CSR - Sustainability Academy

The SEC Climate-Related Disclosures Rule will be a huge challenge for many companies, but how much are they prepared for the level of transparency required?

This climate-related disclosures rule will serve as a catalyst to invest the time, money, and resources required to map their supply chains and it’s expected to force thousands of them to disclose the full scope of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Specifically, listed companies with revenues over $75 million will be required to disclose information about the direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1), the indirect emissions from purchased electricity or other forms of energy (Scope 2) and certain types of GHG emissions from upstream and downstream activities in its value chain (Scope 3). Furthermore, according to the SEC fact sheet, they may be required to provide their disclosures early in 2024, using their 2023 numbers.

Which are the Upstream activities?

These activities encompass the processes that occur before the company’s own operations begin, typically involving suppliers, raw material sourcing, and logistics. Upstream activities often include extraction or cultivation of raw materials, transportation and distribution, as well as any outsourced processes involved in the production of goods or services.

Which are the Downstream activities?

Downstream activities occur after the company’s own operations and involve the distribution, marketing, sales, and support of the final products or services. This includes activities such as product assembly, packaging, distribution logistics, marketing campaigns, retailing, and customer service.

Are companies really prepared?

Scope 3 emissions account for up to 75 percent of a company’s total footprint and many of them have very poor visibility beyond their Tier 1 suppliers. They require immense amounts of time and money as these emissions are more than just suppliers. They are the entire depth of the supply chain. Moreover, the lack of direct control by companies over the requisite data along with the poor transparency can drive into many “black holes” in their supply chains.

The rule was designed to increase consistency and transparency in GHG accounting. If companies have already publicly set climate-related targets or goals, they need to disclose how they intend to meet them.

Smaller companies with less than $100 million in annual revenue will not be part of the requirement for now, however, Scope 3 emissions are generated outside the company’s control and greatly affected by other small companies throughout their value chain. This means that compliance would be required from them sooner or later.

Equip with all the necessary tools to build a resilient and efficient sustainable supply chain by registering to the Online Diploma on Sustainable Supply Chain Management course. Transform your organization’s climate pledges into actionable strategies through better supply chain management and be prepared for the upcoming challenges in your sector.

Don’t miss out the chance to register with our special 20% discount until July 20. Contact us at [email protected]

Group registrations allow you to attend our certified courses as a team at the same time. Our group online courses are created to tackle present-day problems as well as prepare your company for the future.

Discounts can be applied to a group that registers either to the same course or in a combination of courses.

Why choose Sustainability Academy Certified Courses?

Offer a unique Certification accredited by CPD in an affordable manner trusted by global Fortune 500 companies and global accounting firms for their staff education
Content created by Sustainability thought leaders, professors and trainers with practical experience in the field of sustainability
Self-paced Courses that can be completed anytime within 45 days
Up-to-date content revised on annual basis that includes new legislations and trends based in field research
Joined by thousands of learners from 90 countries, including Sustainability professionals, graduates and entrepreneurs from various sectors

Sustainability has become a necessity in the business world and embedding ESG strategies into a company’s profile may be more challenging than it seems. It has already been recognized that implementing sustainable practices into an organization can result in multiple benefits, such as reduced costs, better resource management, better reputation or being a part of supply-chains and markets with high standards.

Even if a company has already implemented ESG or it now begins its sustainability journey, the landscape is constantly changing, being also chaotic to many of them. The ever-changing legislation and the new ESG ratings and standards have brought training at the forefront. Moreover, with the wide range of existed sustainability topics, the company should choose wisely and organize a corporate training relevant to its goals, business strategy and operations.

How can organizations enhance the skills of employees to increase capability? Individual training is the most flexible way of learning, however, there are a lot of benefits of investing in group trainings. Five of them can be read below.

Collaboration Boost

Training in teams can help employees practice communication and problem-solving skills. Discuss topics with each other and applying techniques and theories to their projects will expand their ability to work better together.

