Page 14 – Sustainability Academy

As most of the cities around the globe enter the reopening phase or have already started embracing the new normality so have individuals and corporations come with the striking realization that they need to take ownership of a better, more resilient future.

Through the unexpected world-pause, an opportunity is offered to reflect and reset what seemed to be non-vital. Although often thought as different concepts, resilience is apparently adding now more than ever nuance and inspiration to the idea of sustainability making it more suitable to the confusing world around us.

With the inescapable changes and disruptions already taking place, envisioning the world as in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) might not be a utopia as this is the right moment to spur renewal, pioneering thinking and collectively thrive. That nonetheless, requires listening and learning from the ground up with lessons from the pandemic.

For start, it is critical that we acknowledge that in order to achieve the even synergy of the triptych planet, people and profit, we should stop overlooking sustainability as a problem that addresses anyone but ourselves rather than we commence to act collectively. Especially in the corporate sphere, it is impressive how little are employees engaged in the organization’s sustainability journey as socio-environmental criteria fail to be successfully integrated into every business department. This is disappointing if we do not truly grasp that in essence, sustainability infuses in every division in all company’s operations.

Covid-19 came as an earthquake to shake business models so that they become more resilient, more sustainable. Sustainability Academy is committed to play its essential role in this transition by offering affordable and specialized training on the hottest issues of Sustainability not only to individuals but also to a group of professionals and corporations that are determined to entice their employees and other stakeholders to engage in sustainability.

By Rosalinda Sanquiche, ISSP-SA, CSE Certified Trainer

What will the “new normal” look like? The challenges we’re facing in the wake of COVID-19 are the very challenges to which sustainability professionals have long been offering solutions.

The Resilient versus Efficient debate tends to fall toward efficiency. However, we should ask which areas can we best managed with redundancy. Sustainability based on biodiversity teaches us to find multiple pathways to the same outcome. Do we always want the cheapest, least labor intense option? Resiliency affects workers, supply chain, health care, education and so much more.

Supply chain – knowing exactly where our products come from, how they get to us, and which commodities are fragile are a few of the issues addressed by McKinsey, Harvard Business Review and thousands of articles and reports from the sustainability community, with extensive guidelines and management tools.

Clean Air – a current meme is the clear skies around our most populated cities. There have been 11,000 avoided deaths because of better quality air in Europe. Compare this to the estimated 100,000 deaths annually in the US attributed to air pollution. Now is the time to consider corporations going beyond compliance.

Debt relief – various ideas are circulating to relieve the financial burden of student loans, mortgage and rent payments, credit card payments and even utility bills. Should companies consider debt-forgiveness jubilees for community stakeholders? And, let’s be deeply concerned that a few weeks of unemployment have sent many to the food banks.

Health care – Many communities suffer poor access to medical care and nutrition during the best of times. In turn, these bottom of the chain workers are the very ones who prepare our food, deliver our goods, care for our children. A system where the best paying get the best care is irrelevant to the spread of illness. Even the fully employed can fall toward the negative end of the spectrum.

If there are liver diseases, the active substance of Ambien (Zolpidem) can accumulate in the body and lead to undesirable consequences. The drug should be prescribed to elderly patients with caution, since they have an increased risk of developing muscle relaxant and sedative effects on the body, which leads to falls and injuries.

Guaranteed minimum income – many economists, as did Milton Friedman, suggest variations of a guaranteed minimum income. As we scramble to disburse aid to displaced minimum wage earners and gig workers and the more fragile than we’d like to admit middle class, sustainability practitioners again must grapple with providing the benefits of corporations offering living wages.

Sustainability is so much more than reduce, reuse, recycle. Companies task sustainability practitioners with crafting solutions best suited for their sector. CSE training and consulting are resources you can access for sound, long-term solutions to ameliorate the fallout from COVID-19 and other crises to come.

CSE is pleased to partner with Green America, to offer its Green America Business Network members its Online Diploma on Corporate Sustainability. This foundational course offered through the acclaimed on-line Sustainability Academy provides a step-by-step introduction to corporate sustainability and the latest sustainability trends.

See international best practice case studies and videos
Learn about international legislation and regulation, effective stakeholder engagement, and how to integrate sustainability successfully into your business
Work through five modules and take a final assessment to receive the online certificate
Receive a FREE e-book copy of Practical Sustainability Strategies by Nikos Avlonas and George P. Nassos

Green Business Network members get an exclusive 15% discount . For GBN members : To redeem this special offer as a Green Business Network member, log into your Member Dashboard at http://members.greenbusienssnetwork.org.

