Dawn

Information is growing at an unprecedented rate.  Even more alarming is the speed which we can share and make information transparent.  There are so many sweeping changes occurring globally and we are increasingly connected.  With all this stirring in my mind I watched the dawn of the day and saw how it hits the mountain tops first.  It all became crystal clear in that moment.  The big mountains are those of us who wield high wealth and power.  As we’ve seen they are no longer able to hide from the light that has been cast on them thanks to our hyper connected world.  Suddenly I realized that eventually the dawn will inch down the slopes to us all.  Where are you in that picture?  One thing is for sure, at this rate everyone will have a light cast on them and there will be nowhere to hide.  The shadows will diminish and all will be revealed.  Are you ready for that?  Short of a total electronic and economic collapse sending us back to ice age status -  this light will continue coming.  Have you got your susty house in order?

Said And Done.....SAD?

All too often when it come to sustainability when all is said and done a lot more is said than done.  It is great news that so many organizations have “jumped on the band wagon” to publish annual sustainability reports.  It is a step in the right direction for sure but the real opportunities come the ability to report daily or even up to the minute.  Why?  Well, imagine that you could only get a bank statement once a year.  That gives you only one chance a year to make amendments and plan.  Clearly we’d all rather have up to the minute access to our financial information so why should environmental information be any different?  The concept of triple bottom line is not new – People, Planet, Profit.   We’ve figured out how to wield the power of prophet but the real advantage for any organization is leveraging the hidden power of people and planet.   For those organizations out there that report annually on sustainability  - why now lay hands on some hidden power?  Can you say that you have done as much as you said or will you remain sad....?

Occupy the earth

With all the fan fair about "Occupy" I thougth it ironic today that we officially reached 7 billion people so we can a least say we've "occupied" this planet very well....  I wonder if the planet had a voice what it'd say?   While the "Occupy" movement seems a bit scattered about it's message it seems to boil down to a general complaining about what is lacking.  Two things come to mind.  One, there's lot's of proof that wealthy people have less babies.  Two, what would happen if a group decided to gather to praise instead of complain.  Just saying.  Today, I am here to "occupy" my desk and see about making this world a better place instead of complaining about it and - funny enough - that's made me wealthy and I don't have kids.  Hmmmm...

Get out of Jail free card

I hear that visiting hours at minimum security prisons are fairly generous.    Sarcasm aside, the EPA actually publishes mug shots of environmental fugitives - http://www.epa.gov/fugitives/index.html#carlo   The harsh part is that in many cases people who end up on the wanted list or face fines and jail time are not actually the ones doing the actual crime – but they are held responsible for it.   There are a lot of reasons for putting a sustainability solution in place for a corporation  but it is worth pointing out the most extreme – Executives can wind up in jail for mishandling the environmental aspects of their company.  The get out of jail free card than every executive should have to is a environmental management system that monitors and alerts that risks are growing.  That system can be a group of people that are paying attention to that  - but -  we’ve all seen the “movie” and read the news on how that actually pans out when risk turns into a legal issue……  Again, sarcasm aside, the only trusted format is a software solution that has imbedded security so that information cannot be tampered with to cover up mistakes that can land executives in jail.   The cost of imprisonment far out weights the cost of a software solution to properly manage environmental aspects of an organization.  The charges leading to jail can be much more than just polluting.  They can include mistakes on shipment manifests,  failure to report contents of a facility to local authorities (under the right to know legislation) and even Travel act violations – the list goes on.  Protect yourself and the corporation with a sustainability solution – it’s your get out of jail free card.  

Dead Money

The trickledown effect is coming to a bank near you. Many of the world’s largest banks have signed on to http://www.equator-principles.com/.




“Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs) commit to not providing loans to projects where the borrower will not or is unable to comply with their respective social and environmental policies”



Don’t have a qualitative and quantitative – trusted sustainability report? = no money/credit or maybe just higher interest rates for you – that’s dead money.



