Tag Archive for ‘Sustainability’
Jeffrey Hollender Discusses Sustainability with Big Think
Jeffrey Hollender, Co-founder & CEO of Seventh Generation, discusses corporate responsibility and sustainability issues in an interview with Big Think.
Verbatim: How Businesses View Sustainability & CSR Reporting
Investment firm Walden Asset Management recently researched and compiled quotes from sustainability and corporate responsibility reports by several dozen companies in a wide range of industries. The exercise showed, says a Walden executive, that attention to such issues has become vitally important for a company’s business, and that transparent reporting is, as one CEO said, one of “the prices of doing business today.”
Activist Investors Claim Record Results on Climate Change
Investors filed a record 101 climate and energy-related resolutions with 88 U.S. and Canadian companies in 2010, a 50% increase from the year-earlier, according to activist shareholder organizations. A record 51 resolutions were withdrawn after the companies agreed to climate change and energy-related commitments.
Opinion: BP puts costs ahead of environment. Are we surprised?
BP’s failure to stop the worst oil spill in U.S. history is indicative of a much larger problem with companies that have embraced one of the central ideas in management today: stakeholder theory. The idea that companies can meet the needs of “stakeholders” leaves them open to moral abuse without normative principles at its core.
Definitions: What Do We Mean by “Building a Green Economy”?
The primary way governments around the world are trying to “green” their own economies today is by increasing investment in—and, by extension, creating jobs in—industries on the cutting edge of non-polluting renewable forms of energy, such as solar and wind power.
The Ethical Risk of Business as Usual
Columnist Gael O’Brien wonders what it will take to convince corporate leaders to build into their risk management strategies the capacity to ask crucial questions about ethical liability, as is done with legal liability. Such a step, she says, would be hardly radical and would have the objective of putting ethical conduct on the table as a deliberate outcome.
NY State Fund Seeks to Lead Class Action Against BP
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, trustee of the $132.6 billion Common Retirement Fund for state employees, said the Fund will seek lead plaintiff status in the class action lawsuit against BP Plc for damages arising from the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill
Banana Industry’s Impact on Rainforests
Historically, growing the world’s most popular fruit has caused massive degradation of rainforest land across the tropics. But the $5 billion banana industry may be slowly coming to terms with greener forms of production. Two of the largest growers – Favorita and Chiquita – now grow bananas on farms that meet criteria for responsible management set by the Sustainable Agriculture Network.
Survey: Companies Lack Basic Sustainability Programs
A Conference Board survey finds that even though corporations lack the structural framework to enable proper director oversight of sustainability programs, they rarely consult outside expertise. At 89 percent of the companies surveyed, directors continue to rely on reports by senior executives for information on social and environmental initiatives.
Environmentalists Are Bullish on Kenaf Paper
Kenaf is a fast-growing, non-invasive annual hibiscus plant related to cotton, okra and hemp. It makes ideal paper fiber as well as great source material for burlap, clothing, canvas, particleboard and rope. Ten major U.S. newspapers have tested kenaf-based newsprint and were pleasantly surprised by how well it held up and how crisply it displayed text and pictures. Toyota is already using kenaf grown in Malaysia for insulation and interiors in some cars.
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