our global nonprofit software donation program, Microsoft provides free software licenses upon request to any eligible non-profit organization. In Fiscal Year 2011, Microsoft donated $844 million in software to 44,000 nonprofits around the world. As part of that program, the [Heartland Institute] requested free software licenses, and Microsoft provided them, just like we do for thousands of other eligible non-profits every year...Microsoft’s position on climate change remains unchanged."

On top of that, there's this:

"The Microsoft spokesman also explained the the 'Gold Sponsor' contribution that Microsoft made to Koch’s Americans For Prosperity in 2011 was similarly in the form of free software licenses."

Here's the issue with all of this. Sure, it's 'just' free software. But regardless, it's a donation that's 100% incompatible with Microsoft's stated position on climate change. Perhaps Microsoft is too dense to understand that one of the biggest impacts it can have on sustainable development as a technology company is to distribute its products and services to enable progressive organisations to do more, and do better.

But I really doubt it.

In fact, it's probably because none of the job descriptions for Corporate Affairs directors at Microsoft include climate change in the list of focal policy issues.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-15T13:14:00.000Z

After nearly a century of providing tax-free havens for millionaires and billionaires that lack the storage space for suitcases of cash, you can assume Swiss banks aren't going to take the newest demands to change their way of doing business lying down.

Via the Economist comes this gem:

"As they fight off attacks, Swiss bankers are trying to come up with an alternative business model. 'Plan B' is to focus more on rich customers in politically unstable developing countries."

Right.

Gem of the day

2012-02-15T09:16:00.000Z

What's not to love about the £27.3 billion budget Obama is proposing for the Department of Energy that opens with this:

"The United States is competing in a global race for the clean energy jobs of the future...Do we want the clean energy technologies of tomorrow to be invented in America by American innovators, made by American workers and sold around the world? Or do we want to concede those jobs to our competitors?"

...and contains proof points like this:

"The department’s printers and photocopying machines are now set for two-sided printing."

Bonus gem

2012-02-14T22:08:00.001Z

The work of the Carbon Tracker initiative has been a significant force in helping to refocus the sustainability conversation on markets; specifically, on the role they play in determining the value of assets that the world's stock exchanges rest on, and the 'carbon bubble' that is being created from assuming these assets will be valid in the long term (if ExxonMobil gets its way, the assumption will stick as long as is humanly possible).

But let's not forget Bob Litterman, a veteran of the Goldman Sachs risk scene (yes, there is one) who was raving about this stuff to audiences of [mostly sceptical] wealth fund managers nearly two years ago.

I leave it to Bob to single-handedly dismantle the American political 'debate' and countless other ones over the real risks posed by sustainability in this gem (as described by the National Journal in 2010):

"In the United States, a growing number of lawmakers and candidates have adopted the belief that manmade climate change does not exist, a view that Litterman calls 'insane.' 'How can you be 100 percent sure?' he asks. 'The right question is, What's the probability?'...It's not a question of ethics or environmentalism, he says. 'I'm saying, this is where prices are going.'''

Indeed.

Gem of the day

2012-02-14T11:03:00.000Z

Ever since Newt Gingrich agreed to sit on a sofa with Nancy Pelosi to plug cap-and-trade, we've known sustainable development can be promoted by unlikely sources. Even so, this one is beyond the pale (via McClatchy):

"Solar-powered lights serve as sentries where U.S. Marines once faced-off along the Cuban frontier. A team of Navy cops now rides bikes rather than gas-guzzling patrol cars in the searing Caribbean sunshine...'From my perspective certainly the greening of Gitmo [Guantanamo Bay] is important,' says U.S. Navy Capt. Kirk Hibbert, the base commander."

Um.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-13T10:24:00.000Z

After month upon month of relevations about just how committed News Corp is to covering up evidence, you'd think a feature article in the Guardian would be an opportunity for Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt to really put his foot down on corrupt business (via The Guardian):

"I think it's greatly to their credit that News Corporation are co-operating fully. I wish they had done so a bit earlier."

Guess not!

Gem of the day

2012-02-09T11:25:00.000Z

Anybody looking for a painfully useless job now has an opportunity (via the Guardian):

The London 2012 sustainability watchdog is urging the IOC to appoint an ‘ethics champion’ for future games.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-09T09:00:00.000Z

It's too easy to find non-environmental wonders in the New York Times' style section, but one gem in particular deserves special airing:

"Tory Burch, another distracted designer with a runway show coming up Tuesday, sounded a note of patriotism as shoppers eyed her red, white and blue $75 tote bags. 'I think you should be supportive of politics regardless of your affiliations,' she said."

That's right Tory, 'politics' is what political institutions are and should be all about. And we should support them for that.

Gem of the day

2012-02-08T14:41:00.000Z

Ken Cohen at ExxonMobil unintentionally underscores the evidence behind a huge carbon bubble in the global economy; in one of his choice proof points intended to show the benefits of the company's record profits, he instead reveals the systemic risk posed by fossil fuel reserves, which are directly and indirectly backed by millions of Americans:

"Public sector and teachers retirement funds hold ExxonMobil stocks in some of the biggest states in the country – New York, California, Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee, Alaska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Utah."
"Many more retirement funds, 401-Ks and IRAs hold shares in ExxonMobil and other major publicly traded oil companies – including those for government workers and members of Congress."

That makes me nervous.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-07T14:12:00.001Z

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. Hector Sants, chief executive of the FSA, the UK's financial regulatory body, has a dream too (via the FT, where else?):

“We would like firms not to just take the narrow perspective of what can they get away with within the rules and how long can their lawyers delay, but take the broad perspective. When the right way forward is clear, they should get on with it.”

Good luck, Sants, you revolutionary.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-07T11:01:00.002Z

Raymond Chandler gem, from his classic novel 'The Long Goodbye':

"...as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an advertising agency."

2012-02-06T15:39:00.001Z

Sierra Club in the US is coming under fire for accepting millions of dollars from the natural gas industry, the lastest in a string of environmental NGOs to be embarrassed for total compromise on flagship issues (also known in the sustainable development community as 'coming to the table').

First of all: sigh.

