Category Archives: sustainability

More on Sustainability and CSR

Recent report by Deloitte, How to Leverage Sustainability Initiatives for Finance Transformation, makes the point “sustainability is no longer just an effort to portray good corporate citizenship along side ‘normal’ business operations.” If in the short run the best way to have a C-level voice for sustainability is through the CFO, and we all agree that any initiative worth its salt needs C-level representation, then it is time for companies with a strong sustainability bent, and no C-level sustainability officer, to move their sustainability reporting out of the Corporate Social Responsibility Report and onto the main playing field. GHG emissions, materials, waster, water, land use and biodiversity are not externalities in terms of risk and costs. It’s the CFO who runs accounting and these sustainability measurements need to be on the books. John Fullerton of the Capital Institute talks about externalities in the content of an economic transformation and Larry O’Connor of LaTrobe University in Australia comes at the same issue from an accounting reform perspective.

Social + Environmental

There is a strong argument for a C-level Sustainability officer who integrates social and environmental sustainability addressing the need for improving health and welfare by engaging customers, partners, and employees in adopting sustainability practices and principles at home, work and in their communities along with an in tandem with environmental sustainability. Fundamentally, raising consciousness levels and creating a sustainability culture has to be the work of all us, it just isn’t going to happen if we don’t transform the way we do business and without C-level representation it isn’t going to happen fast enough. One executive who speaks eloquently on culture and consciousness is Dominque Conseil, Global President of Aveda. Give him a listen, links are to his videos on EarthSayers.tv, voices of sustainability.

Where does this leave Corporate Social Responsibility?

In the Economic Intelligence Unit’s, Future Tense Report (2008), they reference IBM’s transformative efforts at removing barriers between its communications functions which in addition to the more traditional of marcom, media and PR was to include the”corporate citizenship” function. This was not seen by IBM as a reorganization, but about rethinking. No word on how things are going, but it’s a good point to start a conversation.

Comparing Sustainability to Social Responsibility

I wish I could say I came up with this comparison chart. I could have used it many times over the past year. It was part of Webinar sponsored by two companies, Verdantix and Enviance. The chart is from David Metcalfe’s presentation which was excellent as was Greg Scandrett’s introduction. Greg is VP of Product Development at Enviance and David Metcalfe is CEO of Verdantix.

As a sustainability advocate it became clear to me early on in my journey that the social responsibility professionals in an organization were not very interested in our project, EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability. CSR since the advent of social media has become heavy on the “managing corporate reputation” with emphasis on the managing part and, as noted in this chart, focused on NGO’s and eco-consumers, rather than building a trustworthy reputation based on social sustainability principles and practices.

Up to now the C-level sustainability officer is generally focused on environmental concerns, water and energy being high priorities, and cost reductions. At the social and environmental sustainability intersection is where companies can begin to examine their role in externalizing risks and costs, a practice and mind set that has greatly harmed the environment and all living beings.

Sustainability as Software Platform

Just listened to a Webinar by two companies, Verdantix and Enviance, that was clear, concise, and helpful to understanding how sustainability can work within organizations to address energy, carbon, water, waste, and health and safety requirements in the context of information requirements.

These are discussed in the context of sustainable business software platforms to support the achievement of business benefits summarized as decision confidence, risk reduction, reputation management, competitive advantage, sustainability management by results, and cost savings. I suggest that conversations with business executives about sustainability address many or all of the above benefits in order to get their attention. They are the benefits of transformation.

David Metcalfe’s part of the presentation was excellent as was Greg Scandrett’s introduction. Greg is VP of Product Development at Enviance and David Metcalfe is CEO of Verdantix.

Into the Cold by Sebastian Copeland

Just added to EarthSayers.tv, Oceans channel, a trailer of Sebastian Copeland’s new film, Into the Cold.

The absolute top of the earth is a place few try to reach on foot. Even fewer succeed. With the vast arctic ice vanishing rapidly, photographer, extreme adventurer, and environmental advocate Sebastian Copeland sets out to reach the North Pole on the centennial of Admiral Peary’s reach in 1909. This inspiring documentary follows their tumultuous two-month trek—not just through piercing cold and merciless terrain, but straight into the depths of the soul. Visit the film site to buy the DVD.

It will give you the chills and, at the same time, help support the SEDNA Foundation and Global Green USA.

Search: Global Warming, Climate Change and Sustainability

In the article, It’s all in a name: ‘Global warming’ versus ‘climate change’ by University of Michigan scholars* more people believed in climate change than in global warming. I want to put out there, as a counter balance, is the information from Google search trends which shows global warming outpacing climate change, especially in the United States in terms of search traffic.