Better Productivity

Collectively learning new ideas and methods gives employees a common language and everyone is working towards achieving the same goal. Teams that collaborate are always more productive.

Improves company’s culture

Team trainings give the opportunity to collaborate in a way that expands perspectives beyond immediate problems or disagreements. They can be a safe space for building trust. Apart from that, providing your workforce development opportunities results in a positive workplace culture.

Cost-effectiveness

Employees can attend to the training programs from their own offices or their homes, reducing a company’s expenses. Also, training in teams is always more cost-effective than training an individual due to discounts opportunities.

Content matches core requirements

Having specific people attending specialized courses to implement sustainability initiatives could meet the organization’s expectations and demands in the best way possible. By doing so, the organization can effectively build its sustainability profile and strategies or enhance its already structured ESG department.

Gain practical and up to date knowledge in all core areas of sustainability through Sustainability Academy’s specialized courses. Equip your employees with practical skills to meet your company’s needs in this challenging field.

Reach us out at [email protected] to learn more on group discount opportunities on our courses.

Canada was featured prominently in the news recently for its environmental record – but not for the right reasons. Across the country members and supporters of the First Nations Wet’suwet’en are protesting a newly approved natural gas pipeline that would run through their territory in British Columbia.

Recently, Black Rock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced that it would no longer be investing money in companies that get revenue from Alberta’s oil sands. They joined a number of other companies that have divested from the oil sands, including HSBC. The GHG emissions from Canada’s oil sands put into question whether the country can achieve its climate change goals and how much it is contributing to global GHG emissions by putting this oil on to the market.

With the country’s environmental record under threat from its oil industry, there is ample opportunity to explore sustainable pathways in other sectors. And on that end there has been a lot of movement; Bio industrial Innovation Canada, a business accelerator that provides support to developers of clean and sustainable technologies, recently received $15 million from the Ontario government. In fact, Clean-tech is Canada’s fastest growing industry. ArcTern Ventures, the country’s largest Clean-tech venture fund, recently reached $200 million in commitments.

Canada has also made a push towards developing a Circular Economy and will be hosting the World Circular Economy Forum in September 2020, the first time the forum is being held in North America.

Regardless of the oil sands debate, Canada is geared towards sustainable and green growth in many other sectors. That will require businesses that understand sustainability and how to achieve it through their internal and external operations.

Sustainability rests on a strong business case. 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!).

As mentioned in a previous blog article, North Bay Village, like many other areas across Florida, is beginning to notice the effects of rising sea levels. Top environmental issues in Miami are not new problems and have been raised for decades.

For example, one problem is Florida allowing development on its beaches and the sea level rise, as a result of climate change, is not stopping developers of Florida’s coast.

In 2016, South Florida was home to 6 million people and projected to grow by 3 million over the next three decades. Yet, by 2050, an estimated $15 billion to $36 billion of Florida’s coastal property will be threatened by sea-level rise, according to a report in 2015 from the Risky Business Project, a Bloomberg Philanthropies effort that quantifies economic risks from climate change.

In South Florida, sea-level rise and climate change are already having an effect on available drinking water as the rise of the ocean is bringing salt water into the water system.

It is undeniable the beautiful Florida beaches are attractive to tourists. On May 1, 2019, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) announced a record-breaking 16.5 million overnight visitors in 2018, up +3.5% compared to 2017, along with 6.8 million Day Trippers for a total visitor number of 23.3 million. The record-breaking visitor volume led to an economic impact of nearly $18 billion, fueled mostly by international visitors who contributed an estimated +54% of the total economic impact. Greater Miami and the Beaches broke another record by selling a record 15.6 million hotel room nights in 2018, representing an increase of +1.5% compared to 2017. This speaks to the strong demand for the destination. But tourists bring their own challenges – often in the form of motor boats and fishing rods, contributing further to the sustainability issues.

If you represent or are directly or indirectly linked to these industries affected by these environmental challenges in Florida, what solutions do you adopt and what actions to do implement to ensure the sustainability of your organization? Join us in Miami in early 2020 for sustainability discussions regarding the Sunshine State.

