Page 38 – Sustainability Academy

According to the most recent GreenBiz State of Green Business report, an increasing number of environmental performance results will be both reported and explained in the form of an Integrated Report (IR). An IR accounts for the inclusion of absolute environmental costs, which are “tallied by compiling companies’ individual impacts, such as carbon emissions, water consumption and waste, and assigning a cost to each impact.” Very few companies have yet to factor these considerations into their accounting systems, let alone report such information to investors. But GreenBiz notes that as governments begin to regulate carbon and as the climate change causes shifts in the monetary value of resources companies rely on, environmental costs will become a bigger lever for success or failure.

When it comes to addressing environmental costs, the areas of requiring the most attention occur outside the corporate office, in sectors such as operations, facilities, fleets, energy and real estate. The buildings sector is one part of the climate change equation with the greatest potential for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing environmental costs. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that buildings are responsible for more than 40% of energy use internationally, one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and 30% of raw material use. “Greening” corporate real estate can help achieve deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions both rapidly and cost-effectively, while simultaneously allowing companies to better manage and measure their environmental performance.

The recent trend of integrative reporting is already accounting for this component by urging companies to provide a basis for identifying and quantifying the projected benefits from investments in green building, and by fueling interest in integrating building sector reporting standards under the GRI and other frameworks.

Given investor and consumer consciousness of labeling programs, it is no surprise that as sustainability reporting develops to include these factors, many companies also seek certification to better communicate their green building initiatives. Studies show that because of investor and consumer awareness, certified buildings often lead in business activity; for instance, PNC Financial Services Group’s LEED rated facilities opened more than four hundred additional consumer deposit accounts and had more than three million more in consumer deposit balances per facility per year than non-certified properties. Overall, certifying a facility can exponentially improve a company’s financial performance and help to lower its operational costs.

Yet, the green building certification process remains a huge barrier for many businesses seeking to incorporate green building in their sustainability strategies. Programs such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) can add millions to construction costs while promising to cut other expenses. The additional costs of hefty certification fees and the soft costs of consultants and other hires leave little room in the budget for improving a buildings’ sustainability performance post-certification. And because corporations sometimes require various property types (whether owned or leased) to operate their business, there may exist drastically different conditions for each building seeking certification. Frustration over costs, building limitations and impracticalities of requirements consequently causes some businesses to throw their facilities to the wayside with certification.

But if the operation and management of corporate real estate plays a significant negative or positive factor in a company’s social responsibility, citizenship, or sustainability actions, then this shouldn’t be the case. Some may find that they can no longer afford to ignore the certification procedure – through certification they can more effectively address the critical role of their real estate assets.

One way that CSE is helping companies to achieve this in a less costly manner is through SERF, or the Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities. SERF was designed in an effort to avoid many of the issues encountered with green building certification – mainly that it can be cost-prohibitive, timely, and oftentimes inaccessible. With SERF, integrity no longer trumps applicability – users avoid settling for a single trophy building by applying one rating system along an entire building portfolio at a much lower cost.

SERF offers an approachable method for certifying all facility types, whether that is a leased office or a warehouse, a small urban building or a large rural one. The process itself saves time and money by moving away from reliance on third-party consultants and commissioning agents for documentation (although all SERF documentation is verified by a licensed architect or engineer before certification is granted). Better yet, it’s flexible. Users can better address their sustainability goals by choosing to certify a building through a prescriptive pathway or a performance-based pathway. A dynamic scoring system also offers criteria that are considerate of building environment and limitations. The result? There’s no need to beat your head against the wall to achieve simple, streamlined results – you can have your green building and flaunt it too.

Sustainability is about longevity, but it is also about transformation. “How do we respond to challenges and evolve for the better”, is always a question central to any leadership strategy. But being able to effectively communicate that question, connect it to a larger movement, inspire higher performance, find innovative solutions and influence traditional thinking are all characteristics that pertain to only a certain kind of leader. Given the recent flurry of climate change scares, there is no doubt that it is this concept of a “transformative leader” that will be leading the year’s discussion.

