Page 43 – Sustainability Academy

Can beer, soda and bottled water improve world water resources? Yes! To mitigate their negative impacts, the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) works with beverage companies around the world making strides in water protection, conservation, replenishment and management.

Protection – Beer is 95% water. Heineken uses water to growing crops and distill its final product. To reduce impact, Heineken is working to minimize water intake by increasing water efficiency, treating brewery effluent and balancing the water which facilities can’t return to the local watershed. Heineken concentrates water stewardship investments in 23 operational sites in water-stressed areas, mostly in Africa, Mexico, Indonesia and Spain. A good example is their 2016 tree planting project in Rwanda to improve soil structure and drainage.

Conservation – In 2015, PepsiCo reduced operational water use per unit of production by 26% against a 2006 baseline, well exceeding their goal of 20% by 2015. Water conservation efforts saved PepsiCo more than $80 million between 2011-2015. PepsiCo contributes to Recycle for Nature, a five-year partnership with The Nature Conservancy to protect U.S. drinking water sources by recycling beverage bottles and cans.

Replenishment – Many of Coca-Cola’s projects focus on replenishment. Replenishment returns clean water to the watershed and improves community water systems. Coca-Cola boasts a success rate of replenishing 115% of water used in global sales volume, ahead of 2020 targets. Their replenishment projects are conducted with the expertise and support of partners such as WWF, USAID, The Nature Conservancy, Water for People, UN-HABITAT, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Management – Nestle sustainably manages nearly 14,000 acres of natural watershed around their 50 spring sites. At the source, they monitor water levels to ensure that they’re being replenished. Nestle has improved the production life cycle for packaging. For example, their bottle has the lightest environmental footprint in the industry. Managing the end of the process, Nestle focuses on improving recycling rates to reduce energy needs and raw materials.

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Michael Washburn, director of sustainability at Nestle Waters North America, states that their effort “serves our business interests”, promoting economic growth, saving businesses money. The effort can add 1.5 million jobs if the US reaches a 75% recycling rate.

CSE is proud to have worked with each of these companies via their Sustainability Practitioner Program and consulting. There is much more to be done. To meet the training challenge, CSE’s Sustainability Academy offers an affordable, flexible online program targeted to train 100,000 sustainability practitioners by 2020!

Ed Sheeran games with sustainability. Will the rest of Hollywood get on board?

Five major explosions, one fiery crash, 15 cars destroyed and 2 store fronts demolished. Add waste generated by 100 people on set on any given day and easily over 1000 by the end of a production. Sustainability practitioners are NEEDED to address awareness and sustainable practices in Hollywood.

Fortunately, Hollywood is coming around. The first Environmental Media Association Impact Summit was held March 2017. Representatives from Disney, Fox, Sony, Paramount and Warner Bros. Studios attended. The summit was headlined by celebrities Shailene Woodley and Jaden Smith. Topics ranged from vendors, carbon emissions and energy conservation to community partnerships and the EMA Green Seal recognition program.

With this much interest in movie production, soon there will be a heading as the credits role for sustainability crew. Sustainability practices are similar across industries. Adopting sustainability practices in the entertainment industry benefits nature and the triple bottom line.

Producers need sustainability strategists. A course on sustainability in Hollywood would look like the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence’s (CSE) Sustainability Practitioner Program. Modules include reporting guidelines such as the GRI Standards, supply chain and carbon foot printing. What Hollywood still lacks and sustainability professionals can help provide is transparency in production practices and reporting. Movie production is a significant contributor to GHGs, but without a baseline and solid metrics, how can Hollywood improve?

Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Pearl Jam and Coldplay are some of the musicians rocking sustainability. Movies have global reach. The entertainment business is generally perceived as progressive. The blockbuster writer/director of Bridget Jones’s Diary Richard Curtis and Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron are both representatives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Good work already is being done. Now, more studio heads need to get on board. Sustainability advocates Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson, Ben Affleck, Jessica Alba: let’s make their lives easier with a cadre of sustainability practitioners ready to bring sustainability to the set!