CSE’s Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Program, Advanced Edition 2020, takes over Florida January 16-17, 2020 to help sustainability professionals rise to any occasion. This challenging two-day training offered by Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) aims to give you all the latest tools and resources required to implement or upscale existing sustainability initiatives taking place in your organization.

Although Sustainability should be the catchword in an economy system that also targets the minimum of waste and promotes energy resources, European Commission seems to be guided by the economic belief that austerity should still be supported.

Since its first initiation in 2012 when the Euro debt crisis was at its peak, the independent Annual Growth Survey (iAGS) constantly questions whether European Commission follows a more realistic approach over macro economy and a less focused on a long-term reduction of public debt while being conscious enough over the social aspect of the crisis. There had been argument to the level of austerity and the control of public debt, nevertheless little influence did it have on the policies of the European Union.

The 2019 sustainability imperative highlights faster adaptation and a massive step forward. UN Sustainable Development Goals have indicated the way to sustainability performance and economic growth. That means that the measurement of Financial Performance is closely tied to sustainability strategies and goals. More specifically, it is implied that the measurement of social wellbeing is based on the triptych of sustainable development: Economic, Social and Environmental.

On that note, the Center for Sustainability & Excellence (CSE) knows first-hand the challenge of SDGs integration into strategy and sustainability plan and this June in Brussels will surface all the latest trends in sustainability (CSR) for the next coming years while it will address the European needs in a global context. New policies and strategies are required to be orchestrated to reliably support the delivery of long term sustainability.

Nevertheless, EU has still some way to cover in order to sufficiently achieve the SDG’s. Climate Change is another serious challenge that needs to be faced collectively. Societies and corporations are warned on how to use their carbon budget under the +2C target. Consequently, the carbon debt should be deliberated in the upcoming decades, since in the starting point scenario about 50% of EU GDP will be alarmed in staying below +2C.

Sustainability Professionals all over Europe are expected to join the leading event in Brussels to discuss and face the frontline challenges as well as to get globally certified. This is a limited seating training; claim your seat on time.

Bosses across industries are increasingly tasked by long-term ESG (environment, social, governance) concerns. Toronto business leaders are no different. College grads or corporate managers growing as leaders are finding opportunities around sustainability.

A key driver in and around Toronto is the Aerospace industry. Space may be “the final frontier” for exploration, but it’s also a frontier for sustainability practices. Concerns include managing debris, ensuring fair access to satellite orbits, increasing rocket efficiency and developing systematic methods and practices for LCAs (life cycle assessments). Space exploration and delivery are benefiting from AI and adding applications from environmental monitoring (AGRICULTURE) to navigation (TRANSPORTATION).

Opportunities exist for envisioning space as a resource for sustainable development (ok, not in 2019, but the plans are being outlined now!). Space research has inadvertently created products which advance sustainability. Now, sustainability is a clear mandate for the Canadian Space Agency, ESA and NASA. CSA has been monitoring the ozone, mapping geological features and determining the environmental impact of mineral exploration for decades.

CSE’s 2018 research Sustainability (ESG) Reporting Trends North America focuses on the influence of Sustainability on Financial Results. We find confirmation of the link between Sustainability Reporting and Financial Performance. Paying attention to long-term concerns pays off in annual profits.

CSE research highlights findings from key sectors such as Telecommunications, Transportation, Energy, Construction, Agriculture and Financial Services, and many other industries becoming increasingly important to sustainability.

Through consulting, research and training, CSE research breaks down CSR (corporate social responsibility) data, tracking the issues which keep telecom CEOs and administrators on edge such as:

Sustainable product design,
inclusion and diversity,
talent management,
customer service and transparency,
privacy and security,
waste and recycling,
energy and emissions.

Whether you are an engineer, from HR, client relations, IT or operations, established and emerging industries need sustainability experts.