What is transformative leadership? Simply put, transformative leaders focus on their followers: they motivate followers to achieve higher levels of performance, listen and respond to their needs, challenge them to be innovative and creative, and in the process help them to develop their own leadership potential.

A recent report by The Climate Group spells out five traits that need to be embraced by business and government in order to create transformative leaders and achieve long-lasting, low-carbon results. The first step? Embrace change.

Many political and business leaders already acknowledge change, but only in recent years have we seen these leaders begin to embrace change as an instrumental part of longevity. For instance, in his second Inaugural Address, President Obama announced a renewed commitment to clean energy and greenhouse gas reduction. In doing so he warned America of the need to change with changing times: “The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it.” World Bank President Kim Jong Kim has also recently promised to make tackling climate change a top priority during his term. These leaders are beginning to embrace carbon reduction – not as a goal, but as a long-term and integral strategy for profitability, economic growth, and security. Their brute regulation is not only imminent, but also reflective of a new style of leadership: one that is strategic, determined, and receptive to the possibilities of change.

With decisive leadership also comes disruptive leadership. Transformative leaders create controversial strategies that challenge the way sectors and state interact. According to Senate climate guru Barbara Boxer, we can expect to see this approach in upcoming U.S. policy, whether in the form of a revenue-generating carbon tax or re-energized EPA regulatory schemes aiming to drive businesses to compete in energy markets and pave the path for clean energy.

We’ll also witness this as an increasingly common business strategy for success. According to The Carbon Disclosure Project, more than two-thirds of business already put climate change at the heart of their business strategies. Most of these companies are reporting their emissions at the company level. However, many more are challenging the status quo by learning how to extend emission reporting from the confines of their own operations to the wider effects of their products – re-defining the scope of reporting to include categories such as product use phase, end of life phase, and carbon abatement of products and services.

The business Case is evident in the following graph where organizations that join the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) have much better financial performance overtime that all the others in the Global 500 Index. The CDLI includes Siemens, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and many other industry leaders

At the Centre for Sustainability & Excellence, we observe these progressing trends with a growing number of professionals attending our global Sustainability and Carbon Strategy Practitioner training programs in all major cities including NY, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Toronto, Tokyo ,Dubai and Brussels . Our registrants hail from forward-thinking companies like United Airlines, Walmart, Unilever and ABM. Their backgrounds are diverse – comprised of Sustainability and CSR Officers, Communications and Marketing Directors, Investor Relations and even Media Relations departments. What unites these individuals is a growing demand to learn: how to be radical, how to be transformative, and how to create impactful, enduring value. Our upcoming training held in Chicago on March 7-8 is was designed in response to this maturing mentality; the training includes all scopes of GHG emission reporting, as well as incorporates hot topics such as water footprint, Life Cycle Analysis, and carbon reduction via green building. As many more begin to follow these trends and pursue such knowledge, simple policies and reporting will no longer be enough. Investors and stakeholders alike will be looking for radical strategies that aim to create long-lasting impact – those professionals without the right amount of know-how might as well fold their cards to this new era of transformative leadership.

2012 introduced several significant developments in sustainability, most notably around the issues of climate change, risk management, and supply chain ethics.

June’s Rio+20 United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development dominated the year’s discussion, reinforcing the need for corporations to play a larger role in attaining sustainable development goals. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Low Carbon Economy Index publication supports this sentiment, showing only minor improvements in global carbon intensity reduction. As climate change regulation escalates in response to these numbers, we can expect to see more investors and consumers paying attention to corporate sustainable development strategies.

Companies anticipate these changes. More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies now issue sustainability reports, with many also investing in sophisticated methods of tracking and reporting emission data. The Carbon Disclosure Project reports that in 2012 alone top firms integrating climate change into their business strategies reduced their emissions by nearly 14%. In 2013 we can expect to see even stronger corporate leadership in sustainable development as more corporations begin to report their carbon and water footprints, use methods of assurance to confirm data, and develop long-term carbon management strategies throughout the supply chain.