Second of all: why? In a long apology on the organisation's website, director Michael Brune explains why Sierra Club allowed big utilties like Chesapeake Energy to control their campaigning agenda through large checks. After making it clear that he's not responsible - ahem - he writes the following:

"...natural gas, while far from ideal as a fuel source, might play a necessary role in helping us reach the clean energy future our children deserve. It was also during this time, in 2007, that the first contributions to the Sierra Club were made from entities or individuals associated with Chesapeake Energy. The idea was that we shared at least one common purpose -- to move our country away from dirty coal."

Key phrase - 'the idea'. When a dirty industry's entire license to operate is being questioned, it's almost laughably naive that an organisation like Sierra Club assumed that a business within it could share a common objective; using natural gas temporarily before shifting wholesale to clean - read: not coal, not gas, not anything Chesapeake offers - energy. You only have to look at the section of Chesapeake's website attributed to their CEO and titled 'Fueling America's Future', which doesn't mention climate change a single time, to see that.

The Sierra Club aren't the only ones to blame. The sustainable development community's work to begrudgingly support producers of natural gas, with precisely this assumption in mind, has enabled the traditional energy industry to massively derail (and in America nearly destroy) the renewable energy industry (keyword: renewable).

So what exactly has Sierra Club done recently that it's proud of? Brune has his choice proof point:

"This Beyond Coal initiative has continued to have unparalleled success working with literally hundreds of other organizations, small and large, and using grassroots power to stop more than 160 new coal plants and prevent 500 million tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere."

Right. Because now that this coal is becoming less and less viable in the US, it's simply being shipped abroad to thirsty emerging industrialists like China. Which could actually lead to an increase in emissions. While Sierra Club is now campaigning against the development of coal-export terminals, it's probably going to be too little, too late.

Did somebody say "please can NGOs around the world work more in partnership someday"?

2012-02-03T10:00:00.000Z

Umair Haque's gem-filled summary of what it means to live meaningfull well (and what it means to not):

"Think about it this way: if your quest is mediocrity, then sure, master the skills of shuffling Powerpoint decks, glad-handing beancounters, and making the numbers; but if your quest, on the other hand, is something resembling excellence, then the meta-skills of toppling the status quo — ambition, intention, rebellion, perseverance, humanity, empathy — are going to count for more, and the sooner you get started, the better off you'll be."

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-02-03T09:11:00.003Z

Mitt Romney's response to the gilded Las Vegas ceremony that was the setting for Donald Trump's official endorsement of him (via NY Times):

“There are some things that you can’t imagine happening in your life,” Romney said. “And this is one of them.”

Something that's actually good

2012-02-03T09:08:00.000Z

Nobelist Mario Molina sums up why deniers of climate science are so misled in their assumptions (via NY Times Dot Earth):

"They convey the idea that the science in question behaves like a house of cards: if you remove just one of them, the whole structure falls apart. However, this is certainly not the way the science of complex systems has evolved. A much better analogy is a jigsaw puzzle: many pieces are missing, and some might even be in the wrong place, but there is little doubt that the overall image is clear, namely that climate change is a serious threat that needs to be urgently addressed. It is also clear that modest amounts of warming will have both positive and negative impacts, but above about 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit most impacts turn negative for many ecological systems, and for most nations."

Right.

Gem of the day

2012-02-01T10:34:00.000Z

God bless the Global Institute for Tomorrow for being disappointed that Davos failed to deliver 'radical new thinking', especially in a business strategy context:

"At corporate sessions on sustainability, it was striking that the conversation was mainly about growth."

How surprising. What's really bizarre, however, is the way the report ends with this recommendation:

"The barrier to transformation in corporations seems to be at the level of sustainability and CSR managers who tend to attempt to second guess what top management wants to hear. This...lends weight to the case for companies to drop the term sustainability and instead talk plainly about how they will grow, manage externalities and increase efficiency."

So removing the entire frame of sustainability and allowing growth to continue to sit at the center of business strategy, decorated with a touch of efficiency, will get us where we need to go?

Right.

Gem of the day

2012-01-31T14:32:00.000Z

Yale Economist William Nordhaus responds to a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, which cited his work to claim that "nearly the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is achieved for a policy that allows 50 more years of economic growth unimpeded by greenhouse gas controls." [lovely idea]

In his view (via NY Times Dot Earth):

"The piece completely misrepresented my work. My work has long taken the view that policies to slow global warming would have net economic benefits, in the trillion of dollars of present value. This is true going back to work in the early 1990s (MIT Press, Yale Press, Science, PNAS, among others). I have advocated a carbon tax for many years as the best way to attack the issue. I can only assume they either completely ignorant of the economics on the issue or are willfully misstating my findings."

Right.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-30T10:08:00.000Z

The New Yorker has delivered a masterful study of Newt Gingrich and his third wife, Callista. Two gems:

"[Callista] has not been granting interviews, with the exception of a brief on-camera conversation with the Christian Broadcasting Network. The resulting story, which also included interviews with Rick Perry’s wife, Anita, and Jon Huntsman’s wife, Mary Kaye, was called 'A Tale of Three Wives.' Until recently, the title appeared on the home page of Gingrich’s campaign Web site, leading many visitors to wonder if they could click through to an explanation of the candidate’s complicated marital history."

"According to Ginther [Gingrich's second wife], he asked Callista to marry him before he told Ginther he wanted a divorce—while he was championing the Personal Responsibility Act. 'He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected,' Ginther said. 'If you believe that, then, yeah, you can run for President.'"

Zing!

Gem of the day

2012-01-30T09:57:00.000Z

More news from the world of sustainable business double standards:

Honda, the pioneer of the first commercially viable hybrid vehicle, is expanding into a new line of products: small business jets (via NY Times).

Ironically, Honda's CEO sees this carbon intensive shift as analagous to the market impact from Honda's shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles in the '60s:

"'We're doing with HondaJet what the Civic did to American cars from the 1960s. Our competitors are still producing with technology from the 1990s,' he said, referring to Textron Inc's Cessna and Brazil's Embraer SA.'"

