Filed under: july | Tags: climate change strategy, management consulting, sustainability consulting
Verdantix just published an interesting report on how large consulting companies are measuring up w/regards to climate change strategy. Climate change strategy/sustainability consulting is still considered risky by quite a few management consulting co’s operating here in the US’s dwindling economy, but is taking off elsewhere in leaps&bounds.
Interesting for those of us looking at consulting in some capacity- enjoy!
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From Verdantix:
“The corporate market is gradually moving into a period where action on climate change is a necessity. As a result, demand for climate change business consulting services is growing. Today’s buying trends focus on understanding the scope of the problem. To assist climate change leaders in their selection of an external adviser this Green Quadrant compares 15 consulting firms against 74 criteria grouped into three dimensions: service completeness, market momentum and global presence. The report includes an analysis of market demand, detailed comparison of consulting firms and profiles to guide selection decisions.”
(Pic courtesy of Verdantix)
(Quick overview of findings from GreenBiz:
“Verdantix interviewed 16 firms and conducted a focus group with 15 buyers of climate change consulting services. The report also looks at market demand, includes company profiles and compares the firms’ services.
In its interviews, Verdantix found that most people seeking climate change advice are those who are already climate change experts, employees involved in corporate social responsibility, energy management and environmental strategy.
The focus group also revealed that climate strategy is becoming more of an economic, instead of environmental, issue, with businesses seeking expertise as well as business advice and financial analysis. Hot topics include carbon measurement and management, while carbon offsetting advice, strategy development and opportunity analysis are low priorities.
Those firms that launched or expanded their climate change services within the last two years made big gains, the report found. Firms with new offerings need to build more awareness of their services, and IT and strategy consultants need to enhance their credibility.”)
More details here.
Filed under: july
The Innovation Network for Communities published an excellent paper on creating an ‘innovation culture’ within your community, company or organization. As an organization’s culture is a function of both social capital and the networks connecting its members, it ideally emerges organically from personal relationships, shared values and worldviews. But not all organizational culture is necessarily supportive of innovation. What are the key characteristics of an ‘innovation culture’? INC includes the following:
• A tendency to “scan the horizon” for key trends that will affect the community,
positively or negatively.
• A sense of urgency and excitement about the need to change.
• Civic pride in being a “leader” and an “innovator”.
• A shared sense of group identity.
• A commitment to inclusion and the breaking down of barriers created by race and class.
• A willingness to take risks and a tolerance for failure, as long as it creates authentic learning.
• A long-term view and willingness to think in terms of decades.
• A sense of curiosity and exploration; seeing challenge as opportunity.
• A culture of both collaboration and competition.
These characteristics are then supported by robust networks that connect leaders and innovators across multiple sectors. Another great article, Building the Innovation Culture by Bryan Coffman of InnovationLabs, can be found here.
Filed under: july
CSR Europe recently released an excellent in-depth report on the profit potential of sustainable business practices and CSR. Still wondering whether or not CSR practices are profitable? This report makes a strong case for socially responsible practices as a way to maximize profits.
A small Alaskan village and the City of San Francisco are suing Exxon Mobile for separate accounts of pollution and contribution to global warming. The suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court says Exxon Mobil’s neglect has contaminated the soil, groundwater, tidal water and sediment of San Francisco Bay, caused by Exxon operations in the Bay dating back to the 1930s.
Lawyers for the Alaska Native coastal village of Kivalina, which is being forced to relocate because of flooding caused by the changing Arctic climate, filed suit in federal court arguing that 5 oil companies, 14 electric utilities and the country’s largest coal company are held responsible for the climate change-induced damages.
Intertek just announced the launch of OpenSRI, the first collaborative web platform on Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at www.opensri.com.
OpenSRI offers a new approach to CSR rating, based on real involvement by stakeholders who will rate the social and environmental performance of companies. This web platform will serve as an innovative and interactive tool to foster dialogue on CSR issues between companies and their stakeholders. OpenSRI will enable industry watchdogs, non profits, shareholders and stakeholders to share information on best and worst practices in the sustainability arena.
The web platform will be accessible free of charge for stakeholders, allowing technical and non-technical users alike to freely post comments on listed companies with the assurance that the highest standards will be upheld by the community and experts participating. (CSR Wire)
Filed under: february | Tags: climate change, ICLEI, strategy, urban sustainability
Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) is a program created by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), an association of over than 700 local governments, representing over 300 million people worldwide.
Cities for Climate Protection is ICLEI’s flagship campaign. The program is designed to educate and empower local governments around the globe to take action on climate change. CCP is a performance-oriented campaign that offers a framework for local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve livability within their municipalities.
ICLEI uses the performance-oriented framework and methodology of the CCP Campaign’s 5 Milestones to assist local governments in developing and implementing local approaches for reducing global warming and air pollution emissions, with the additional benefit of improving community livability.
Nike’s latest line of shoe design is literally garbage. Their latest shoe, the Nike Trash Talk, is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching. The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory production, and the outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber and incorporates material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste.
The Danish company Aresa has genetically modified the thale cress, a common weed, to turn a bright red color when it encounters unexploded land mines underground. for detection of landmines and unexploded ordnance devices on agricultural land. This biosensor is a genetically modified plant which can sense nitrogen-dioxide in soil and change colour from green to red when growing on or in near proximity of landmines. The seed has been patented to only grow with the aid of a proprietary fertilizer, but this is great innovation for peace. Buried land mines are still a significant threat for thousands of people in high conflict areas worldwide. Aresa is currently testing the seed in sites in Denmark, Croatia, and several parts of Africa.
Filed under: february | Tags: neurological health, poverty, socio-economic status
Recent studies show that poverty has permanent damaging effects on children, affecting their social and physiological health for the rest of their life. Most notable damage is language and memory, attributed to excessive levels of stress hormones in the body. This does not even take into account damaging effects of inadequate nutrition or environmental toxins attributed to low socio-economic status.
Jack Shonkoff, director of Harvard University’s centre on the developing child, said policymakers had to take note of the research because “the foundation of all social problems later in life takes place in the early years.”The earlier you intervene [to counteract the impact of poverty], the better the outcome in the end, because the brain loses its plasticity [adaptability] as the child becomes older,” he said.
Article published by the Financial Times.