Be among those driving successes. CSE has worked with NASA’s sustainability champions and has trained participants for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. We have an incredibly strong presence in other Canadian industries such as mining, construction, real estate and energy. We all need to work together and learn from each other as we prepare for the future.

CSE’s Certified Sustainability Practitioner Program (Advanced Edition 2019) offers trainings on these key topics and many others. CSE’s first Toronto training is April 11-12.

This four-part series on Sustainability careers is written for new graduates and young professionals with fresh ideas, ample energy and a social awareness. It is also for established professionals outside sustainability who’ve become disenchanted with business’s disregard of basic societal needs.

How can you be part of the solution?

Part 3: How to find a job in sustainability

The challenge to finding a job in sustainability is that many career tracks do not have Sustainability in the title. You must dig into job descriptions for key words like Life Cycle Assessment, Supply Chain, SDGs and others you can learn by taking CSE’s free online course The future of the sustainability profession: Current trends and how to find a sustainability (CSR) job.

Here are some tips to get you started.

Identify your own interests! Nearly every company needs a sustainability professional in some capacity. What do you like to do? What companies do that kind of work? CSE on LinkedIn and Facebook are good places to start.

Network – like it or not, this is a tried and true way to get any job. Go to city council meetings, alumni association or activist groups. Call your parents, your college professor, the boss you had one summer in high school. Ask them “who should I talk to about a job in sustainability?” Whatever answer you get, follow-up!

Investigate the sustainability challenges in your community (or the community where you want to work). Which companies or organizations are helping meet those challenges? Give them a call. Offer to volunteer or intern. This could lead to a job or help expand the always-important network.

Scan job boards — not the black hole you think. First, you might actually find a job. Second, you’ll learn which industries are hiring. Third, you’ll pick up on the titles associated with sustainability tasks. If you enter the word sustainability and five jobs appear in customer service, zoom in on key words and use them to expand your search. The next round might pull up jobs in HR, Communications or Operations.

Tell everyone. Tell every single person you encounter that you are looking for a job in sustainability. Post it on your social networks. Mention it at the birthday party of a friend of a friend. If you get a lead – follow up immediately. More importantly, you’re honing your ability to describe what you want. This will help refine your search and polish your pitch when you get the inevitable interview!

CSE helps professionals advance their careers through certified on-site and group training services globally as well as the online Sustainability Academy. CSE is a recognized global leader in professional Sustainability training and coaching and one of the first to recognize the growing need for advanced certified education in the sustainability field. The Sustainability Academy is CSE’s global initiative to offer affordable, specialized, online education focused on Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility. Our goal is to train 100,000 professionals by 2020 and make an impact on our planet!

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Move beyond ESG metrics by incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Investors are increasingly calling for robust corporate sustainability reporting (CSR). Stakeholders are pressing companies to go beyond the standard ESG (environment, social, governance) approach — measures aimed at limiting corporate impact. In Seattle, this manifests as leading the drive to improve the world.

Incorporating the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can guide companies toward areas of positive, measurable impacts which stakeholders desire.

CSE has incorporated the SDGs into its research, consulting and certification programs. CSE’s Sustainability Reporting Trends in North America 2018 finds that only 13.9% of companies are integrating SDGs in their reporting to stakeholders. Though low, this is double from 2017. This provides an enormous imperative for companies. Top companies are listening! Read more in Forbes interview with CSE.

The need for practitioners is urgent in urban centers, leading CSE to offer their Certified Sustainability Practitioner Program, Advanced Edition 2019, in Seattle and other cities in North America. CSE will address a topic critical to Seattle: sustainability in IT. Did you know that the City of Seattle alone employs over 750 people in IT?

CSE research has identified weaknesses in the IT sector which can have an important impact to SDGs 8, 9 and 11 covering decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and sustainable cities and communities. Silicon Valley corporations lag behind the sustainability achievements of the Fortune Global 500, leaving a major opportunity for Seattle.