Bonus gem

2012-01-27T14:55:00.000Z

Just a note for anyone who tries to argue that climate change isn't real and therefore sustainable development is not a priority (oh hello Wall Street Journal, various other sundry publications):

Even if climate change wasn't happening we would still be confronting a planet full of unhappy consumers, unravelling economies, broken political systems and volatile ecosystems.

Right.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-27T10:04:00.001Z

Via the New Yorker , reality check:

"'The rules apply to everybody,' as one former adviser told Kantor, and complaining about how Washington works 'is like crying over the rain.' Obama was elected to lead 'a rational, postracial, moderate country that is looking for sensible progress,' a White House official tells Kantor. 'Except, oops, it’s an enraged, moralistic, harsh, desperate country. It’s a disconnect he can’t bridge.'"

Something that's actually good

2012-01-26T18:10:00.001Z

The second edition of the Carbon Tracker Initiative is out and it states its conclusion in unequivocal language:

"The growing number of coal mining companies listing in London exposes the financial market to a significant systemic risk."

The key difference here which makes Carbon Tracker a potentially radical tool for change is that it points to significant flaws in how both the third sector and international climate negotiations have dealt with the fossil fuel industry (NGOs on campaigning against development of coal on the ground across UK/Europe, and the UNFCCC in promoting national emissions reduction targets):

"The UK has only 0.02% of the world’s coal reserves, and campaigners have been largely successful in preventing new coal-fired power stations in the UK and the rest of Europe. However the UK continues
to play a major role in providing capital to support the development of the world’s coal stocks via the London stock market...The traditional focus of global climate negotiations has been on the carbon emissions emitted by different countries within their own borders. But the globalisation of capital markets means that investors can hold a coal company stock on the London market which has coal reserves in, for example, Australia, which is then sold in a third country, for example, China."

One word: system.

2012-01-26T08:44:00.000Z

Nick Main of Deloitte clearly hasn't been to the US recently (via Forbes):

“I can’t think of a country that’s stepped back on this [climate-change] agenda,” Main said.

And for added insight:

"I suspect the economy is making it tougher in some ways,” he said.

Thanks Forbes!

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-25T19:44:00.000Z

Now here's a group that's been one of the biggest casualties of Occupy Wall Street and associated wrath towards all things finance industry-related: the Private Equity Growth Council.

But they're not going down without a fight (via Politico):

"“The objective of the Council going forward is to aggressively educate key audiences about the important contribution private equity makes to our economy and defend the industry against mischaracterizations and attacks," PEGC’s Ken Spain said.

Gem of the day

2012-01-20T09:07:00.001Z

George Osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, has been touring around China this week trying to get investment in the UK's ageing infrastructure.

The gem (via FT):

"Mr Osborne this week held what were described as 'very serious meetings of substance' during a short visit to Beijing."

Gem of the day

2012-01-19T09:19:00.001Z

The concept of reporting on sustainability impacts for a business like British American Tobacco is totally nonsensical. Witness this gem of self-contradiction in their submission to the GRI under the awkward area 'Consumer Health and Safety':

"All tobacco products pose real and serious risks to health.

Risk awareness among consumers is constantly reinforced by health warnings on primary packaging mandated by the majority of governments. Our approach to tobacco harm reduction is to pursue the research, development and test marketing of innovative tobacco products that will have consumer acceptability, and will be recognised by the scientific and public health communities and regulators as posing reduced risks to health."

So their core business hurts people. Their strategy is to make products that will hurt people a little bit less, pressuring stakeholders like the government and scientists to accept this as the best possible solution.

Gem of the day

2012-01-18T08:59:00.000Z

The head of Puntland's Petroleum and Minerals Agency looks forward to new drilling opportunities in Somalia (via BBC):

"I think in 10 years' time - if oil is found, we will see a better country, a stronger country that lives in peace and prosperity with its own neighbours and hopefully that produces what we have been all looking for - peace, prosperity, development and progress."

Right, because historically where there is oil, there is equitably distributed profit, peace, happiness and wellbeing.

Gem of the day

2012-01-17T09:45:00.000Z

Dear Apple

You are so '1970s' on all things environmental compliance. Please hire a Steve Jobs of sustainability.

Best wishes

"In the latest Progress Report on Apple Supplier Responsibility, which was released on Friday, for the first time Apple included the names of 156 companies that together account for 97 percent of Apple's outsourced manufacturing business. The company found facilities that had been breaking air emission and wastewater discharge limits, using factories that were releasing industrial effluent via unapproved outflow pipes and failing to register pollution. In the most egregious cases, Apple said it had suspended business with the violators until improvements were in place." (Via the Guardian)

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-16T17:20:00.001Z

A quarter of UK households are in fuel poverty; yet ministers and members of the royal family have been lobbying the prime minister for a new royal yacht since September (via the Guardian).

Right.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "We are not making any comment on this."

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-16T12:41:00.000Z

Jon Huntsman makes his "stepping down" face.

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-16T12:36:00.000Z

Andrew Hill of FT Management fame reviews a new book that almost passes entirely as satire; really, it's all in the name - Calculating Success - but several gems of its contents deserve special airing.

The book is organised around a fictional business entitled just 'Corp'
As a solution to lack of leadership support within 'Corp', the book's authors state that "an employee’s commitment to her job derives from her experiences interacting with leaders through the filter of her own motivation and needs.”
The authors of the book all used to be 'human capital' consultants for IBM

If Don DeLillo penned a work of fiction as a sequel to his last tour-de-force about the emptiness of the business vortex - Cosmopolis - this would be it.

Bonus gem

2012-01-13T17:34:00.001Z

Via Yale 360, the need for solar power summed up in the world's smallest nutshell:

"The poorest fifth of the world pays one-fifth of the world’s lighting bill — but receives only .1 percent of the lighting benefits...The money is on the table. It’s just on the wrong plates. Purchase and finance of solar power for 1.2 billion people would cost about $10 billion a year over a decade. The 11 countries with the largest number of households without electricity spent $80 billion each year subsidizing fossil fuel — only 17 percent of which benefits the poor."

Gem of the day

2012-01-13T14:51:00.001Z

Most sustainability reports are funny enough, in an ironic way.