Social and environmental risk management will also be at the forefront of 2013. 2012 was filled with corporate behavior scandals. Companies like Barclays and Walmart found themselves in the spotlight amid global concern over lack of corporate and supply chain ethics. Superstorm Sandy and other natural disasters raised further questions about the ability of companies to adapt and become resilient to social and environmental challenges. Greater investment in supply chain management, stakeholder engagement and financial-environmental reporting will develop as business leaders seek to address these reputation and environmental risks. Expect one popular management strategy – “social license to operate” to lead the year’s discourse.

As sustainability become more mainstream, one trend also continues to hold promise: companies will continue to expand their investments in sustainability, and intensify their focus on pressing issues like energy efficiency, natural resource management, and health & safety. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that greater numbers of companies view corporate environmental and social responsibility as a profit boost. 2013 will see increased corporate spending on sustainability issues like clean technology, sustainability reporting assurance, and corporate sustainability programs. In 2012 this was already made evident with evermore additions of chief sustainability officers to corporate boards; Unilever was one among many to expand its sustainability teams. 2013 will continue this trend with individuals being recruited internally from supply chain management, communications, marketing, and other units, to develop sustainability initiatives.

Sustainability (CSR) directives will become more coordinated across departments, causing a big shift in corporate structure and thinking. Corporate heads will look to leaders that can demonstrate the drive and flexibility needed to collaborate across business units and influence decision makers. Sustainability and CSR officers will adopt different roles in marketing, communications, management or project coordination. A recent article by Ethical Corporation argues that renewed emphasis on strategic planning will bring about more pragmatic programs and effective communication of the value of sustainability throughout company sectors. In short, these efforts 2013 will invoke a much broader understanding of sustainability, with greater opportunities for collaboration internally.

Externally, we will also begin to see a shift in thinking, as corporate marketers, communication managers, and sustainability directors direct their attention to consumer behavior. Stricter carbon regulations will encourage companies to identify more effective methods of consumer engagement Additionally companies they will also understand that Sustainability Reporting in not enough and that they need further stakeholder engagement with their employees, community and investors for increase stakeholder value

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has been defined differently and falls under many umbrellas, yet its concept to an extent remain the same world, being that corporations can no longer grow economically if their growth is not shared with society. This in other words means that businesses accountability has shifted away from the singular of shareholders and investors to a wider picture bringing in a wide range of stakeholders. Therefore businesses responsibilities have shifted away from simply making profits and moved towards making sure that any profits made address environmental protection, the wellbeing of employees, the community and civil society as a whole, both now and in the future.

Throughout the years there have been many drivers pushing forward CSR and expanding the urgency worldwide. To date the most important drivers of CSR have been:

1. Demands for disclosure

Stakeholders nowadays, being customers, suppliers, employees, communities, investors, and NGO’s demand for corporate disclosure!

2. The ever changing role of governments

In the past, governments have relied on legislation and regulation to deliver social and environmental objectives in the business sector. Governments have been puzzled with how to tackle CSR and generally if it an area that they can indeed influence, thus, this confusion has led to the discovery of voluntary and non-regulatory initiatives instead.

3. Increase in ethical consumption

Countless of surveys prove everyday that ethical consumption is on the raise, showing how more and more conscious consumers are either rewarding or punishing companies based on their Corporate Social performance.

4. Rising investor pressure

Investors are changing the way they assess companies’ performance, and are making decisions based on criteria that include ethical concerns as investors reputation is at stake also if it invests in companies who do not consider the triple bottom line in their decision making!

5. Retaining and attracting employees

In today’s business market, employees not only place importance upon their paycheck but also upon the company’s philosophies and principles, in order to find a perfect match! This shift in employee principles has brought as a result to improve working conditions.

6. Supply chain

Nowadays suppliers expect business to be corporately responsible and take into consideration among others issues related to labor practices, working conditions, fair payment across the supply chain and through the life cycle of the product/service. In order to protect the quality of services as well as reputation, suppliers and businesses as a first step, have moved into developing and complying codes of conduct.

