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Top sustainability news and tools for the busy executive
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- Notable: BNSF Railway, Corporate Responsibility Index, Energy Star Awards, Ethisphere "World's Most Ethical Companies," Google, IBM India/Ingersoll Rand, L'Oreal/EPA, Recyclebank, SCA, Thomas Cook, Vestas
- ROI Success Stories: Eastman Chemical
- Government and Legal: EU emissions reduction targets, EU forestry and agriculture carbon accounting
- Tech Innovations: Air Products/Dual-use fuel cells, Bendable solar cells
- Market Indicators: Core renewables, US solar photovoltaics
- New Tools: Sustainability data tagging, Remediation cost-estimation, Textile supply chain analysis
- New Research: Energy and emissions policy, GRI application levels, Enterprise smart grid
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The New Rules of Innovation
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Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, The Economist's China Business & Finance Editor, outlines new rules for business leaders from his new bestseller Need, Speed, and Greed to ensure their companies flourish rather than perish in an emerging "Age of Disruptive Innovation." Vaitheeswaran also offers CEF members exclusive access to the book's final chapter, "Greed is Good."
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Meet the CEF Amazon Contest Winners |
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Ten outstanding leaders from CEF member companies have been chosen from a highly competitive field of over 150 applicants from around the world to embark on a life-changing leadership development program in the Amazon Rainforest this July with world-renowned ecologist Dr. Thomas Lovejoy. CEF is pleased to announce the winners and runners-up from Bayer, CA Technologies, Caesar's (TPG), CH2M HILL, Dell, Dow Chemical, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Johnson & Johnson, and Kimberly-Clark.
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CEF MEMBERS
Members-Only Webinar – March 29, Noon EST
BEST PRACTICES FOR LEADING EDGE DATA CENTERS
Employees from CEF member companies are invited to join Ram Nidomolu and data center experts from Alcoa, Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft as they share stories and case studies to illustrate the main takeaways takeaways from the forthcoming CEF publication, Executive Guide: Best Practices for Leading Edge Data Centers. To register, email Michael Vito your name, title and organization. |
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NOTABLEBNSF Railway helped customers avoid a collective 30 million metric tons of carbon emissions in 2011 by shipping freight partially by rail, as opposed to entirely over road.
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Business in the Community released its 2012 Corporate Responsibility Index, which ranks companies based on strategy, integration, management, and performance with regard to corporate responsibility. CEF members KPMG, Tata Consultancy Services, and Unilever were among the 15 companies to achieve the highest "Platinum Plus" rating, while CEF members Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Veolia Water won the "Platinum" rating.
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The US EPA has recognized multiple categories of companies with its 2011 Energy Star awards. Sears received the single Corporate Commitment Award. Recipients of the Award for Sustained Excellence include CEF members 3M, ArcelorMittal, GE (Appliances and Lighting), Hanesbrands, and Kohl's. Recipients of Partner of the Year include CEF members Boeing and GM.
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The Ethisphere Institute announced its World's Most Ethical (WME) Companies list honoring companies that "exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices today." CEF members listed include: Alcoa, American Express, CH2M Hill, Cisco, Ecolab , Ford Motor Company, General Electric, International Paper, Kimberly-Clark, Marriott International, Microsoft, Patagonia, Petco (A TPG company), Symantec, UPS , Xerox, Waste Management, and Weyerhaeuser.
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Google completed installation of its first data center cooling system to utilize recycled wastewater, avoiding the need to draw potable water from local sources.
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IBM India and Ingersoll Rand will partner to offer energy-efficiency systems for buildings.
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L'Oreal and the US EPA will collaborate on research designed to evaluate the use of ToxCast, the agency's tool for predicting chemical toxicity, for use in systemic toxicity tests.
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Recyclebank will pilot test a scheme in which users can earn reward points for choosing to travel by walking or cycling, instead of using cars or subways.
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Paper company SCA announced new sustainability goals, including production of 5TWh of wind power on its forest land by 2020, tripling biofuel production, and setting aside 5% of its productive forest land for conservation.
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In 2011, travel agency Thomas Cook reduced energy use 8.5%, though Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions increased 1.5% over 2010 levels.
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Vestas will supply 396MW of wind turbines to the Mareña Renovables project in Mexico, which is expected to become the largest wind power installation in Latin America when complete.
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ROI SUCCESS STORIESEastman Chemical avoided $11.6 million in energy costs and 357 million pounds of GHG emissions through its energy efficiency program in 2011.
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GOVERNMENT & LEGALPoland blocked an EU plan to increase the stringency of its 2020 and 2030 GHG emissions reduction targets. The European Parliament subsequently called on member states to increase the reduction targets in support of the European Commission's Roadmap to 2050, which sets goals of up to 95% emissions cuts by that year.
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The EU has proposed creation of accounting standards for forestry and agriculture sector carbon emissions.
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TECH INNOVATIONSTwin Creeks Technologies developed a method to produce thin, bendable silicon solar cells.
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Air Products and FuelCell Energy are partnering to develop fuel cells that simultaneously produce power and hydrogen.
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MARKET INDICATORSThe global solar, wind, and biofuel market grew 31% in 2011, reaching a total of almost $250 billion.
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US solar phovoltaic installations increased 109% in 2011, creating 1,855MW of new capacity, the first time the industry deployed over 1GW in a single year.
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NEW TOOLSGlobal Reporting Initiative released a taxonomy for tagging sustainability data in reports, designed to facilitate easier collection and analysis of the data by regulators, investors, and analysts.
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Aecom released a new version of Racer, its environmental remediation and restoration cost-estimating software.
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DyStar Textile Services launched several service offerings designed to facilitate textile industry supply chain auditing and sustainability performance improvement.
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NEW RESEARCH"OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction" (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) warns current energy and emissions policies are insufficient to support growing global population and manage severe climate risks. It recommends quick adoption of policies it estimates to be cost-effective means to reduce carbon emissions without unreasonable constraints on growth.
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"GRI Application Levels: Why Strive for an A?" (BrownFlynn) reports companies that achieve higher GRI application levels also demonstrate better management of sustainability impacts.
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"The Enterprise Smart Grid – a Corporate Buyer's Guide for Energy Management Software" (Groom Energy) evaluates vendors of enterprise smart grid offerings, which integrate submetering, hardware, and software to increase control over energy consumption.
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The CEF Weekly Eco Briefing is published by the Corporate Eco Forum,
a network of leading Global 500 executives driving eco strategy and innovation worldwide.
Click to subscribe.
Inquiries: pj@corporateecoforum.com
Editor in Chief: P.J. Simmons, CEF Chair
Editor: Michael VitoAssociate Editors: Stuart Tannehill, George
Haddad |
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