There is an increasing and urgent need for greater transparency, reliability and comparability of ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance data reported by companies. ESG data has become an important factor in determining a company’s valuation and a vital medium to access financing and capital. As a result we are seeing a significant increase in Sustainability reporting, which has grown significantly with 86% of S&P companies having published a report in 2018, compared to 20% in 2010.

The challenge is that current corporate ESG disclosures lack consistency and standardization. To add to the confusion, there are more than 600 ESG ratings agencies globally, according to the Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings.

There is a lot of ESG data available for investors but which cannot necessarily be relied upon by investors to make informed decisions.

The frustration for many companies is the general lack of transparency as to how they are being scored in their sustainability performance. Currently firms which provide ESG benchmarking services are gathering data from multiple sources, ranging from “best of” lists to ratings agencies, but the scores don’t contain enough information and context for most investors. Investors need to complement these ESG data with additional feeds from news reports, social media posts, and employment sites.

Going forward, it is widely expected that automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will be leveraged to both generate and evaluate ESG data. However for these machine systems to work effectively a larger volume of data will need to be produced. AI functions best on billions of data points rather than millions.

In response, investor relations and sustainability teams are looking for new innovative ways to increase dependable data collection to detect and highlight strategic ESG information. Technology innovations are creating new opportunities, for example, companies are now testing new sustainability applications on their customers focusing primarily on measuring and tracking energy consumption, climate emissions, waste generation and environmental data.

We expect the increase in automation and AI data collection to significantly change how sustainability reporting is both undertaken and strategically perceived.

The Sustainability Academy offers the Online Diploma on Corporate Sustainability and a series of specialized programs on Sustainability Reporting, Carbon Reduction Strategy and ESG Performance for Investors. There are also special In-house Programs for organizations, who recognize that investing in their human capital through education is the most important determinant for growth and excellence in Sustainability. To confirm this claim, recent research has demonstrated that organizations with a strong learning culture can outperform their peers. The Academy aspires to reach 100,000 professionals by 2025!

As part of ‘social-distancing’ measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, millions of employees around the world now find themselves working from home. For employers who are trying to manage their teams remotely and retain morale and productivity, engaging employees in online training courses is a great way to achieve just that.

Research by Bersin has shown that organizations with a strong learning culture tend to have higher employee productivity and are able to create more business impact – and there is no better area for creating business impact than in your sustainability practices. The Sustainability Academy – CSE’s award-winning, online educational platform – offers certified online courses, for a variety of sustainability hot topics, including ESG performance, sustainability reporting, social entrepreneurship, and carbon reduction strategies.

The Sustainability Academy provides practical and up-to-date content (new editions published) and along with individual courses, organizations can sign up for online group courses. Group Courses are tailor-made for organizations and cover the specific needs of the organization while allowing for teambuilding in a remote setting. The Sustainability Academy has successfully designed and delivered certified online courses for diverse organizations like Timberland, Pepsico, and the United Nations. Certified group online courses allow for an exchange of ideas and knowledge among participants and the training team and each participant’s learning path, intensity, and time frame can be customized. Gamification options allow for the tracking and rewarding of participants’ progress.

Employees want to learn and grow, and with the current situation online learning opportunities are a great way to foster a learning culture in your organization even while your employees are working remotely. The return on investment will be palpable –Research has shown that organizations that are able to nurture their employees’ desire to learn are at least 30% more likely to be leaders in their industries over time.

Now is the time to develop your learning skills in the ever evolving field of sustainability while staying at home.

Nikos Avlonas

Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE)

March 19, 2020

The international emergency arising in the last few weeks following the extensive spread of the Covid-19, also known as coronavirus, has reached a critical point, encompassing both global health as well as the economic impact the will ensue. It is widely expected that the global economic system will suffer greatly, with the United Nations reporting losses of up to $2 trillion while Bloomberg, being even more pessimistic, forecasts losses of up to $2.7 trillion, a figure which compares to the entire GDP of the United Kingdom !