Positively, the concept of CSR has been integrated within businesses agenda, yet for some it still remains a theory which needs to become visible action. Two things businesses need to acknowledge is that transparency and dialogue can help to make a business appear more trustworthy, whilst at the same time brings up and all organizations standards (which is the ultimate goal). To help businesses improve their CSR efforts there is increasing recognition of the importance of public-private partnerships in CSR. For instance, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ultimate mission is to improve the comparability and credibility of sustainability reporting worldwide. For this reason the GRI created a common framework for reporting on economic, environmental and social impacts. CSE, organizational stakeholder and approved training provider of GRI, can provide you with a number of tailor made services which will meet your specific needs and expectations.

So, we have now said goodbye to the year 2012 and we are already embracing the New Year of 2013! The question now is what happened last year in the world of CSR and what can be transmitted into 2013? Looking back in a glance, it is apparent that companies realize that climate change is no longer a debate but an on-going threat which is becoming, nothing but bigger and bigger! In response the year 2012 indeed showed an increase in companies acting upon this significant matter and embedded sustainability within their business strategies to reduce their personal impact on the environment! This was seen through 78% of businesses reporting that climate change is being integrated into their corporate strategies, which is up 68% from last year according to the 2012 CDP !

All companies who devoted time and recourses to sustainable strategies and continue implementing methodologies of minimizing the risk of climate change deserve a big applause! These companies lead the way and portray the message that businesses have the will and power to be good corporate citizens!

Positively, 2013 is now here and has been predicted to be a good fiscal year, thus, we should be looking ahead and aiming at even better results than last year! In the arena of CSR Business Green article reported that almost half of the 250 senior sustainability executives indeed expect spending to increase in 2013 and they anticipate a robust growth in:

corporate reporting initiatives
smart grid
energy systems integration
distributed generation projects
sustainable product design
collaborative or shared consumption models

Though this might come as no surprise for some, for others, these areas are key areas to place in the 2013 list of resolutions as they hold the key of gaining competitive advantages simply by acting responsibly and most importantly responding to stakeholders 2013 needs! Therefore, the tip of the year 2013 is that there are essentially no secrets when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility, only transparency in products and services!

Happy New Year

Nowadays business leaders, government officials, and academics are focusing more and more attention on the concept of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR). Interestingly CSR differs from country to country in the way it is viewed and therefore acted upon, for instance the US works on a ‘duties of care and loyalty’ basis whereas Europe and Japan place greater emphasis on stakeholder participation. Why? Perhaps because as sustainability, CSR still remains a concept that has yet to be defined in one particular manner. Thus, even though it is part of our everyday life each ethical individual addresses it differently and place’s emphasis in different areas and scales.

Even though consumer behavior is crucial to sustain our future, needless to say businesses play a tremendous role in sustaining “our common good”. Academics in the past suggested that most firms view socially responsible actions in the same way that they view more traditional business activities, meaning they engaged in a more limited—but more profitable—set of socially beneficial activities that contribute to their financial goals. Indeed, the engagement in CSR by and large began with investors with large private holdings taking an interest in their companies’ activities and influencing the companies’ actions. But things have now changed, as mature societies strive for economic growth which addresses the triple bottom line. In turn, businesses now see their economic development through a more holistic perspective, through a social & environmental lens. As a result the engagement in CSR nowadays besides rapidly growing in most MNEs, it has also taken a massive step in SMEs which are constantly proving that strategic CSR can succeed if it is addressed in an organized, well planned and holistic manner. The significance of having a good CSR strategy is what makes CSR achievable, but without being consulted, firms risk making inappropriate decisions which could lead to unsustainable CSR, which means in economic terms “being pushed out of business”.

This in turn suggests that whether or not firms are able to engage in CSR depends on managers’ understanding, their incentives and constraints, which are determined by their personal ethical beliefs, business partnerships and goals. This principally means that the business case of CSR must be fully understood but most importantly appreciated. With the right tools and guidance firms can avoid the hidden tricky obstacles throughout the Sustainability journey. CSR and sustainability consultation is invaluable for a firm’s entire spectrum of operations in order to achieve a sustainable growth.