CSE’s next California Sustainability Practitioner Program (Advanced Edition 2017) will be held in San Diego, Oct. 31- Nov. 1 at the SRI Conference.

While the need to bolster sustainability and equality and eliminate poverty is more pressing than ever, in the annual check-in on the SDG’s at U. N. Headquarters, known as the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), cities and the SDG 11 (the goal focused on sustainable urbanization), as part of the sustainability development agenda, are not explicitly on this year’s HLPF menu.

Reinventing the global urbanization paradigm

Despite the growing recognition that the way cities have been built is unsustainable, with the lack of planning and control leading to problems such as overcrowding and pollution, it’s the urban areas where a more coordinated approach is expected to take place and would have a powerful impact on the pace of social, economic and environmental change needed to meet the interconnected goals. So local authorities have a vital role to play in this global effort.

The time has come for cities to plan and manage their future and fulfill their role as drivers of sustainable development in order to successfully implement the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The “sustainability urban development agenda” needs cities to cooperate with committed partners, relevant stakeholders and urban actors at all levels of public administration, the civil society and private sector.

Finding new solutions to new problems

When it comes to the global urban agenda, America’s mayors have probably never felt more alone, since Trump’s decision to pull out of Paris Accords. This decision though seems to have reinvigorated efforts and motivated local leadership to redouble efforts to meet the goals of the cities of tomorrow, as US mayors pledge their commitment to climate change.

How do mayors convince their constituents that investing in a more sustainable city is the right thing to do? Given the limited regulatory jurisdiction, how do cities leverage other key players and resources? In this context how businesses are going to collaborate effectively and efficiently with governments at subnational, national and federal level and tap into networks of other cities while maintaining the right kind of momentum?

Businesses have an added incentive to seize the day and cities have to act before it’s too late, in order to become inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

To learn how to integrate sustainability and bring about positive results in your areas of influence, attend CSE’s Certified Sustainability Practitioner Program (Advance Edition 2017) in New York City, September 28-29. NYC companies such as HSBC and Pfizer already work with CSE. The training will be led by Nikos Avlonas. Visit www.CSE-net.org for other trainings around the world or for online courses offered by the Sustainability Academy.

Sources: United Nations, Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, Eco-Business, Politico, Youth for Human Rights International

Sustainability professionals looking for a career field ready and waiting for your skills — look to Health, Safety and Environment (HSE).

HSE departments led the field in early sustainability. Trained sustainability practitioners can help them to get back on track!

Nikos Avlonas, president, Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE), recently addressed HSE, speaking to Cathy Hansell, President, Breakthrough Results, LLC and Executive Producer, Safety Breakthrough Talk Radio. She is also a Certified Sustainability Practitioner, trained through CSE.

“Sustainability has absorbed HSE as part of its agenda,” says Avlonas.

Despite fears from US withdrawal from global agreements, Avlonas is convinced the incorporation of sustainability within corporations will increase, rather than diminish. No single country can suspend agreements such as the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement to reduce GHG emissions, observes Avlonas. In Europe, companies with more than 500 employees, including US multinationals, must have sustainability reporting.

HSE is an integral part of this movement. Avlonas points out that investors expect great performance in HSE, particularly over the past 4-5 years. Companies can leveraged their HSE track records to build their sustainability programs.

An obstacle, however, is that too many HSE professionals lack a sustainability background. They don’t understand globally accepted guidelines such as GRI. Fortunately HSE models, (such as Hansell’s SHE partnership to CSR), and best practices are well developed.

Avlonas advises companies to:

Educate HSE staff.
Ensure sustainability committees include HSE participants
Have HSE work with internal communications departments

Steps HSE professionals can take to support sustainability:

Ask HR for sustainability training to understand how HSE and sustainability interrelate. Many treat them as separate. The “beginning of confusion and beginning of conflict,” says Avlonas.
If your company has a sustainability committee or plans to have one, make yourself part of the committee.
Create awareness campaigns for stakeholders internally and externally.
Provide data to sustainability professionals for their reporting process.