With rapid developments occurring at a daily pace and following the announcement that we are experiencing a global pandemic, it already is clear that certain industry sectors will be harder hit than others, the biggest losers appearing to be tourism, air travel but also retail as well as food and beverage service industries. All these sectors are co-dependent and the growing uncertainty is firing off chain reactions that are greatly impacting the business community as a whole as well as the entire Banking system. According to IATA, the loss for the commercial airline industry could range between $63 billion to $113 billion for this year alone, depending on the length of impact brought on by the virus.

Businesses are being called upon to combat the economic crisis but in parallel to prove their sustainability by acting with significant responsibility towards their employees, their customers, their business partners as well as for the safety of their products and services. It can be said that the pandemic is a true test of Sustainability and Responsibility of all existing businesses while most are already in crisis mode.

In the attempt to maintain and support supply chains, particularly around the distribution of emergency products and services, such as food and pharmaceuticals, the adoption of strict protective measures, both for employees as well as the products delivered to end customers, is a basic requirement of Corporate Responsibility. In addition, special emphasis can be made on the population groups at higher risk and are in immediate need for protection through collaborations and synergies that can be created through sector initiatives or independently. Examples could be supermarkets offering free home delivery to high risk customers while medical centers can take advantage of the technology available and offer virtual diagnostic and tele-medical services.

In parallel, many organizations are already offering solutions creating customized working conditions, such as tele-working, in line with the general guidance to “stay at home” but also providing psychological support and other initiatives for the well being of their employees. Technology is indeed an important ally given that the many alternatives it can offer are proving to be highly beneficial.

It is widely accepted by all that in this difficult and unprecedented time it’s a basic requirement that we all display personal responsibility. Similarly for businesses, the time has come to put in practice their corporate social responsibility and solidarity for the communities they serve.

Nikos Avlonas

Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE)

March 19, 2020

The international emergency arising in the last few weeks following the extensive spread of the Covid-19, also known as coronavirus, has reached a critical point, encompassing both global health as well as the economic impact the will ensue. It is widely expected that the global economic system will suffer greatly, with the United Nations reporting losses of up to $2 trillion while Bloomberg, being even more pessimistic, forecasts losses of up to $2.7 trillion, a figure which compares to the entire GDP of the United Kingdom !

With rapid developments occurring at a daily pace and following the announcement that we are experiencing a global pandemic, it already is clear that certain industry sectors will be harder hit than others, the biggest losers appearing to be tourism, air travel but also retail as well as food and beverage service industries. All these sectors are co-dependent and the growing uncertainty is firing off chain reactions that are greatly impacting the business community as a whole as well as the entire Banking system. According to IATA, the loss for the commercial airline industry could range between $63 billion to $113 billion for this year alone, depending on the length of impact brought on by the virus.

Businesses are being called upon to combat the economic crisis but in parallel to prove their sustainability by acting with significant responsibility towards their employees, their customers, their business partners as well as for the safety of their products and services. It can be said that the pandemic is a true test of Sustainability and Responsibility of all existing businesses while most are already in crisis mode.

In the attempt to maintain and support supply chains, particularly around the distribution of emergency products and services, such as food and pharmaceuticals, the adoption of strict protective measures, both for employees as well as the products delivered to end customers, is a basic requirement of Corporate Responsibility. In addition, special emphasis can be made on the population groups at higher risk and are in immediate need for protection through collaborations and synergies that can be created through sector initiatives or independently. Examples could be supermarkets offering free home delivery to high risk customers while NYGoodHealth medical centers can take advantage of the technology available and offer virtual diagnostic and tele-medical services.

In parallel, many organizations are already offering solutions creating customized working conditions, such as tele-working, in line with the general guidance to “stay at home” but also providing psychological support and other initiatives for the well being of their employees. Technology is indeed an important ally given that the many alternatives it can offer are proving to be highly beneficial.

It is widely accepted by all that in this difficult and unprecedented time it’s a basic requirement that we all display personal responsibility. Similarly for businesses, the time has come to put in practice their corporate social responsibility and solidarity for the communities they serve.

The successful March 2020 Atlanta training focused on ESGs and Circular Economy. Atlanta is a gathering place for corporations throughout the US and the world, given it is a critical transportation hub. The training included a majority of participants from Georgia, Maryland, Florida and Texas.

CSE is preparing now for its upcoming trainings throughout US and Canada. As always, CSE will tailor the training to the unique needs of this region.