72 financial institutions have adopted this is 27 countries. The credit market is going to use this to their advantage. The question is will your company be able to meet them at the table well prepared? Put yourself into a bankers shoes and ask yourself: “if I am going to loan money how what can I use to negotiate the best interest rate – in my favor?” It is not a far jump to see that if a client presents more risk than the interest rate is higher. Now part of the risk being assessed is sustainability. If you have not heard of the term - Triple bottom line – google it now! No self respecting corporation would show up to a bank with financial information in a shoe box so why would your sustainability information be any different? Excel is your shoe box. The good news is that solutions do exist that can get companies to a bank worthy status – without breaking bank (so to speak). www.sap.com provides world class sustainability solutions tailored to meet your needs. Lower interest rates and protecting your credit is just a click away. Here is your early warning notice to avoid dead money. Wouldn’t it be nice to be in the power position with your sustainability report and even ask the bank you’re are dealing with – where’s yours?

Beware your competitor

As one of a handful of enterprise class sustainability principals talking to companies every day I get to notice trends first.   More and more of the calls with enterprises across North America regarding sustainability are about competition.   Organizations want to know how they can gain the upper hand by being first to shine on sustainability thereby gaining market share – or – they are scrambling to catch up to their peers.  Even without peer pressure more and more are reporting that customers are requesting sustainability reports more and more as part of purchases – especially business to business.   If you are one of those out there still thinking this is all conjecture consider the savvy buyer.  The flip side of all this is that any savvy buyer is going to use anything at their disposal to justify a purchase and negotiate price.   If you find a customer that is not asking so many questions – please share – I think we’d all like to have a go at them to sell them something.  If you have not found your way out of the red ocean of competition  - see book “The  blue Ocean” than the least you can do is embrace everything at your disposal to address the competitive scenario you’re in.  Even if you’ve found yourself in the “blue ocean” is it really time to relax your pursuit of excellence?  Why not be as sure as you can in any case to address those that would seek to supplant you?  The good news is that there are software solutions that can be easily deployed  - like those found at www.sapcarbonimpact.com.  It’s in your reach.

Major and Minors

I heard a good talk this weekend about majoring on things that are major and minor on things that a minor.  As the sustainability arena gets more and more crowded with solutions, best practices and risk reduction we should keep focus on what is really major.  Every corporation has the same fragility that represents the major we need to focus on - which is energy.  Nothing in our world works once the power goes out.  No one can deny that our energy consumption is growing - but can we sustain the growth?  A good analogy is the human body which can last for a good while without food but without water death looms quickly.  The “water” for corporations is energy.    Even if we can meet the demand without disruptions it is clear that the cost is only going up or will at very least be volatile while – and if – we manage to transition to steady state renewable energies.  Any organization not addressing this as part of their operations will become more and more risky to operate.  There are still many companies out there that do not even have a sustainability report.  This is like going for a jog down an unknown lonely road without water -  assuming that there will be some along the way – and that you can afford it.  The message is that if you are one of those companies that says: “we’re just not ready to address this because we are focused on growing and making sure we keep the lights on”.  The  bad news is that circumstances may turn off your lights for you and there is amble warning that life giving energy may cost more than you can marginalize.  The good news is that by  - at very least – focusing on what is major you can prepare for the worst and improve your profitability at the same time.   Collecting the information and putting it into a manageable format to identify risks and opportunities cannot be done on excel alone.  Only a sophisticated software solution can address the major items to ensure longevity.   The surprising element is that while focusing on the major issues the minor issues get addressed with more excellence as well.

