The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard Sustainability 24 A Live Broadcast from Accenture Strategy Sustainability 24 is a day where Accenture advances the business sustainability debate amongst business and government leaders, civil society and other stakeholders across the globe. This year’s focus will be on “Driving Competitiveness through Sustainability”. Sustainability 24 is a unique virtual conversation connecting thousands of people, via a 12-hour online broadcast, featuring industry and theme-focused debates. Our 2014 agenda will build on last years' success with a broader range of session themes—enabling us to bring in more perspectives —running at key locations across the globe, more studio discussions to reflect and expand on key points from the sessions, and we’ll incorporate interviews with various luminaries to provide extra stimulation and debate. Register now Learn more about Accenture Sustainability Services
Why Social Media Intelligence Enables Stakeholder Engagement The American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) describes knowledge management as a mindset that extends beyond the flow of traditional business process. It focuses on the dissemination of information, engagement of key resources, and ultimately the adoption rate of best practices across the entire value chain. As a sustainability consultants, we believe knowledge management and sustainability concepts to be intricately aligned. In fact, we find knowledge management to be a critical aspect of business sustainability. Social media has an emerging role in knowledge management. Creating bridges between the corporate world and its stakeholders, social media closes the gap on knowledge management and business intelligence. In the old days, corporate intelligence gathering meant painstakingly gleaning information from experts and competitors' reports. Information or Data Collection Crowdsourcing Brand and Reputation Management Public Relations Media Management Crisis Management
s Sustainable Business Blog “Conflict Minerals” has been a hotly debated topic for some time, but most recently given the last minute provision was included as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Final Rule). This legislative provision was profound in nature, representing a legislative avenue through the use of economic levers to attempt to address what many suggest1 is a national security issue. The provision’s mandate to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to finalize an implementation rule requiring publicly listed companies to implement due diligence measures to determine source and chain of custody of defined minerals used in their products introduced into the stream of commerce represents an emerging movement towards increased transparency in corporate business practices. From our discussions with companies that began during the SEC’s rulemaking process, to our ongoing efforts in assisting companies with compliance, this is really hard!
Communicating Sustainability: How Do We Go From Talking to the Wall to Preaching to the Choir? Calling all innovators and creatives! During April 2013, Sustainable Brands will be publishing a new “Issues in Focus” editorial package highlighting the most effective and engaging examples of sustainability communications. Guest editors Thomas Kolster, author of Goodvertising, and David Willans of Futerra are seeking articles, interviews and case studies for publication throughout the month. The Issue in Focus From our perspective, "brand" is who you are, what you do, how you do it — and then, how you communicate it. In April, we will examine how today's brands are innovating in the area of sustainability communications — through thought-provoking ads, memorable and creative mission marketing and social media campaigns, and other creative forms of engagement. Article ideas are due by Wednesday, March 13. Content guidelines What Written (600-1000 words), audio and/or video perspectives. Criteria Send submissions to:
Study Says 80% of Sustainability Professionals Pursue More Training Sustainability is a growing field with highly educated professionals from diverse backgrounds, but many lack critical skills despite their training, a recent study released by the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) and Sustainable Plant says. The report, titled Sustainability: Dynamics Drive Growth, examined the qualifications and proficiencies of today’s sustainability practitioners and found a remarkable disparity between typical education and training and the necessary skills to be an effective sustainability professional. Sustainability professionals come from a range of roles across government, institutions and private enterprise and the ever-evolving field calls for additional training. “The sustainability sector is projected to grow and to continue to attract personnel who like to learn, which also bodes well for educators, consultants and training facilities concentrating on sustainability professional development,” she added. [Read more about Bart King]
How Sustainability Strategy Impacts Your Corporate Brand and Ranking as an Employer of Choice Sustainability strategy is a holistic, triple-bottom-line approach that considers the environment, society and profit in the development and implementation of business strategy. As you consider your corporate brand, think not only about your products and services but also about how prospective and current employees view your organization. What type of message are you sending about your employee culture, corporate values, environmental policies and community commitments? The best and brightest applicants are considering your sustainability strategy as they consider who will be their employer of choice. While the environmental components of sustainability such as carbon and water footprints are the foundation of sustainability, they represent a step in the process rather than the whole journey. A key tenant of sustainability strategy is stakeholder perception of your corporate culture and values. Potential new hires aren’t just concerned with the environment.
Getting the Right Knobs in Place: Closing the Gap Between Reducing Impacts and Achieving Sustainability Companies and investors need quantitative guidelines on how to live within the planetary budget if we are the draw back from dangerous ecological and social thresholds. By Francesca Rheannon Last week on this site, I wrote about the burgeoning movement for fossil fuel divestment founded by the group 350.org and promoted by a growing coalition of activists. The movement hopes that, by making investment in fossil fuels repugnant, enough of the stuff will be left in the ground to keep the planetary temperature from crossing the threshold of two degrees of warming. Threshold Investing We have already passed the threshold needed to avoid climate change – 350ppm of atmospheric carbon, so even if we were to cease emitting all greenhouse gases today, the planet would face up to a thousand more years before returning to the temperature norm under which all human civilization developed. Divestment is one side of the coin of moving capital away from fossil fuels. Keeping Within Our Ecological Budget