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.