Avlonas and Hansell emphasize that HSE must become more open to the sustainability agenda rather than isolated in its own department. They must work with HR, Quality Control, Communications – bringing all the players together to boost sustainability.

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To learn how to integrate sustainability and HSE, attend CSE’s Certified Sustainability Practitioner Program (Advance Edition 2017) in New York City, September 28-29. NYC companies such as HSBC and Pfizer already work with CSE. The training will be led by Nikos Avlonas. Visit www.CSE-net.org for other trainings around the world or for online courses offered by the Sustainability Academy.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Do Business and Politics Mix?

The second annual SDG Business Forum takes place at the United Nations on 18 July 2017 during the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda recognizes the critical role of business in delivering on the promise of sustainable and inclusive development.

The private sector has been invited to share its support for the Agenda during the HLPF at the SDG Business Forum. The SDG Business Forum convenes leaders from business and government, together with the heads of UN agencies, key international organizations and civil society groups to delve into the role business will play in delivering the 2030 Agenda

What is needed to achieve the goals under the 2030 Agenda?

A careful review of 70 years of the United Nations’ economic advice reveals that the analysis still remains relevant to guiding countries through a difficult current global economic situation and for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to the World Economic and Social Survey launched last week by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

SDG Business Forum, Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability Leadership, UN, Business Forum 2017, HLPF, SDG's, Climate Change, CSR, Sustainable Innovation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Sustainability, Environment, CSE, Sustainability Academy| — “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a moral and economic imperative and an extraordinary opportunity.”
– ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Key lessons for implementing the SDGs Lessons from the past 70 years of development history that are relevant to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasize that:

The global economy needs strong institutions and coordinated international action.
Stability in the international monetary and trade systems underpins development.
Countries need adequate policy space to accelerate development.
International solidarity is the foundation for development and rebuilding the global economy.
Development is multidimensional, context-specific and about transformation, underpinned by strategic development planning and strengthened State capacity.

The state of play

In this regard, an open multilateral trading system is fundamental for continued growth and development. At the same time, it is critical to ensure that such a system results in positive development outcomes regarding those who are being left behind and those who are vulnerable to economic disruption, climate shocks or conflict. It is also critical that inequality be tackled head on, particularly within the context of globalization and technological progress, low-emissions and high-growth economic pathways which are transforming the very essence of labor demand.

How will the G20 meeting in Germany, affect corporate sustainability? Twenty of the world’s largest economies faced transitioning from polluting energy and technologies while keeping the world’s economy growing. In many ways relevant to sustainability, they missed the mark.

Training in sustainability (Sustainability Magic Bullet: Invest in Training!) is more important now than ever. Even when governments cannot organize themselves to promote sustainability, multinational corporations recognize the imperative for sustainability. They will go it alone, relying on the vision and drive of sustainability practitioners.

Missed Opportunity One – Increased Globalization with Sustainable Trade

US President Donald Trump made his first appearance at the G20 which was tasked to tackle commerce issues such as fair trade and corporate responsibility. In alignment with Germany’s focus on finance, various working groups did tout less protectionism and a uniform financial code. Both measures go contrary to past statements by Trump which can impede a more open multilateral trading system. For example, the US is posturing with China on steel production, threatening trade barriers.

Missed Opportunity Two – Unanimity on Climate Change

The G20 addressed climate change, focusing on energy, infrastructure, transport, land and industry. The need is urgent as the IEA and IRENA (international energy agencies) forecast necessary investments of US$120 trillion in energy projects between 2016 and 2050 (twice the current annual rate of $1.8 trillion a year) to achieve the Paris targets. Trump remained inflexible on the Paris Agreement, putting his long-awaited meeting with Putin ahead of the climate change session.