But this translated one from Chinese manufacturer Foshan-Xinguang is really outstanding (hat tip to Elaine Cohen). 'Plenty of big stockholders'? Ah, yes.

Also worth noting is the company's disturbing imagery of leisure outlets and equipment available to employees, listed under '5.1 Care for employees'. I find the 'Entertainment arcade' especially alluring.

Something that's actually good

2012-01-12T14:12:00.000Z

Stop the presses: Ban ki-Moon proves in an NY Times editorial that the UN actually can create powerful and effective communications (although, yes, given this channel he is preaching to the choir):

He positions sustainable energy as an enabler:

"Energy transforms lives, businesses and economies. And it transforms our planet — its climate, natural resources and ecosystems. There can be no development without energy. Today we have an opportunity to turn on the heat and lights for every household in the world, however poor, even as we turn down the global thermostat. The key is to provide sustainable energy for all."

...and uses mobile phones as an analogy (new and 'untested' technology, required major government investment, encountered sceptical consumers):

"Twenty years ago, universal access to mobile communications seemed preposterous. Yet as governments put proper frameworks in place and the private sector invested resources and pioneered business models, the communications revolution exploded."

...and last but not least, emphasizes the reality that competitive renewable energy is already here:

"Capacity is expanding. Performance is improving. Prices are declining. New products are emerging that require less energy. This is a solid foundation upon which to build the next great energy transition."

Are you listening, Rio +20?

Bonus gem

2012-01-11T16:59:00.000Z

Irony of the day, from a manager of the Ceres insurance program (via Greenbiz):

"But, she notes, insurance is a conservative business. The industry is all about risk, but it doesn't want to take the risk of speaking out on climate change."

Gem of the day

2012-01-11T16:32:00.000Z

Worst misinterpretation of what sustainability (or 'green') for that matter could possibly mean in 2012 I've seen so far (thanks WSJ):

"Corporate America has been touting green products for ages now. In 2012, however, 'jobs will be the new ''green,'' says Andrew Essex, chief executive officer of Droga5. 'We'll see advertisers focused on what their brands are doing for the economy.'"

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-10T11:45:00.001Z

The best of the worst of the jargon in 2011 that rang through boardrooms, cubicles and powerpoints in the business vortex (via the FT):

"Going forward, we are focused on aggressively managing short-term challenges and opportunities and we remain committed to delivering our mid-decade plan and serving a growing group of Ford customers.”(Alan Mullally of Ford - and we wonder why investors don't seem to be able to act on strategic risks like climate change)
“The challenge for me is to re-aggregate the big picture, while throwing my arms around as much of the density of complexities as possible, distilling them down to their most basic constituents and plugging them back into the big picture.” (A faithful senior partner at one of the Big Four)
"The assessment was based on international methodology and on ground-truthing.” (A consultant at McKinsey - where else?)

Another non-environmental wonder

2012-01-10T10:46:00.000Z

News Corp has hired a new treasure to fulfill the role of general counsel, a man with a name you just couldn't make up for this kind of challenge (via NY Times):

Gerson Zweifach, a partner at Williams & Connolly. In his own words, a carefully prepared statement summarising just why he's so thrilled to be the newest Murdoch cheerleader (and proof in itself of why he deserves it):

"I could not be more thrilled to join the leader in global media at such a pivotal time in its history. It would be hard to imagine a more compelling opportunity to have far-reaching impact across a variety of legal issues and challenges."

Indeed.

Gem of the day

2012-01-05T08:58:00.000Z

Jack Gerard, president of the infamous American Petroleum Institute, never fails to deliver a great gem. The NY Times paraphrases his latest call to action:

"North America could be self-sufficient in gasoline and diesel fuel in 15 years if only the government would get out of the way, the president of the American Petroleum Institute said on Wednesday in a 'state of American energy' address intended to raise the industry’s profile in the presidential election."

Gem of the day

2012-01-04T11:18:00.000Z

Jeremy Leggett, Founder and Chairman of SolarCentury and general crusader for renewables, sums up energy developments in the UK last year:

"The British "Big Six" opted for so much gas that the installation rate of British renewables fell steeply: this despite conventional UK energy prices soaring so steeply that fully 1 in 4 of UK households fell into fuel poverty in 2011, up from 1 in 5 in 2010."

O common sense, where art thou?

Something that's actually good

2011-12-12T16:10:00.000Z

John Broder hits the nail on the head in his assessment of why the UNFCCC process is largely failing to deliver real results, year after year (via NY Times)

"Effectively addressing climate change will require over the coming decades a fundamental remaking of energy production, transportation and agriculture around the world — the sinews of modern life. It is simply too big a job for those who have gathered for these talks under the 1992 United Nations treaty that began this grinding process."

Broder even does that summary one better, with this line I never thought I'd see in a major newspaper:

"...the question of 'climate equity' — the obligations of rich nations to help poor countries cope with a problem they had no part in creating — is more than an “environmental” issue."

Bonus gem

2011-12-09T16:17:00.000Z

Here's a description of local impacts of the natural gas boom that really brings new urgency to the old message 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' (via the NY Times).

"The drilling boom started in communities like Atoka in Mr. Boren’s district. Mayor Charles A. McCall III was startled when local farmers began showing up at his family-owned bank with giant checks from gas companies. Signing bonuses that were once $200 per acre soared to $2,000 and eventually to $20,000 an acre, in addition to any eventual royalties. 'It was like a lot of people had won the lottery,' Mr. McCall said."

Real estate bubble anyone?

Gem of the day

2011-12-09T11:53:00.000Z

With its core offering of cheap products sold in stores so big you need to drive around inside them, Walmart is a brand that knows value for money.

So how does the world's biggest retailer get value for money out of its political donations? Grist holds the gems:

"Over the last decade, Walmart has emerged as one of the country's largest funders of political campaigns. Its dollars skew heavily in favor of candidates who routinely vote against the environment...Walmart's largest donations have gone to some of the nation's most powerful climate-change deniers."

And I'll leave it to Grist to deliver the punchline too:

"Walmart talks big about sustainability, but doesn't put its campaign money anywhere near where its mouth is."