Begin your journey towards sustainability! Found out how CSE can guide you through the journey.

In today’s rapidly growing world 62 billion tones of resources (e.g. minerals, wood, metals, fossil and biomass fuels) are extracted annually from the environment to fulfill societies inexhaustible consumption demands!!

What is more important, flabbergasting actually is that 1/5 of these resources extracted for use end up being wasted away according to new research revealed by edie’s newsroom! In fact, OECD report Sustainable materials management state food having a larger environmental footprint than the packaging wrapped around it. Why? Well simply think about the life cycle assessment of a cardboard carton and milk! You will quickly come to realize that milk has many more components that need to be taken into consideration in relation to its carbon footprint, and that is without stopping at the “cow point”!This in turn suggests that wasting milk is worse for the environment than buying smaller cardboard cartons.

The response by businesses to this of course has been to apply different life cycle assessments on products, yet it appears that when a product is produced in such an environmentally friendly manner, emphases is placed more so on the package that it will be delivered in to consumers, than the actual product its self! Not to say that this applies to all products, as nowadays life cycle assessment is also applied to the actual resources of products to reveal and minimize the water and carbon which they are married with. Such transparency in today’s products has been a result of the evolution of consumers becoming environmentally conscious and ethical consumers in addition to businesses recognizing that climate change is a massive risk which they cannot afford to ignore!

For instance, CSE (Center for Sustainability & Excellence) CSE calculated the Water Footprint of Gaea’s Olive Oil products the first of its kind worldwide. Calculations were conducted for olive oil that is produced in the regions of Lasithi, Crete and Messinia, Peloponnese, with the support of CSE and Christos Zoumides, Water Footprint expert and Research Fellow at the Department of Environmental Management at the University of Technology in Cyprus. The reason behind this initiative was the realization that The Water Footprint of a product is the volume of freshwater used to produce the product, measured over the full supply chain. Hence, water is a critical resource and essential for business performance in the long term!!!

For further recommendations on how to grow economically without contributing to environmental degradation, visit CSE sustainability solutions!

Nowadays leading companies recognize Corporate Social Responsibility through a business model because it is the right thing to do, and as part of their Strategy it enhances reputation and builds positive bridges to society holistically. This has brought a new era of competition into the business world as competitive advantage is highly dependent by its stakeholders judgment in relation to their CSR results.

This new generation of competition has created a desire for businesses to win CSR awards as it directly provides recognition as well as leading the way to a more sustainable future! This competition also transpires to a more personal basis as individuals view themselves as more “employable” if their background involves CSR! Thus, Certified CSR Practitioners are seen to hold the key of influencing the culture of a team or even an entire organization as well, as contribute to their personal recognition.

Johanna Stakeberg is a perfect example of such individuals. Johanna is a CSR Practitioner trained by CSE, who following on from her training started and developed two successful crime-preventive projects from 2007-2010, namely the ‘Neighborhood watch’, in Sörse – Varberg and in Andersberg – Halmstad (Sweden) which won the prize for the best crime-preventive project in Sweden 2012. Her inspiration was to minimize crime and promote the view of a healthy neighborhood! The aim of the projects was to prevent crime by 16-26% which was accomplished and surpassed! Yet, it was her desire for CSR which inspired the whole team and brought results! Undoubtedly to reach her goals she utilized ways and means of putting into best practice all her knowledge on CSR, which shined through and created a worthy project award!

To honor such loyalty towards CSR initiatives CSE created an international competition among Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioners known as the Global Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Challenge in order to Award the CSR practitioners which leaded projects with great impact.

In 2012over 50 Certified CSR Executives from a diverse range of industries, backgrounds and regions took part in the 2012 Challenge. Within this competition each applicant presented a CSR initiative in which they had initiated and/or participated within their organization. Johanna, one of the 9 Awarded Sustainability (CSR) Practitioners, continued being recognized in Europe winning the first prize in the Swedish part of the crime prevention contest European Crime Prevention Award, the ECPA.

