Page 50 – Sustainability Academy

Two years ago, when acclaimed food journalist Michael Pollan trumpeted “the most encouraging ag research finding of recent years,” most w…

from Sustainability on Huffington Post
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/12/07/agroecology-research-sustainable-farming_n_8758024.html

World leaders are in Paris for the COP 21 conference to demonstrate commitment to emissions reduction and a renewed, global commitment to sustainability. However, there is another group that will have a significant impact on emissions targets. That group is cities.

from Sustainability on Huffington Post
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-patricia-mccarney/beyond-cop-21_b_8710740.html

What if there was a powerful but overlooked tool that could reduce global warming by 0.5°C by the end of the century? Imagine if reversing the decl…

from Sustainability on Huffington Post
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pj-marshall-/the-most-powerful-climate_b_8751182.html

Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.

Forests: the cheapest way to store carbon

The Silk Henge of the Amazon – the silkh…

from Sustainability on Huffington Post
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-ellen-harte/climate-change-this-week_b_8751982.html

The Paris Climate meeting which is underway through December 11th 2015, could be an opportunity to redress climate related injustice perpetrated against Africa and the poor world.

from Sustainability on Huffington Post
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yohannes-woldemariam/africa-deserves-compensat_b_8716460.html

When world leaders agreed to include protecting children against violence in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals earlier this fall, much…

from Sustainable Development Goals on Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-goddard/in-global-survey-children_b_8742208.html
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-goddard/in-global-survey-children_b_8742208.html

2014 CSE Research on Sustainability Reporting

The Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) as an official GRI Training Partner for Middle East recently conducted a research to observe the emerging trends for the publication of Sustainability (CSR) Reports and external assurance in Gulf Countries and overall Middle East region. Continue reading “Why Sustainability Reporting is Booming in Gulf Region!”

The opinions behind what constitutes sustainability are many. Are you among those who got it right?

Sustainability strategies have not always been in the forefront of every business plan. Neither has climate change been on the top priority of every corporate agenda. It was not until last century that corporate responsibility and sustainability started playing a more important role and businesses started treating it as something important and were placed at the heart of their business value. Yet, the question remains: Do companies really know what sustainability is? Below are the most common corporate responsibility myths:

1. Corporate responsibility is meant to correct social inequality

Social equality is, undoubtedly, a key to virtue to every democratic sustainable developing country and corporation. However, when it comes to business their main objective is not to act as a philanthropic industry and solve all social inequalities but rather be profitable as well.

2. Corporate responsibility is not public relations

Of course every organization needs effective and strategic public relations between itself and everyone else, but the purpose of PR and CSR should mingle in together. Corporations should not be doing CSR as a way of public relations, or as a way to create or strengthen their existing relations with others. In contrast to that, PR should act as a communication vehicle by which companies can showcase their CSR initiatives.

3. Corporate responsibility is not simply about following regulations

The issue that many corporations are called to face is that of regulations. What is considered as a regulation in one country is not a regulation in other. Let’s take for example labor unions: In United Arab Emirates it is illegal to have any type of labor union. However, in other counties it is not. How are global companies supposed to manage those types of regulations? Undoubtedly, operation in many countries is tough so corporate responsibility is not simply about following regulations.

It goes without much saying that the misconceptions corporate responsibility can be many. To accurately define what CSR really is, every organization must have a clear understanding of what sustainability really is. Only then they can really see what their impact on society, environment, market and workplace actually is.

To learn the additional misconceptions about CSR and earn the globally recognized certification as a CSR practitioner approved by the IEMA, register for one of our upcoming Advanced Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Trainings or contact us for more information at sustainability@cse-net.org.

On Tuesday, February 11, Nikos Avlonas, President of the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE), and George Nassos, Principal of George Nassos Associates, presented in Chicago their new book entitled “Practical Sustainability Strategies: How to Gain a Competitive Advantage.”