Bonus gem

2011-12-06T09:51:00.000Z

Paul Hohnen, formerly director of Greenpeace and now big thinker at-large, delivers a scathing (and accurate) critique of how some corporates have approached sustainability (via GSB):

"Sustainable development was viewed as a real issue by members of this group, but mainly in terms of how it could adversely affect core business. Sensitive to their potential media and market exposure, companies in this category went for high visibility attire, drawing attention to their "low hanging fruit" strategy. They made much of taking smart business decisions (increasing energy efficiency, ending gas flaring), without really explaining why this wasn't done years earlier. These achievements were then appropriately highlighted in advertisements and CSR reports. Despite broad commitments to sustainability, however, they continued to grow their core business in the knowledge that this was unsustainable in terms of planetary boundaries."

Zing!

Gem of the day

2011-12-06T09:24:00.000Z

Here's a case study in the dysfunctional behaviour of the sustainability industry: blood diamonds. It's an issue where, unlike many grey areas in the sustainable development debate, there are clear rights and wrongs. And now this: Global Witness is withdrawing from the Kimberley Process, the weak mechanism responsible for international policing of the diamond trade to prevent the sale of blood diamonds.

Why?

"Global Witness had expressed concerns about how the Kimberley Process was operating for some time; it said the final straw was the decision last month to allow Zimbabwe to export diamonds from the Marange fields, where there have been reports of widespread human rights abuses by government security forces."

Right, because the process was simply that - a process, and one that wasn't close to effecting change.

But it wouldn't be a case study if Global Witness didn't get taken to task over its lack of willingness to be a team player, would it? For that quote we go to another dysfunctional intergovernmental body:

"Michael Mann, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote in an e-mail on Monday that the Kimberley Process 'may not be a perfect instrument, but it is the best we have, and therefore all parties, including civil society, should work to make it effective.'"

Gem of the day

2011-12-05T13:02:00.000Z

And now for something that's just plain cringe inducing. Coexist, the more progressive arm of Fast Company, shines a spotlight on a new website and mobile app called 'Slavery Footprint', which assesses our everyday consumer goods to deliver stats on forced labour in the supply chain.

Here's the Coexist reporter on his experience with the new awkward tool:

"It’s not easy to be a socially responsible consumer. Even if you buy mostly local products and diligently keep track of corporate environmental footprints, you may still be leaving a trail of slaves in your wake...After going through the process, I discovered that there are 101 slaves toiling away for me. That is actually a fairly low number."

Dear god.

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-12-05T09:13:00.000Z

The Economist reports that in the senseless debate over legalising marijuana in Colorado,

'...some neighbourhood groups worry that Denver will turn into Amsterdam.'

Right - I really don't think there is any danger of a city like Denver achieving the same quality of life as one of Europe's oldest cities.

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-12-01T17:16:00.000Z

Michael Tomasky delivers a great gem about nominee Herman Cain and his book (via the Daily Beast):

"That book, it’s clear from page one, is not the product of a man who wasn’t serious about his candidacy. He thought that the presidency was his destiny. Actually, I wouldn’t be shocked if he still thinks it. I know—this makes no sense. But trust me. He believes he was called."

Gem of the day

2011-11-30T09:20:00.001Z

In the midst of the promising disruption from Occupy Wall Street, and against the backdrop of the unraveling of the entire global financial system, the FT management section - specifically loyal columnist Luke Johnson - has an insight to share with his readers:

"Should the chief executive be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+?...More practitioners in business should be out there [in social media] describing their experiences and giving their opinions. It might help correct some of the misinformation promulgated by anticapitalists, and the general scepticism about wealth creators expressed by much of the media."

Breathtaking.

Gem of the day

2011-11-29T09:38:00.002Z

Tom Burke, former head of WWF, on his view of the world through the lens of 40 years of environmentalism:

"There's nothing wrong with the people in this world, only in the politics of it."

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-11-28T16:34:00.000Z

Patrick Brune, OWS spokesman, delivers a real zinger (via the Village Voice):

"We elected a person who ran on change and hope. And I don't see too much change and I don't have too much hope...the way things are right now, we can't use the government."

Bonus gem

2011-11-28T16:19:00.001Z

Anna Simpson (via Green Futures) picks up on the drivers behind a car-dominated 'mobility' debate:

"The fact that Renault was sponsoring the event, produced by EcomobilityTV, is the easiest explanation for the ghostly presence of the car in a room of non-drivers. More often than not, we put our mouth where the money is. It’s wise to remember that the money may well be elsewhere in years to come."

Gem of the day

2011-11-28T09:33:00.000Z

For anyone who has had the pleasure of driving down one of America's pot-holed highways recently, it's no hidden fact that the political system isn't the only thing crumbling around the USA.

There's a solution to this ailing infrastructure. And who do we have to thank for putting up the cash? No, not state and local governments.

China. Via the FT:

"China Investment Corporation, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest in the dilapidated infrastructure of developed countries, starting with the UK, according to Lou Jiwei, the fund’s chairman."

Gem of the day

2011-11-25T12:13:00.000Z

British Gas is tackling head-on what they call 'unfair' consumer perceptions of price-fixing with another beauty of a campaign. In a confrontational style reminiscent of Total Energy's 2010 CR report, BG is delivering answers to a set of 5 questions which include this zinger:

The alternative response is pretty obvious: it's the non-renewable part of fossil fuels, stupid.

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-11-23T16:28:00.000Z

The Pentagon has single-handedly redefined the benchmark for 'business as usual' with this stunner:

"Despite Threat of Cuts, Pentagon Made No Contingency Plans"

To top it off, here's a quote to put that dismal performance in context from someone who clearly spends too much time talking military matters around the Beltway:

"'The Pentagon has been cutting weapons programs by hundreds of billions of dollars for three years now,” said Loren B. Thompson, a consultant to military contractors. 'There’s not much left to kill that won’t affect the military’s safety or success.'”

Har har.

Gem of the day

2011-11-22T12:16:00.000Z

Wouldn't expect anything less from the CBI, but there's a slight issue with their position statement on Climate Change and Energy on their website:

"For UK business, climate change is no longer a threat to be feared, but an opportunity to grow the economy and lead the world – and by tackling it, we can make energy safer and more plentiful for all."