Global Warming in Blue Outpaces Climate Change

The study results were summarized as “Overall, 74 percent of people thought the problem was real when it was referred to as climate change, while about 68 percent thought it was real when it was referred to as global warming.” There are more folks, however, searching on global warming (blue) than either climate change (red) or sustainability (yellow).

By the numbers, global warming search traffic is about 2.7M, 1M in the U.S.A. with climate change at 1.2M globally and 301,000 in the U.S.A. which is about the same amount of traffic as for sustainability in the U.S. while it is only 800,000 worldwide.

Based on search results I would recommend that climate change folks emphasize global warming and climate change, linking them together and, from my point of view, including them both as major category of sustainability.

*Jonathon Schuldt co-authored the study with U-M psychologists Sara Konrath and Norbert Schwarz.

Experts on Nuclear Reactors and Issues Involved

For the facts about the reactors and the issues involved, please consult the following resources and experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, and Beyond Nuclear.

Dave Lochbaum, Director, Nuclear Safety Project, Union of Concerned Scientists, (202) 223-6133
Ed Lyman, senior scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists, (202)223-6133
Arjun Makhijani, president, Institute for Energy & Environmental Research, (301) 270-5500
Paul Gunter, director, Reactor Oversight Project , Beyond Nuclear, (301) 523-0201 (cell) or (301) 270-2209 (office)
Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog, (240) 462-3216 (cell) or (301) 270-2209 (office)

Union of Concerned Scientists
NUCLEAR CRISIS AT FUKUSHIMA

Nuclear Information and Research Service
FACT SHEET ON FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Beyond Nuclear
BEYOND NUCLEAR STAFF TRACKING NUCLEAR PLANT CRISIS IN JAPAN QUAKE ZONE

How big of a nuclear disaster? Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan have raised new concerns about the risk of another nuclear reactor disaster. Despite reports by the New York Times that “officials said radiation leaks from the plant were receding and that a major meltdown was not imminent,” scientists from organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and Beyond Nuclear are working to access the risk of a major disaster. They have reported “there are indications that there has been some fuel melting, and there are reports that some radioactive cesium has been detected.” Their fact sheet is being updated regularly.” Here is video of the explosion.

The fact sheet also suggested to me, anyway, that officials are struggling not to take action that will permanently disable the reactor, although the Concerned Scientist folks don’t think that is a bad idea at all. News reports suggest the situation is “spiraling out of control.”

Global Warming and Nuclear Energy

With a high risk of disastrous consequences from the damage done to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, it’s time to focus attention on nuclear energy and the risks associated with nuclear power plants.

As part of our response at EarthSayers.tv we have established a special collection, Global Warming and Nuclear Energy. We are linking nuclear energy to global warming because nuclear energy proponents offer it as an antidote to global warming and a viable alternative source of energy, a contention not supported by sustainability advocates from both science and economic perspectives. We will be adding to this collection and encourage you to become better educated on the subjects of global warming and nuclear energy. You might also want to check out the Nuclear Information and Research Fact Sheet on the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Typically the scientists and the economists who address the high risks and costs associated with nuclear power are not covered in the mainstream press so in our special collection we will bring to the fore those voices of sustainability advocating solutions to global warming that do not recommend investing in nuclear energy. There are companies who are bringing innovation to the problems associated with existing nuclear energy plants such as cleaning up nuclear waste and we will seek out sustainability leaders addressing these innovations.

Architecting A Web Presence for Sustainability

EarthSayer special collections are communities of thought leaders, their voices aggregated together around specific sustainability topics, organizations, programs, or projects. We think of them as landing pages for communities of leaders.

Examples include the TV program Sustainable Today; the topic Transforming Our Economy; the project Native Perspectives on Sustainability; the City of Portland; the Country of Costa Rica, and organizations such as Bioneers. The community represents a level of knowledge not available on any one site. Sponsoring organizations “share” the vision, knowledge, and experience of their leaders in one place as well as position them as sustainability thought leaders, and seed their story throughout the Web to gain higher rankings on key topics.

EarthSayers does not host the content as we use database technology to manage and embed content and on our site links back to the host site for more information and commenting. Links are also important to being found.

With the Web we have entered an age of abundance or data saturation and it is out of balance with the communication and reception of information. It is important to use sponsorship and partnerships to architect a commanding presence for the sustainability movement. EarthSayers in aggregating content sees itself as part of a future where the voices of sustainability are heard around the worldwide Web because they can be easily found in a sea of information. Since 2008 the number of search results for the term sustainability on Blinkx, the largest video search engine, has gone from 21,000 to over 300,000!