Age of Arrows

I’ve had the privileged position of talking with many Large Enterprises across North America regarding their sustainability initiatives.  After a year of ongoing conversations about qualitative and quantitative information and how, why and when to share -  one factor is fairly constant - the arrow.   Is the arrow on any particular sustainability metric going up or down in the right direction?  A good example of this can be found at:  http://www.sapsustainabilityreport.com/operations-impact  The point – pun intended – is that many companies are still just making statements on their public facing sites about their initiatives.  How are we to believe that they are actually dealing with the items or if they are just making empty promises?  Do we really have to wait a year to read the results in their annual report?  Any organization just making statements is in danger of green washing accusations.  Imagine if we could do our financial reports this way? Would shareholders just accept that we “state” we are going to turn a profit or reduce costs without any real metrics?  Major banks are now determining the risk of loans to corporations based in part on these “statements” and how real they actually are.  The good news is that any corporation can get the arrow working for them with an automated software solution that collects, monitors and drives the arrows.  Eventually arrows will be the norm so now is the time gain the advantage – the power of the arrow is yours to wield.   A good place to start might be to ask the company that is showing a good example of arrows like the one sited above – how did they do it?

Vacation sustainability

It is that time of year when many of us start planning our summer vacation.  It is also a perfect time to exercise your power as a buyer.   When you are booking transit, accommodation and entertainment why not ask about the sustainability initiatives of those organizations?  A simple query can go a long way to impacting the world.  Maybe the vendor your are choosing does not have a sustainability practice but now that customers are asking starts to look deeper into some initiatives.  You may not know how extensive the efforts are with other vendors but once you learn you have some bragging rights and can relax that much extra knowing you are doing your part  - even on vacation.  Many hotels are cutting costs significantly with their sustainability initiatives.  It may be that the extra profit floating around will serve you better with discounts or excellent service!  Also, if an organization does not care about the planet what kind of culture do you think you will experience with them?  – how much will they really care about you?  Part of the memories of a holiday are telling the stories after so learn more about your providers and you might just be surprised how your vacation changes for the better.  Remember, sustainability goes beyond waste, water and air and includes social elements as well.  You may be on the receiving end of a genuine smile from the staff serving you or they may be struggling to share a good vibe since the vendor you booked has a bad social track record.  One little question or a bit a research could really change the dynamics of your trip.  Ask and you shall receive – or at least be for warned. 

From certainty to confidence

A corporation can hold several meetings and double check all the measurements and reports to get to a place of certainty in their sustainability practice - but does that bring confidence?  Confidence is when the organization really believes in what they are doing and does not look at the future as a threat.  Many companies are still dealing with their sustainability practice as a  - make sure - or - ensure - practice instead of building the practice for confidence.  So what instills confidence?  Consistent tracking and a system of alerts and monitors goes a long way to achieving confidence.  Those can not be accomplished with excel spread sheets and setting up watch dogs in the organization since people fail and excel is problematic on many fronts.  Connecting sustainability data into an automated system and establishing key performance metrics that align with corporate goals is the only way to move from certainty to confidence.  The most sustainable companies in the world have done the work to white board out their sustainability practice and deploy a software solution to bring it all together.  The good news is that the process is less daunting and expensive than many may perceive.  Furthermore, the return on investment can be calculated up front.  If you are in the drivers seat of a sustainability practice now is the time to bring it all together with a software solution so that you can take you vacation this summer - with confidence that they system is working for you - instead of you working for the system.

Engage student brains

Part of a broader strategy for a corporation should be to engage their sustainability practice with local Universities.  Nike found it’s famous “just do it” logo and statement by leveraging the fresh nubile minds of higher ed.  Why not challenge those minds with corporate sustainability data to come up with game changing approaches, ideas and opportunities?   When a corporation has an on-demand sustainability software solution it can engage outside resources for analysis and contribution.  Of course standard NDA’s should apply between students and companies and the assignments structured for optimal outcomes.  When you mull this over it is easy to see the “win” cases.  The university gets to deal with real world data and problem solving directly impacting the local communities.  The student gains valuable real world experience.  The company gets cheap – if not free – brains looking into it’s sustainability practice.  Finally, the over-all we move the conversation of sustainability more into finding opportunities – rather than creating costs – issuing reprimands or the ages old play to change minds about  taking care of the environment.  Since a sustainability practice is more than just environmental a broader subject matter expert student body can be embraced.   In fact, maybe any balanced doctorate program should include some form of sustainability contribution/link on that subject matter.   Now that is some good “grist for the mill”.