Was this written 50 years from now?

Something that's actually good

2011-11-22T10:59:00.000Z

Unilever CEO Paul Polman's 10-second summary of sustainable development (via the GSB Hub):

"I use the term VUCA to describe the world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. It is very difficult for people to get a total picture. The food, water, energy nexus is so inter-related that it is for most people too difficult to know where to start and where to end."

Exactly.

Gem of the day

2011-11-21T16:03:00.002Z

Memo to the world from an airline CEO: successful business people are male.

"'Obviously the first-class passenger is a very senior person in his company, coming a long way around the world, and probably doing something very important for his business,' said John Slosar, the chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways. 'He requires to be able to sleep, work on his speech, perhaps take a shower upon arrival, so he can hit the ground running.'”

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-11-21T13:53:00.000Z

A great metric for determining whether your idea is worldchanging and powerful is this one:

If and when the iron triangle of business interest groups and policymakers think about launching an attack campaign against you.

This week's success: A written pitch to the American Bankers Association from a prominent Washington lobbying firm, Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, proposing a $850,000 smear campaign against Occupy Wall Street. CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay up to conduct “opposition research” on OWS in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians.

Zing!

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-11-21T10:04:00.000Z

Arnold Schwarzenegger, profiled by Michael Lewis in the author's new book about the financial crisis (via the New York Review of Books):

'[Schwarzenegger] wears no bike helmet, runs red lights, and rips past DO NOT ENTER signs without seeming to notice them, and up one-way streets. When he wants to cross three lanes of fast traffic he doesn’t so much as glance over his shoulder but just sticks out his hand and follows suit, assuming that whatever is behind him will stop. His bike has ten speeds but he uses just two: zero, and pedalling as fast as he can….

'It isn’t until he is forced to stop at a red light that he makes meaningful contact with the public. A woman pushing a baby stroller and talking on a cell phone crosses the street right in front of him, and does a double take. “Oh…my…God,” she gasps into her phone. “It’s Bill Clinton!” She’s not ten feet away and she keeps talking to the phone, as if the man is unreal. “I’m here with Bill Clinton.”

“It’s one of those guys who has had a sex scandal,” says Arnold, smiling.'

Bonus gem

2011-11-18T14:39:00.001Z

The Economist's Global Energy Conversation webinar, happening now: a room full of white, middle-aged men and merely one woman, debating the various ways we can power our future.

How innovative.

And what's wrong with this audience poll, one of a few that are optional?

Gem of the day

2011-11-18T10:42:00.001Z

Daniel Kahneman single-handedly destroys the assumptions we hold around bankers and the reasons for their success (via The Guardian):

'The findings of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, winner of a Nobel economics prize, are devastating to the beliefs that financial high-fliers entertain about themselves. He discovered that their apparent success is a cognitive illusion. For example, he studied the results achieved by 25 wealth advisers across eight years. He found that the consistency of their performance was zero. "The results resembled what you would expect from a dice-rolling contest, not a game of skill." Those who received the biggest bonuses had simply got lucky.'

The point aligns nicely with the words of ol' Joseph Schumpeter (remember him?)

‘The monetary system of a people reflects everything that the nation wants, does, suffers, is.’

Gem of the day

2011-11-17T12:54:00.000Z

Here's two facts that illustrate the absurd divide between energy sources and government planning around infrastructure in the US:

1. Texas is in the midst of a terrible drought which is projected to last for at least the next decade, alongside declining water reserves and a growing population.

2. The gas industry in Texas uses a couple million gallons of freshwater to frack a single well. That's water that, sadly enough, can't be recycled for human consumption because of the additives it contains.

If only there was an unlimited energy solution available that didn't suck up water, and ways to convince people of the collective potential of using a little less water every day.

For the state with the greatest proportion of wind power in the nation, this is just sad.

Something that's actually good

2011-11-16T14:40:00.000Z

It's hard to pick out which parts of Naomi Klein's radically superb article in the Nation I like the most, but here's two for starters:

'...climate change isn’t “the issue.” In fact, it isn’t an issue at all. Climate change is a message, one that is telling us that many of our culture’s most cherished ideas are no longer viable.'
'... the [climate deniers] may be in considerably less denial than a lot of professional environmentalists, the ones who paint a picture of global warming Armageddon, then assure us that we can avert catastrophe by buying “green” products and creating clever markets in pollution.'

Gem of the day

2011-11-16T12:10:00.000Z

Urgent incoming message to the sustainability community from the friendly professionals at PwC:

"Airline Sustainability Reports Need Improvement"

Thanks for the memo.

"Southwest Airlines, UPS, Delta, Air France KLM, Iberia, LAN Airlines and Lufthansa produced the best sustainability reports by airlines last year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis.[PwC] rated all seven reports as 'good,' meaning they scored 61 to 80 percent of possible points."

Right.

Gem of the day

2011-11-15T13:49:00.000Z

Social media is supposed to be great for giving people a voice and a space for debate, but with comments like this gem--responding to Naomi Klein's extraordinary piece in the Nation this week--sometimes I start to think the Internet was a big mistake. Cheers to the author of it for somehow managing to get the entire point of Klein's article wrong.

"You say a plan is needed. I agree, but a much larger plan than one limited to environmental protection. I call the larger plan I propose the POW! Plan. It's a homophone and mirror image of the "battle" plan that LF Powell, soon-to-be US Supreme Court Justice, fired off to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He was worried that liberals were ruining the free-enterprise system. His plan sparked the "corporate revolution" that became the fifth corpocracy in America's history."

Jesus. But there's another comment further down through the wreckage that really takes the cake:

"Seriously, who cares?"

Bonus gem

2011-11-14T17:13:00.000Z

Did the man behind Schumpeter at the Economist talk to anyone in the sustainable development community before publishing this week's column, "Why firms go green"?

Witness this particular gem in which he effortlessly lumps together Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle and PepsiCo:

"...all of which have big ambitions in developing countries and use a lot of water. Each firm’s embrace of greenery has followed a similar pattern."