A good portion of the Atlanta training focused on ESGs and Circular Economy, important considerations for participants from Rheem, EPCOR, Delta, WestRock and Wells Fargo. Sustainable management of ESGs and Circular Economy makes a significant impact in promoting human rights, fair labor practices, environmental progress and anti-corruption policies. Given Atlanta’s national and international reach, highlighting Circular Economy issues made sense.

FT 500 participants were particularly sensitive to the implications of sustainability rankings to investors. ESG criteria (environment, social, governance) are part of due diligence for trillions of investment dollars.

Another focus, praised as one of the key take-aways by participants, was Materiality. When allocating resources, smaller and newer companies appreciate knowing how to address stakeholder concerns when designing a sustainability strategy and developing a sustainability report.

ESGs and Circular Economy are important components of the Center for Sustainability and Excellence Certified Sustainability Practitioner training which will be presented in all our upcoming US and Canada trainings.

CSE does not pick focus topics arbitrarily, such as the request for extra SROI information in the 2019 Toronto training, or the Silicon Valley Sustainability Trends for the San Francisco 2019 training or the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability focus for the Miami 2020 training. We listen to participants from past trainings and to participants enrolled for future trainings. Want to inform the focus for any one of our future trainings? Register now and let us know your thoughts.

Nikos Avlonas, President of Center Sustainability & Excellence–CSE

What concerns do organizations raise about Sustainable Development and how the new EU strategy for 2030 (Green Deal) will affect them in the near future. Why do consumers and investors keep setting the standards higher when it comes to Sustainable Development?

According to Ursula von der Leyen, president of European Committee, about 100 billion euros will be invested the following years in order to find a tool of «fair and just transition» towards Sustainable Development. It seems that 2020 will be defined as a milestone year for these issues.

Europe aims to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050 by slowing down global overwarming and mitigating its results. European Green deal is the new growth strategy for Europe that will not only cut down its emissions but will also create new job positions, will improve quality of life by investing in clean energy, expand commissions trading schemes, reinforce circular economy and maintain biodiversity.

This March, the first European Climate Legislation will be proposed as investors and entrepreneurs require clear rules and instructions to design their long-term investing plans.

European Organizations and how they are affected by Green Deal

Green Deal, as a mechanism of reducing GHG emissions is expected to affect hundreds of corporations in Europe as well as service providing companies, small medium companies and the Public Sector.

Carbon Tax. Several European countries, have already applied a direct taxation system for all the imported products and services in the EU. For the EU, this system not only can it protect its industry but also urge other regions to move ahead with similar climate actions

Responsible Investment. Green investment will be promoted through funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) where companies that take actions against climate change will be financially supported under strict supervision of the criteria to be met. Companies that are unlikely conformed to ESG ratings or belong to polluting sectors, will receive hardly any funding. Investors will reject organizations that do not meet international standards such GRI, CDP or do not have good ESG scores.

Supply Chains. Small and Medium companies may need to comply with more strict and precise criteria on Sustainability and apply strategies that fulfil explicit requirements. Others may have to change their business model in order to survive in this new economy.

The realization about the severity of the global climate crisis increases almost every day as a new climate event unfolds or statistics on the rate of global warming are published. The need for action is pressing, especially from the private sector, which is why reports like the 2020 Global 100 – an index of the most sustainable corporations in the world – are so important in helping determine which companies are taking responsibility and leading the charge in sustainability.

This year’s report reveals that 12 of the Global 100 are headquartered in Canada. Operating in sectors ranging from finance (Bank of Montreal, Sunlife Financial) to mining (Teck Resources) to communications (Telus, Cogeco), this list underscores the rising importance of sustainability in Canada’s private sector. Canada is also home to several incubators and accelerators that support sustainability start-ups. DMZ at Ryerson University is ranked as one of the top business incubators in the world and has raised over half a billion dollars in funding and incubated and accelerated nearly 500 companies in the past decade. MaRS, also located in Toronto, focuses on supporting businesses with a high social impact.

The federal government is also providing support, as part of its Sustainable Development Strategy for Canada, the Canadian government is pledging over $750 million CAD in federal investment in clean energy Research, Development and Demonstration by 2020. Canada’s public and private sector are clearly ready to invest and innovate in sustainability, making it an ideal career destination for those who want to contribute to finding a solution to climate change.

Toronto is an ideal location for CSE’s Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Program, Leadership Edition 2020, April 23-24, 2020. This is CSE’s first Toronto training this year (October’s was sold out!).

Group registration form