Missed Opportunity Three – Global Fair Labor Practices

Leading global labor unions asked the G20 leaders to consider the Bangladesh Accord on worker safety as a blueprint for promoting sustainable business practices. Led by the OECD, the Bangladesh Accord was extended to 2018 in Paris and signed by 15 major brands from the clothing and textile industry, but a global consensus remains elusive.

Despite these stumbles, Nikos Avlonas, president of the Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE), believes missteps will not stymie progress on climate change. “Business leaders will make sure of that,” he writes for the Sustainability Academy blog.

CSE trainings promote professional preparedness, covering global legislation and standards, foundational knowledge needed in international corporate sustainability. The next U.S. training is in New York City, Sept. 28-29, led by Nikos Avlonas, followed by Toronto, Oct. 26-27, and San Diego, Oct. 31-Nov.1.

Nike’s moonshot ambition is to double its business while halving the company’s environmental impact. The company has set a vision for a low-carbon, closed-loop future as part of the company’s growth strategy. Nike has placed three strategic aims to guide this work: minimize environmental footprint, transform manufacturing and unleash human potential.

“At Nike, we believe it is not enough to adapt to what the future may bring – we’re creating the future we want to see through sustainable innovation,” said NIKE, Inc. President and CEO, Mark Parker. “Today our teams are advancing ambitious new business models and partnerships that can scale unprecedented change across our business and the industry.”

Minimize Environmental Footprint

Nike aims to minimize its environmental footprint throughout the product life-cycle, looking at carbon and energy, chemistry, water and waste to identify strategies to use less, use better, innovate new solutions and, where possible, close the loop and reuse. More specifically, Nike is targeting a 10% reduction in the average environmental footprint of its shoes by 2020, paired with a goal to increase use of more sustainable materials overall.

Transform Manufacturing

Nike’s sustainability vision does not only involve what products Nike makes but also how it makes them, by focusing on improving the manufacturing process. Nike’s manufacturing vision involves working with fewer, better contract factories that are committed to transforming their businesses beyond a foundation of compliance to be lean, green, equitable and empowering for workers. Nike is also investing in pilot research programs aimed at uncovering how services, technology and changes to compensation and benefits systems can positively impact workers inside and outside their workplaces.

Unleash Human Potential

Guided by the belief that diversity fosters creativity and accelerates innovation, Nike is strengthening its recruitment, promotion and retention of diverse talent by expanding representation of women and people of color to start, while continuing to increase diversity of all dimensions across its business long term.

Along with their commitments to the workforce, Nike is also looking for ways to serve the next generation of athletes by raising awareness of the physical inactivity epidemic and working with others to get kids moving, because research shows that active kids are happier, healthier and more successful.

Undoubtedly, these strategic efforts will deliver on Nike’s long-term strategy to leverage sustainable innovation as a powerful engine for growth and catalyst for change, serving as a bright example for an entire industry shift towards a more sustainable future.

In today’s increasingly competitive landscape, more and more companies are realizing the innumerable benefits of sustainability and its capacity to create strong brand names and achieve long-term economic growth. Brands can play an important role in communicating the message for a more sustainable, abundant future.

The Concept of “The Good Economy”

According to Matias Kelly, Secretary of Social Economy at the Ministry of Social Development of Argentina “The Good Economy is an economy that places the person in the center and is ordered according to the common good, and where everything that is spent, bought or produced points to that common good”. Therefore, companies should adhere to the rules of “the good economy” and work towards developing benefits for people either with the product they sell or through the way they produce and distribute it.

Are Brands Going Far Enough?

Brands have this unique opportunity to foster positive consumer relations through sustainable initiatives and improve a company’s image in the minds of consumers. The role of brands is to become aware of this growing need for a good economy that creates value and benefits for the consumer instead of being solely based on profit.