Dear Schumpter, please call Paul Polman. I daresay he would beg to differ. And remind yourself of the difference between Nestle's sustainability PR and what its chairman actually believes according to interviews.

Gem of the day

2011-11-14T13:27:00.000Z

And now for the one of the most disappointing--yet unsurprising--news pieces of the month (via NY Times):

"EDF, the giant power utility and the world’s biggest operator of nuclear power plants, was found guilty on Thursday of spying on Greenpeace in a bizarre and convoluted computer hacking case."

Memo to EDF: everyone gets caught eventually (see Madoff, Bernie and Nixon, Watergate). And yes, Greenpeace is probably planning direct action against you for your planned nuclear expansion France. I'm so certain there are more productive ways to deliver sound stakeholder engagement than theft.

Moment of expert insight from the Times: "...the company is unlikely to welcome the renewed scrutiny."

Gem of the day

2011-11-08T09:49:00.000Z

More often then not, what passes for news in the sustainability community can sound like material lifted from the Onion or the Daily Mash.

Here's a headline that serves up the proof (via the Guardian):

"Rio Earth Summit postponed after clash with Queen's Diamond Jubilee"

Thank god we've got our priorities in order. And also thank god there's a shadow energy & climate secretary who is clever enough to come up with this genius quote to shame David Cameron (who won't be attending, regardless of the jubilee):

"What a sad turn of events that David Cameron, who would hug a huskie for a press stunt just a few years, has now cold-shouldered the biggest environmental conference for 20 years."

'Environmental conference'? That's a surefire way of transcending that thorny, decades-old 'economy vs. environment' debate.

But wait! It gets even better. WWF actually takes the time to pander to David Cameron's mind-boggling inability to understand the significance of Rio +20:

"[WWF said:] Now it has been confirmed that the Earth summit is being moved specifically to accommodate the Commonwealth heads of government we would hope that the prime minister can find time in his busy schedule to attend the Rio summit."

Thanks for reading, David!

Gem of the day

2011-11-03T12:01:00.000Z

Grist has an excellent interview with Bruce Bradley, a veteran of what Bradley terms 'big food' (General Mills, Nabisco, you get the picture). Bradley's turned rogue after 15 years in the vortex but paints a remarkably sane and reasonable picture of why there are such deeply ingrained issues with the ways most of the food in the world is produced, marketed and consumed.

Gems are his top three things every consumer should know about the industry:

"Big Food is profit-driven. Don't be fooled into thinking a brand or the food company that owns it cares about you or your health."
"Think critically. Most claims and advertising by Big Food companies are meant to manipulate you, not educate you. Read your labels and do your research."
"There is no free lunch. Over the long-term, you always get what you pay for. Cheap food is very expensive once you add up the true costs -- like the taxes you pay to subsidize Big Food companies, health consequences like obesity or diabetes, the devastating harm to our environment, and the inhumane treatment of animals raised within the industrialized food system"

Gem of the day

2011-11-02T08:54:00.000Z

The NY Times reports on an extraordinary move by residents in Boulder, Colorado, to oust national corporate utility Xcel in favour of a locally accountable, greener utility.

Here's the gem, especially for anyone who has ever had the pleasure of encountering Office Space:

"'I can’t find the numbers for how Boulder is going to do it better,' said Bob Bellemare, an Xcel consultant."

Bonus gem

2011-10-28T14:08:00.000+01:00

Amory Lovins on fossil fuels:

"...ancient pond scum"

Zing!

Gem of the day

2011-10-28T09:29:00.000+01:00

Walmart is a case study in what the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to raise awareness of.

Last year, four members of Walmart founder Sam Walton's family made the Forbes list of America's 10 richest people.

The majority of Walmart's workers with children live below the federal poverty line. Walmart workers earn on average 12.4% less than retail workers as a whole, and many actually rely on welfare to survive.

That's the kind of mind-blowingly unfair contrast which means this business as usual can't last.

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-10-27T13:19:00.000+01:00

Memo from Herman Cain's office to staff, about travelling in the car with Cain (via NY Times):

"Do not speak to him unless you are spoken to."

Gem of the day

2011-10-27T12:29:00.000+01:00

Quote of the day, from one of those generic reports summarising why corporate partnerships are oh-so-important, courtesy of a pharmaceuticals company that chose to remain anonymous:

"In a world where many of the challenges faced by people and communities are interrelated, it is increasingly inevitable that finding and implementing the solutions will require collaboration between corporates and NGOs, each bringing their particular strengths, expertise and networks to bear. Cross sector collaboration is the surest way we can make progress!"

I think I can one-up that--how about...

"Cross-sector collaboration seizing the low-hanging fruit to deliver shared value to key stakeholders."

Gem of the day

2011-10-26T09:33:00.000+01:00

And now for a word from the dark side of all things networked technology, via the Politico vortex:

Google received 29 percent more government requests for user data in the U.S. during the first six months of 2011 compared to the last half of 2010, the company reported Tuesday. The company complied with 93 percent of the 5,950 government requests for user data it received during that time frame.

Nice to know Google and the US government are such good friends.

Gem of the day

2011-10-25T09:35:00.001+01:00

You can't beat this kind of introduction to the story of a strategic business decision gone terribly wrong (via NY Times):

"Reed Hastings was soaking in a hot tub with a friend last month when he shared a secret: his company, Netflix, was about to announce a plan to divide its movie rental service into two — one offering streaming movies over the Internet, the other offering old-fashioned DVDs in the mail.

"'That is awful,' the friend, who was also a Netflix subscriber, told him under a starry sky in the Bay Area, according to Mr. Hastings. 'I don’t want to deal with two accounts.'

"Mr. Hastings ignored the warning, believing that chief executives should generally discount what their friends say."

Bonus bonus gem

2011-10-24T17:04:00.003+01:00

Futerra co-founder Ed Gillespie on the [ab]use of terms like "paradigm" in communications around sustainable development:

"Paradigm shift can be OK I think if it REALLY IS a paradigm shift."

...and another comment on the same issue by an anonymous person:

"Paradigm shift. If I hear that one more time with little action to back it up I might not be responsible for my actions."