Short Term Thinking

Poverty forces short term thinking.  Need is a powerful agent in the degradation of our environment so it has to be part of any good sustainability strategy for an organization.  Still many companies do not see this as a critical part of their business.  Leaders know that companies cannot succeed in societies that fail – a repeated lesson learnt in the developing world.   Aside from the obvious feel good implications the reality of addressing this inside a corporate sustainability practice has real asset valuation.   Only sophisticated software solutions can help a corporation move beyond hand-out solutions to real efforts that are long lasting.  Really, the age old idea of teaching to fish over just giving a fish applies here.  The difference is the complexity is so great that getting a handle on the real opportunities can only come through qualitative and quantitative analysis.  Deep review usually translates into a cost center many corporations are quick to reduce or eliminate especially in tough times creating a corporate poverty that forces short term thinking.  The only answer to link the strategy to the performance metrics of the company and perform real calculations that show bottom line impact – or some would say triple bottom line impact.  The good news is that software is available to handle the challenge and is within reach of any growing enterprise.  In a way software gives corporations the ability to think quickly to avoid short term thinking.  Now that’s something to think about.

License to grow

How about the concept of requiring companies to get “License to grow”.  I think this is an interesting concept but clearly fraught with red tap potential.  Could this be a militant reaction or just plan common sense.  I don’t know about the rest of you but if my neighbor wants to build a bigger house or generally change anything it can either be a blessing or a curse but for the most part some sort of permit is required so I’m calmed by the fact that someone is reviewing the merits.  More than most the merit of waste, water and air are top of list.  So – if we apply this to our love of capitalism and growth will it work?  Could we insist that companies get a license to grow based on their sustainability practice.  I think it’s fair – if your company is supporting planetary life – grow – if not – put your capital towards figuring out how to support life….and when you get there – then grow.  Good job there is software solutions that can support a company’s audit abilities around people, planet, profit and help them justify a license to grow.

Shared Value

At last we may be able to do away with the rather lengthy word: Sustainability. After all it is a mouth full and has become so varied in its definition that most cannot agree on what it means anymore. Well, in comes a new catchy phrase to represent what we are all really after and that is: “Shared Value”. Not that we can just sweep away the old term, especially since there are formidable agencies like the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Hmmm ….. Dow Jones Shared Value Index….. Somehow I doubt they will change the name even if Reuters and Harvard are pushing the new vernacular. At any rate, the phrase will do well to freshen up the movement and draw us all a little closer to the common goal. After all, sustainability infers individualism for an organization but Shared Value drives home the sense of the broad community ecosystem – well, at least I think so.



See more here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/28/philanthropy-corporate-idUSN2427813820110228


or watch more at:
http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value/ar/1#

Milk before solid food

Lael Adams wrote a good article about Sustainability on the Front Lines – literally about projects in areas affected by war. It is a fresh perspective on what works and what does not work. In extreme situations the obvious can become more clear. In this case the idea that dumping a sustainability project in an outside-in approach is very likely to fail. Why? A community, organization or area is not ready for “solid” food. We have to build up the abilities and weave the project into the “DNA” of a group if it is going to be sustainable itself. The key element to the success to any sustainability project is the people. Start with milk.


Find Lael’s complete article at:

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/an-aid-worker-writes-how-sustainability-works-or-doesnt-in-afghanistan/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Why should a company bother with sustainability?

15% - Stock prices of 99 companies identified as sustainable outperformed industry averages by 15% (source AT Kearney)


$64 - Trillion dollars of institutional investment that places a premium on companies with a high sustainability index (source: CDP)

93% - of CEO’s believe sustainability issues will be CRITICAL to the future success of their business (source: McKinsey)

91% - of CEO’s report that their companies will employee new technologies to address sustainability issues in the next 5 yrs (source: McKinsey)

2456 - # of entities that disclosed their GHG to the carbon disclosure project in 2009 (source: CDP)

Miss the mark - try again, again - again....

