Greenstart, a startup accelerator exclusively designed for cleantech companies, is seeking applications for the company’s inaugural three-month accelerator session, which begins on September 12. Submissions will be accepted until July 3
Companies should create a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) report because of the a real ROI they stand to gain, either through reduced costs or increased revenue, or both. The key drivers include investors, market expectations, competitors, regulators, employees, and communities. Each of these drivers has at its core either increasing revenues, or reducing costs.
Different stakeholder groups have different standards when it comes to CR. The same individual can have multiple stakeholder relationships with a single company on the same day. And apply different values to that one company, depending on the moment. If we could help stakeholders to see the inconsistencies in their own value judgments we would be making a start at closing that gap.
Ceres has released the first comprehensive assessment and ranking of water disclosure practices of 100 publicly-traded companies in eight key sectors exposed to water-related risks: beverage, chemicals, electric power, food, homebuilding, mining, oil and gas, and semiconductors. The report highlights best practices, key gaps and trends in water reporting and lays out a set of recommendations for companies and investors.
A new report entitled Global Oil & Gas – The Adaptation Challenge has identified top five impacts of climate change to the oil and gas industry. While three quarters of the world’s oil and gas companies surveyed believe climate change could impact their business, only 19 percent are taking action as noted in this report.
The market for voluntarily offsetting carbon emissions doubled between 2007 and 2008 to reach $700m. With forecasts suggesting that the market could double again to 2012 this new sector is now attracting the attention of more serious investors and traders, as well as more companies looking to offset their emissions. But despite all the excitement around these projections there has been no systematic analysis of where the demand in this new market will actually come from, if indeed at all. Nobody has stopped to ask the simple questions “why do organizations voluntarily offset their emissions?” “how much value do they get out of it”, and “when does carbon setting work and when doesn’t it work?“
The Roberts Environmental Center of Claremont McKenna College (CMC) recently released a detailed analysis of the social responsibility reporting efforts of America’s top energy and utilities corporations. The two reports contain a compilation of Pacific Sustainability Index scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of the 48 U.S. energy and utilities companies on the 2008 Fortune 1000 list.The reports score companies based on the reporting, intent, and performance of environmental and social sustainability efforts. The research, based entirely on material released on the firms’ Web sites, found that two of the smallest firms – Mirant (energy sector) and Pinnacle West Capital (utilities sector) – did the best jobs of describing details of their socially beneficial actions and environmental management. The lowest scores were also shared by small firms – Adams Resources and Energy, Inc., and Atmos Energy Corp. – but there was a good mix of firms of all sizes throughout the range of scoring. In neither sector is size a predictor of good reporting.
ew research by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) with responses from 80 of CDP’s signatory investors across the globe revealed that three-quarters factor climate change information into their investment decisions and asset allocations. Of these, more than 80% consider climate change to be important relative to other issues impacting their portfolio. Interestingly, some of the institutions surveyed revealed a willingness to go beyond requesting disclosure on climate change, such as asking companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Boards of directors are increasingly paying attention to the risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change, according to a new survey commissioned by Deloitte and Corporate Board Member magazine. The survey of 220 directors at U.S. companies with $1 billion or more in revenue highlights the board’s growing role in oversight of corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S). Despite the current economic environment the board’s role is undoubtedly increasing as there is greater awareness of the business risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change. The perfect storm of emerging regulations, increased requirements for reporting and transparency, heightened pressure from investors, energy price volatility and market demands for green products and technologies is driving CR&S as a business imperative.