Have you thought of expanding your personal development?

So why are businesses prioritising sustainability? This is a question that puzzles businesses who haven’t yet understood the business case of sustainability and therefore missing out on opportunities but also threatening their businesses future!

Throughout the years there have been countless researchers conducted on the development of Corporate Responsibility and since 2002 universities have created new departments for this movement. Recently edie along with Sustainable Business and Temple conducted a research to answer this question. Their results are indeed profound and most certainly answer any questions businesses not prioritising sustainability might have!

Seven in 10 businesses (69%) consider sustainability to be a priority business driver for success in 2012, by doing the math you will find that more that 40% of those see it as a high priority, principally placing it at the core of their business! But why is this so?

In a nut shell, “going green” creates opportunities and identifies risks before they are brought to the surface. By prioritising sustainability the report finds that companies are driving down costs by focusing and engaging in energy, waste, carbon and water efficiency.

Shorly it comes as no surprise that energy is the largest issue among all, given that minimizing energy consumption also narrows down the profit margin, but positively carbon also. But then again with energy prices rising, and have no doubt that they will continue raising, and mandatory carbon reports booming in 2013, it makes perfect sense why up to 95% of the largest firms are addressing this matter by “going green”! The same case applies for waste reduction being among the top five priorities businesses are addressing! In turn, increasing efficiencies to drive profit margins is a critical business driver with 43% of businesses saying that it is among their top three priorities for the next three years. In fact 85% of these believe that resource efficiency will become fundamental to their business within in the next two years.

Essentially, the report places it perfectly by stating that “across sectors, most respondents seem to have realised how ‘green’ can also mean ‘lean’ in today’s harsher economic climate”. Facts sheet? Sure, nearly 71% already have energy-use targets in place, whilst 65% of companies have set themselves waste targets.

Businesses who have chosen to not go green should perhaps encounter that by 2014 carbon and waste reporting will be almost be a common practice.

Begin prioritising! Found out how CSE can guide you through the journey of sustainability…

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), once a concept, has now turned into a passport for any leading company, regardless of its sector, to operate in modern society. Indeed the interest in CSR began in the 90’s as businesses undoubtedly began having significant power and wealth, some even wealthier than entire countries!

Yet, as businesses presence and power continued to grow in the 20^th century, so did society’s awareness that businesses also have a massive duty to fulfill towards society, namely acting as good corporate citizens! By and large this a result of the alertness that what makes companies wealthier simultaneously weakens our common good! This alertness was delivered by the risks climate change inherently began showing among the poorest nations of the world. The threats and impacts of climate change were brought to the surface by key conferences in the early 90’s focusing on sustainable development, alike the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro 1992, followed by courageous key authors and documents awakening society as a whole.

The awareness and knowledge about the risk of climate change is now well understood being an issue that needs to be tackled on a global scale, some prefer the term “glocal”. Why? Because society is now also aware that to achieve results, action must be taken from a local scale up the ladder to global, this would suggest individuals doing their own part for the environment as well as acting as responsible consumers by supporting ethical corporations.

Studies alike Cone Communications mirror the movement in society’s ethical behavior as their latest survey found that consumers nowadays do not view CSR as an inspirational mission statement, but something they narrow down their decision making to! The specific survey found that 86 percent of consumers are more likely to trust a company that reports its CSR results, and 82 percent say they are more likely to purchase a product that clearly demonstrates the results of the company’s CSR initiatives than one that does not, according to the report. Such results are profound in comparison to a few years ago and reflect the blossoming of CSR and its significance towards a sustainable development and future!

So why is CSR a passport to leading companies? Well, numbers, at times, speak for themselves and reflect consumers using their choice as a vote, and it is clear to see that their votes honor responsible businesses and essentially punishing the others, simply by not choosing them!!! Are you an ethical consumer?

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