In reading David Suzuki’s blog today I was reminded that our collective sustainability practice is also a generational issue.  He shared the response to his daughters speech to the Earth Summit – when she was 12 years old.  To paraphrase  - this young and wise girl rebukes the comment that the current generation has messed it up but the new generation will lead the way.  Wow, let’s just pause and think about that…..While it is a compliment of sorts it’s also immensely terrible – hey kids don’t do as I do?   Some of what we have lost has happened due to vernacular.  There is this word – Sin – and really what it means is that you just miss the mark.  We miss the mark in many ways.  What do we do about it?  No matter what your age, it is your primary responsibility to strive to hit the mark.  Well, the mark of sustainability is getting clearer. Will you miss it – are you missing it?  What are you going to do about that?  You find someone who can hit the mark and take guidance.   That is the conversation and the charge that must continue and should be everyone’s practice – to better yourself is to better the planet.  See the mark – miss it – try again – again, again.  Even if you never hit the mark the very least you did on your journey here is set yourself as an exemplar – that is your redemption to failure.  Again – Again.

Sustainability Maturity

Yesterday we touched on how organizations with a sustainability practice can focus on “actual” information on their reports.  Once the benchmarks are set goals can be adjusted and performance can be quantitatively measured.  The next step is to state the value of the achieved goals.  The question is – will excel be enough to really have confidence in the statements?  This is where sustainability information becomes much like financial information – and you wouldn’t take your receipts and scribbles in a shoe box to the accountants office!  Excel is great but it is a personal productivity tool and that is why most enterprise organizations use some form of software to manage their financial information.  So why would the sustainability practice of an organization do any different.  Fortunately there are leading companies out there that offer excellence in this area.  Seek and you will find

Actuals

On the rise among many forward looking organizations is a focus on sustainability “actual”.  This refers to the actually measuring the statements made in corporate sustainability reports.  It is a natural progression for any organization if they want to maintain their credibility.  In other words, if they don’t start showing the tracking and trending of their statements they can be viewed as just “green washing”.  If an organization does not want to show upward or downward arrows around their key performance indicators then an assurance stamp from a reputable agency like PWC – Deloitte or others, gives the credibility needed for the report ready to have confidence.   What’s after dealing with “actual” and getting the stamp of approval?  Tune in tomorrow to find out 

Green Spring Clean Up

It is fast approaching that time of year when many of us get that itch to spring clean. The origins of spring cleaning came up out of the fact that there were no washer and dryers and beds were made of straw – see more at Wikipedia. Hence, dryer, nicer weather was key. The tradition continues so why not be a purest about it – well – maybe not around using straw but at lead using the dryer. How about hang your items if you can. I know most of us live in cities now so here are 5 ways to drive a “green” spring clean.


1) Organize an e-waste drive at work. There are many organizations out there that will pick up a bulk e-waste bundle. This gives people a place to clean out their e-waste without using the landfill.

2) It’ a good time of year to make the switch to green cleaning supplies. If you have kids get them involved by researching products together. What’s that phrase?... a family that shops together stays together….ok maybe not, but you get the drift.

3) Meet the neighbors. Even if you live in a tower there may be a place where neighbors can gather to swap or sell stuff. Wait.. there some other phrase about: .. one persons garbage is another treasure? – yes I think I got that one right.

4) Got a yard or outdoor pots? Why not turn a space over and just see what grows? A controlled weed garden can be cathartic – maybe play John Lennon’s “let it be” song – you’ll find that at the neighborhood swap. Now, that’s an easy and thrifty spring cleaning project

5) Water will do! – why not dust with a damp cloth? Not good enough for you? Maybe look at the stress in your life and rethink if any of your high maintenance clothing and furniture is really worth it -Just saying.