If in this logic, brands have the possibility to sell while they generate positive impact in the world, the benefit is double. Overall, brands should work even harder in order to inspire, engage and equip today’s business and brand leaders to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a sustainable, abundant future

Redefining the Bases for a New, Better Economy

It has become evident that the hunt for ever higher production and consumption is drawing down limited supplies of natural resources, using up the capacity of ecosystems to absorb wastes, and – despite all of this – failing to improve people’s lives in wealthy nations. It is possible to build an economy that meets people’s needs without undermining the life-support systems of the planet.

Big changes are needed to achieve such an economy. For example, limits on resource use and waste emissions to ensure environmental sustainability but also limits on income inequality to improve societal health. In order to achieve these changes we all need to ask ourselves how much we care about the planet and our society. All in all, when consciousness evolves, the market evolves, because the market is all of us.

In honor of Independence Day, we can ask ourselves “What does the United States of America stand for”? The nation’s founders believed a shared and enduring purpose was of utmost importance and they put it at the top of the Constitution. The American constitution is based on a set of shared values such as protecting and promoting the general welfare for everyone and for future generations. Very often, it falls to a particular generation to choose a new strategic direction in uncharted waters in order to safeguard these shared values for a more sustainable future. Many would assert that this is one of those times.

Two meaningful words: “global unsustainability”

We can sum up the great challenge of our era in two words: “global unsustainability.” It is evident that our planet is facing grave economic, social and environmental challenges. The United States, as one of the most powerful countries in the world should view these challenges as a great opportunity to lead the world’s transition to a more sustainable order. We can sum up all the challenges of our era in two words, “global unsustainability”.

There are four (4) causal interrelated connections that in sum could be called “global unsustainability”

The speed of change in our societies that has led 3 billion people into the global economy
The disruptions of climate change
The scarcity of resources that affects directly our supply chains and infrastructure
the fact that most major economies follow a restrictive monetary policy

The need for a more sustainable future

The cause of the United States will be found in taking on the immense global challenge of our age, global unsustainability — environmental, social and economic well-being — not by turning its back on this reality. The goal is to figure out a way for a more sustainable future and lead the rest of the world in that direction. And, in the process, perhaps the USA will even earn the credibility and influence needed to lead on the global stage in the twenty-first century.

The next CSE training is in New York, September 28-29, led by Nikos Avlonas, followed by Toronto then San Diego. Visit the website for other trainings around the world or for online courses offered by the Sustainability Academy.

As the USA celebrates 241 years of independence, we can also celebrate over 200 years of sustainability! Despite many set-backs and seemingly insurmountable problems, the USA has steadily made progress to improve our environment, society and governance (ESG).

Sustainability is largely credited as a new phenomenon, a child of the late 20^th century, heralded by the 1987 publication of “Our Common Future” by the United Nations.

As for the USA, cities may have been smelly in 1776 but within 25 years, by the early 1800s there were water delivery systems in urban centers shortly followed by sanitation systems. These made significant headway against cholera and other water born illness. Now that concerns focus on fresh water use, CSE clients such as Coca-Cola and Heineken are making significant sustainability investments in water conservation.

Yellowstone Park was established and protected in perpetuity, starting in 1872. Within another 50 years, the National Parks Service was established in 1916, not to mention over 10,000 state parks to date! Even developed lands are getting the green treatment as with CSE founder Nikos Avlonas’ work with the NAR Green Designation.

Another fifty-year jump gets us to Rachel Carson’s pivotal work Silent Spring published in 1962. The ground was already set and needed the social outcry to establish the US EPA in 1970.

Not even 50 years later, we have NASA’s Next Generation Solar Energy Center, building on the hundreds of technologies developed by NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth started in 1986, led by astronaut Sally Ride. The Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) is proud to be part of this effort, having provided sustainability training for NASA employees.

Yes, let’s celebrate our history of successes. Let’s also acknowledge that we have a long way to go. CSE is only 15 years old. Our Sustainability Academy is only 2 years old. Still we hope to be a strong part of the next 50 years in US sustainability – training the practitioners of the future who will help celebrate USA’s independence, not only from tyranny but from the devastations of resource depletion, social injustice and corporate mistakes.