Bonus gem

2011-10-24T09:51:00.000+01:00

Yet another ranking system for comparing apples to oranges in terms of corporate sustainability delivers head-scratching results, unsurprisingly (via Tomorrow's Company).

American Express comes in last, way behind companies like Chevron. Go figure.

Gem of the day

2011-10-24T09:12:00.000+01:00

Great 1940s-inspired quote from Leon Panetta on how he sees his role at the Pentagon fitting into America's wider future (via NY Times)

"'The real test for the country, as well as for the administration,' he said over a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon in his Pentagon office, 'is going to be whether or not ultimately we can’t deliver on trying to solve the economic issues, but also deliver on the issues that I’m involved with in terms of war and peace.'"

And what huge global issue really underpins that test, Leon? Maybe he should cast his eyes over this.

Gem of the day

2011-10-21T15:49:00.000+01:00

"After trying to mollify its critics in recent years by offering better health care benefits to its employees, Wal-Mart is substantially rolling back coverage for part-time workers and significantly raising premiums for many full-time staff."

Ironic use of Walmart's iconic marketing language in the NY Times.

Gem of the day

2011-10-20T15:38:00.000+01:00

The third sector grew out of the need to counterbalance the extraordinary influence of the private sector on economy, society and environment.

Which is why it's not surprising that:

a. Most NGO models don't work very effectively (see 1970s tactics: write to your congressman? sign a petition?)
b. When NGOs try to harness the ways of doing business that, well, most businesses use, but with a goal of affecting positive change, they often get into awkward territory

Maybe the best way to rethink sectors is the reality that everyone is an activist now.

Something that's actually good

2011-10-20T15:31:00.000+01:00

As usual John Elkington has something remarkably sane and witty to say about what needs doing on the global stage (via Guardian Sustainable Business):

"...the IMF is unlikely to find a way of anaesthetising entire countries ahead of major institutional surgery, but one key to success in what lies ahead will be find ways to switch off our business-as-usual mindsets for long enough for genuinely sustainable alternatives to strike root."

To which I'd substitute "business-as-usual" with either "our way of living, thinking and working" or "the traditional systems our world as we know it are grounded in."

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-10-19T09:20:00.000+01:00

The GOP race is really starting to be a go-to source for gems. As reported by the Guardian:

"Perry also hit out at Cain, telling him his tax plan - 9% income tax, 9% corporate income tax and 9% sales tax - would not fly. Earlier today, the non-partisan Tax Policy Centre said Cain's plans would mean tax rises for 84% of the population. Cain denied it, saying the candidates were confusing apples with oranges, but failed to explain the distinction."

Another non-environmental wonder

2011-10-17T19:04:00.002+01:00

Hermain Cain, as quoted on the Daily Show last week (bless you Jon Stewart):

"If you don't have a job, and you're not rich, blame yourself."

And Jon Stewart on John Boehner (seriously, God bless you Jon Stewart):

"I don't have the facts to back this up, but John Boehner cries because his nose is an onion."

Gem of the day

2011-10-17T08:50:00.000+01:00

Out of all the awkward points that could possibly be raised about the 2011 Newsweek Green Rankings, here's one that simply proves how useless such ranking systems are (via Joel Makower):

"Nike’s fall — from #10 in 2010 to #243 this year — was perhaps surprising given its apparent environmental leadership on a number of fronts."

And the reason for this groundbreaking drop? The replacement of one of last year's key inputs of the ranking--a reputation score--with a "disclosure" score. So we can't trust the sustainability community to weigh in accurately on how green they think a company is?

But wait! Not only that, we clearly can't trust the data crunchers themselves:

"We also learned that [Nike's] footprint is slightly larger than we were aware, as they outsource more than we knew before."

Right.

Gem of the day

2011-10-13T08:57:00.000+01:00

Chris Tuppen has an intriguing article in the Guardian today, discussing how companies decide which sustainability issues are most material to their businesses. He ends up asking this question:

"Where there is a great deal of divergence between a company and stakeholder views, does it mean these companies are out of touch with their stakeholders, or is it that they have too many different types of stakeholder to be in tune with all of them?"

He suggests the answer lies in truly integrating sustainability into business strategy, with better and more effective reporting to follow.

Or, to look at it more systematically, this points to a much bigger--and more awkward--question. Most of the world's most profitable corporations fit into Tuppen's second potential state--because their supply chains stretch all the way around the world, they have far too many different types of stakeholders.

So couldn't you say some corporations are simply too big to be sustainable?

Gem of the day

2011-10-12T08:57:00.000+01:00

Australian political opposition leader Tony Abbott sure knows how to make something as dull as a carbon tax good fodder for the 24-hour news cycle. His quote on its passage yesterday (via NY Times):

"We can repeal the tax, we will repeal the tax, we must repeal the tax. This is a pledge in blood. This tax will go."

Gem of the day

2011-10-11T11:23:00.001+01:00

Business schools are typically the last place you would ever look for new perspectives, creativity and truly critical thinking. Which is why this article in Fast Company discussing how b-schools are moving to add courses in ethics and other such intangible considerations is hardly a surprise.

Consider this gem:

"MBA programs are teaching more social, environmental, and ethical content than ever. Four-fifths now require students to take a business and society course, compared to just 34% in 2001."

A 'business and society' course? What is this, the 1970s? Well, yes, if you're so unlucky as to be enrolled in an MBA program.

Which is why the last gem in the article is so damning:

"Business schools are good at creating a 24/7 experience that really shapes the minds of students. The intensity of the degree, and the cloistered experience, is also why they are so influential."

All in favour of the status quo, please raise your hands.

Gem of the day

2011-10-10T17:05:00.000+01:00

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this headline (via JustMeans):

"World's Top Corporations Confirmed to Participate in Global Discussion"

Here's one hell of a sell-in quote which the CEO of the Globe Foundation, which is bringing these so deliciously powerful stakeholders together, provides:

"It’s not often, if ever, that this many high-caliber international executives and sustainability experts can be found under one roof at one time."

Thank goodness these folks will *finally* be given the chance to have their voices heard in the sustainability debate!