To sponsor a special collection, email me at ruthann@earthsayers.tv.

Sustainability as a Peace and Prosperity Movement

Seth Godin’s blog post, How Media Changes Politics, got me thinking this morning about why sustainability is not part of the political discourse even around such critical issues as global warming, environmental degradation, and war.*

What Seth said: “Thus, as media moves from TV-driven to attention-driven, we’re going to see more outliers, more renegades and more angry people driving agendas and getting elected. I figure this will continue until other voices earn enough permission from the electorate to coordinate getting out the vote, communicating through private channels like email and creating tribes of people to spread the word. (And they need to learn not to waste this permission hassling their supporters for money.)”

Unfortunately, it’s not the outliers, renegades and angry folk of the progressive or populist movement that are being effective in (or investing in) this post TV attention-driven world. Their strategy, whatever it is, is not effective nor connecting – more “Can’t Hear You” than anything else.

Daniel O'Connell, 1836 – by Bernard Mulrenin

It seems the primary marketing tactic for the progressives and populists are meetings, especially mass meetings. It’s all about headcount. This was also the primary tactic of Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) who held a series of “Monster Meetings” in Ireland, so called because each was attended by around 100,000 people. Very effective back then and the beginnings of what continues as a primary political strategy.

So as meetings and events continue to be a major element in the marketing mix for the progressives what I fear is that the idea of “mix” may have been lost on them. Their strategy needs to be modernized and if my emails represent a trend then the “hassling for money” needs to be curtailed when a more private channel like email is used. Emails are mainly about money. MoveOn.com here in Portland, Oregon has become the event and party channel. This isn’t a bad thing as long as it isn’t the one big, monster thing in the marketing mix.

EarthSayers.tv Mission

The TRIBE

The sustainability movement, on the other hand, small but growing, is an integrating movement, rather than political. The meetings held around the movement are less about headcount and more about education and network building and, yes, decidedly more business, but not exclusively, as evidenced by regional Green Festivals and local events around health, environmental, and social equity issues. More tribe-like, less monster-like.

Integration

A strategy of integration, and for sustainability there is no choice given its breadth and depth, fits well with the Web’s video and interactive capabilities and also supports a distributive model of power, while supporting inter-connected, smaller networks. It’s not just a shift of platform but a change in what gains attention — a shift from an organizational focus — the “IT” with its programs, project, initiatives, and issues to the “WHO.”

The WHO

And when it comes to the WHO, lots of smaller lights rather than one or two big ones: a diverse, geographically dispersed leadership. This is the tack we support with EarthSayers.tv as we build the eyeball count while focused on delivering relevant and quality content of the unfiltered voices of sustainability. Over 600 voices (and growing) joining with the bigger spotlighted leaders such as Al Gore and Paul Hawkin. An integration strategy requires sustainability leaders to be more vocal and visible on the Web and at regional, local, and Web events. Being Web-adverse won’t cut it. It’s not business or politics as usual.

For Daniel O’Connell back then the alternative to politics was force.** And is force today. Sustainability advocates from all of the sectors of the world economy need to give voice to peace and prosperity and move this pairing to the top of the sustainability agenda. It will move the leaders of war up to the top of the unsustainables list along side polluters and slave traders. The sustainability movement offers an alternative to politics and force, but the voices on this haven’t risen to the top — yet. If there is to be one voice of the sustainability movement, and I think we need one in this phase of our growth, it needs to be peace and prosperity for all.

Eaches

This is an “eaches” thing – Each of us sustainability advocates must move Peace and Prosperity to the top of our personal and professional agendas. The “WHO” is you and me.

Notes:
*FYI According to a recent survey by Opinion Research Corporation and reported today by the Civil Society Institute “Independents are more than twice as likely as Tea Party supporters (62 percent versus 27 percent) to see global warming as a problem in need of a solution, compared to 39 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats.

The silence is deafening out there on the part of our political leaders, not only for global warming, but peace and prosperity.

** “The principle of my political life…is, that all ameliorations and improvements in political institutions can be obtained by persevering in a perfectly peaceable and legal course, and cannot be obtained by forcible means, or if they could be got by forcible means, such means create more evils than they cure, and leave the country worse than they found it.” Daniel O’Connell writing in The Nation newspaper, November 18, 1843.

Sustainability Advocate

Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv, Voices of Sustainability