Urban centers need an enormous influx of sustainability-trained staff. Whether it’s infrastructure, finance, shipping, or IT, trained sustainability practitioners are needed in every field and every discipline – public and private. CSE’s practitioner program offers Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility training which more than 90% of FORTUNE 500 senior managers and VPs have attended.

Key topics to the Seattle region will be the focus of CSE’s trainings in Seattle, April 15-16. Other spring trainings include Atlanta, Feb. 21-22; Toronto, April 11-12, and New York, June 6-7, 2019. For more information on registration, Early Bird and Group Discounts, contact [email protected].

CSR challenges are never ending in the corporate modern world whilst highly demanding and that is an important hint all professionals are aware of when it comes to facing them. Of the most significant ones is stakeholder’s influence and how corporates need to take that extra mile in order to engage with them. CSE acknowledges that, among other challenges, while it also aims to further focus on them during the upcoming popular Global Sustainability Event that will take place in London, in March 2019.

On that note, it will be discussed how CSR professionals have to be more than just adequate in terms of designing sharper strategies and increasing their social, environmental and social impact. The new pool of Stakeholders has shifted from the traditional model; they are savvier and more perceptive. To that extent, the pressure on CSR professionals is added accordingly as they have to escalate their efforts to drive impact and remain in the frontline.

Sustainability (CSR) planning encompasses a basic step prior to putting it into force and that is communicating the business case of sustainability to the organization. The more effective is the communication of purpose and values the stronger the participation on behalf of the employees and more effective is the CSR Professional’s work. Sharing CSR initiatives and achievements both internally and externally can attract most of the C-Suite Executives’ support into the Sustainability Plan. Additionally, organizations are faced with the challenge of ensuring that they are balanced between being strategic, adapted and relevant not only globally but also locally.

Sustainable Development Goals are on the top list of the companies’ interests but it is unlikely whether they can integrate them into their current sustainability plan, let alone investing on how to engage their employees in them. More specifically, although SDG’s can be identified by most corporates and perhaps some of the strategies are focused on them it is unsure whether they are correctly embedded. Furthermore, the backbone of the companies, the employers, and also the customers are often found confused and little familiarized with the SDGs framework and how can this be related to the corporate brand. As a consequence, strategies often fail to address SDGs and their purpose.

So despite the trend, the challenge remains, as the know-how is missing from most CSR Professionals. The Center for Sustainability & Excellence has surfaced most of the latest challenges to focus on and hosts one of the leading Certified Sustainability training programs globally, this time in London, March 14-15. Additionally, the certified practitioner program will feature a presentation of the Surprising Research Findings 2018 on Sustainability Goals Integration and Sustainability (CR) Impact. The research focuses on reporting practices of more than 460 corporations from leading business sectors and outlines key considerations related to common strategic objectives, social impact goals, UN SDG’s, reporting and external assurance practices as well as legislation.

Claim your spot to be part of this global sustainability Event! For more information, contact [email protected].

The topic of sustainability has become progressively important in the UAE in the last five years, from Dubai announcing its objective of being one of the most sustainable cities in the world, to sustainability being one of the essential themes of the EXPO 2020 plans.

Having made headlines as one of the least sustainable countries in the world with one of the largest carbon footprints and its inhabitants using almost double the energy as many European nations, Dubai is now looking toward to a more sustainable future.

Because of its rapid development and change in Dubai, sustainability (CSR) is more important than ever. Sustainability (CSR) is important to everyone as it can provide both major opportunities and reduce risk in the short and long term. Key sustainability issues include energy efficiency, compliance with regulatory and corporate social responsibility policies relating to the environment, efficient waste management and disposal , the sourcing and use of water, the food supply chain and air, water and ground emissions.

These challenges demand attention. Our next CSE Certified CSR Practitioner Program (Advanced Edition 2018) will be in Dubai, this November 11 – 12, 2018. Planning and thinking ahead in order to maintain a climate and sustainability strategy is on CSE’s agenda along with Case Studies, Supply Chain, Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Communications.