The book, recently published John Wiley & Sons, Inc., already got its place among America’s bestsellers on its first 3 weeks of publication. The book goes a step beyond all the theoretical solutions about sustainability and offers proven practical strategies that organizations can follow to develop and maintain a unique competitive advantage and includes case studies.
Great contribution to last night’s event were the presentation of its guest speakers, Howard Learner, President and Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Cary Nathenson, Associate Dean of The University of Chicago Graham School. The speakers emphasized the importance of the authors’ contribution in promoting sustainability and responsible corporate strategies. The event was attended by numerous professionals from the academia, corporate organizations and local media.
Commenting on the recent publication of his book, CSE’s president and book co-author Nikos Avlonas said: ”This book reflects my fifteen-year global Sustainability experience with dozens of Fortune 500 companies and other organizations in North America, Europe, Asia and Middle East during which I provided strategic consulting and training services. This contributed toward creating strategies with a positive impact on both organizations , society and the environment as a whole.‘’

Cary Nathenson Associate Dean from the University of Chicago Graham School where Nikos Avlonas was advisor on its Sustainability Leadership program comment “Sustainability education needs to be both theoretical as well as practical in order to contribute to holistic approaches. This new book makes a welcome attempt to bridge the theory-practice divide.”

Joseph Maguire, President, Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities, said that “Nikos Avlonas is a global leader in developing and implementing sustainability strategies for organizations–including SERF. He has teamed with his colleague George Nassos to masterfully distill their decades of experience in to this powerful and useful work.” Maguire adds “With an all-too-rare mix of accessible prose and hard data, these gentlemen have produced a work that belongs on the bookshelf of every corporate sustainability officer and concerned citizen of the world.”

To learn more about the book, please visit here, or for more information about CSE’s global sustainability trainings programs, instructed by the Nikos Avlonas, visit here or contacts directly CSE at sustainability@cse-net.org or at 312-214-6464

A clear insight on what low temperatures indicate about global warming..

Very year we see the same story repeating: Brutal cold weather and wind chills blanket the country attracting like that a lot of media attention. Unsurprisingly, this prompts many climate change skeptics to argue that global warming is not actually happening. And the examples of them are many.

Early last week, Donald Trump used Twitter to write that, simply, global warming is not happening and ask for “This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING b*llshit” to stop. He was not alone: he was joined by Congressman John Fleming, a Louisiana Republican, who sarcastically argued that “’Global warming” isn’t so warm these days.’” Similarly, Rush Limbaugh, a conservative American radio talk show host and political commentator, accused the mass media of making up the “polar vortex” to push a leftist agenda.

So what on earth is happening? Is the whole man-made climate change story just a folk tale?

Regardless of the brutal cold weather that left parts of Canada even colder than Mars, scientists argue that climate change is in fact occurring. More specifically, Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist with NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, told National Geographic that people are missing the bigger picture and advised people not to get distracted by this “short-lived cooling effect.” Meanwhile, Meteorologist Cliff Mass of the University of Washington agrees, predicting on his blog that “global warming will occur over the coming century,” arguing that the real warming is in the future.

Looking at a bigger picture, while America is freezing under the cold weather in other parts of the countries like Australia and Brazil the temperatures were really high. Even though some may argue that these odd weather events do not firmly prove or disprove global warming, humans are nonetheless responsible for taking all steps necessary to ensure that climate change is avoided at all costs. And there are specific tools and actions that they can take to do so.

If you are interested in learning more about local and global climate change trends and legislations and also become certified as a CSR Practitioner, we encourage you to join the likes of Fortune 500 and attend one of our upcoming Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Trainings:

United States:

Houston- February 6-7, 2014

Toronto- April 24-25, 2014

New York- June 2-3, 2014

Middle East and Asia:

Tokyo: February 21-22, 2014 and June 13-14, 2014

Dubai: March 10-11, 2014

Europe:

Athens, GR: April 2-3, 2014

London, UK: May 12-13, 2014 and October 23-24, 2014

Tell CSE what you think:

What Do These Record Low Temperatures Tell You about Global Warming? Is it really happening?

Group registration form