I’m lucky, I found my vocation. But CR is becoming much more mainstream and now appeals to a wider group as a potential career. I receive emailed CV/resumes every day and aim to reply to all of them – I did say ‘aim’ – one of CR reporting’s most useful qualifications. Feel free to chase me. Opportunities are expanding in major companies, business organizations, NGOs and think tanks, socially responsible investors, academia, regulators and political parties and consultancies (us). But does CR offer the many interested graduates and mid-life changers prospects of a fulfilling and rewarding career? Here’s a test of your aptitude for the majority of CR positions available today…
Businesses around the world are feeling the pressures of rising energy, water, and the potential costs of emissions. While business risks and costs are driving many behavior changes, leading businesses are exploring sustainability concepts to identify opportunities. Many companies are addressing these risks by exploring the value aspects of business sustainability.
IntertechPira is now accepting submissions for presentations at the Sustainability in Packaging 2010 conference. Of particular interest are submissions for sessions on: Sustainability strategy, Global perspective on sustainability, Marketing and communicating sustainability internally and externally, Procurement, Supply chain cooperation,
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Ceres, a US coalition of environmental and investor groups, today called for submissions to the ninth-annual Ceres-ACCA North American Awards for Sustainability Reporting. The purpose of the awards program is to acknowledge and publicize best practice in reporting on sustainability, environmental and social performance by corporations and organizations and to provide leadership to those companies that are publishing or intend to publish sustainability reports.
As individuals from all kinds of backgrounds and industries push into the field of sustainability consulting, it can become murky as to what that work even entails. This is especially true when considering the different perspectives and methodologies that are employed and adding even more complexity is the variability among clients and their needs. Thus, this quote sums up for me what sustainability consultants are trying to do – they help businesses address and redress the way in which they operate so that they will be better positioned for the market of the future a la decreasing their negative impact on the natural environment. Some argue that like the trends of international business and e-commerce, sustainability will at some point cease to be its own discipline and assume its rightful place within all of business practices. (At which time sustainability consultants will become just “consultants” and we can never have enough of those!)
The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University’s Center for International Development offers doctoral, post-doctoral, and mid-career fellowships in Sustainability Science. The fellowships are tenable at the Center for International Development during Harvard’s academic year beginning in September 2010. Fellowships are available for 10 months (September 2010-May 2011), 12 months (September 2010-August 2011), the fall semester (September-December 2010), the spring semester (February-May 2011), or for two academic years (post-doctoral fellows only) (September 2010-August 2012).
The financial risk of carbon liabilities, a need for better management control over carbon data, and new government regulations in a number of countries, will will compel CFOs to invest in carbon management software in the coming year. This is the main conclusion of the report, The Business Case For Carbon Management Software, from the research firm Verdantix. The report analyzes the business case for investing in carbon software from vendors like CarbonView, Carbon Hub, ESS, Greenstone Carbon Management, Hara, IHS, PE International, SAP and SAS.
In the September issue of Harvard Business Review, authors Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad, and M.R. Rangaswami provide a framework for adopting sustainable practices to bring about technological and organizational innovations that will ultimately yield top-line and bottom-line returns, providing a competitive advantage when the recession ends. They feel that sustainable companies will emerge from the recession ahead of their competitors, who will face difficulties trying to catch up.
The Brita Products Company invites proposals for its second annual College FilterForGood Eco-Challenge Grant Program. Undergraduate and graduate students in good academic standing in an accredited college or university in the U.S. are encouraged to prepare a proposal and budget for a program that is either action-based or will create tangible results in the interest of helping to protect the environment. The program should be initiated and make significant progress towards completion by April 2010.
