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More than three months after regulators were told that a coal ash containment pond in North Carolina had failed and was dumping toxic sludge into the nearby Dan River, environmental experts are taking a hard look at what’s left in the water. What they have found may not bode well for the long-range health of the area’s ecosystem.

Duke Energy, the utility company that owns the pond system that failed, has been vacuuming up large deposits of coal ash that has settled in and on along the sides of the river. But experts say that they aren’t finding as many deposits as they would have hoped, which means one of two things: The heavy metals and other toxins have either been washed down stream, or they are now becoming covered over by riverbed silt.

Coal ash impacts on the Dan River ecosystem

Both possibilities can pose problems for marine life, said Dennis Lemly, a U.S. Forest Service scientist who also teaches biology at Wake Forest University. Migrating coal ash means more exposure of marine life to toxic metals – including North Carolina’s prime fishing stocks, he explained in an interview with the North Carolina News & Record.

In this case, the destination is a body of water called the Kerr Reservoir, some 70 miles downstream, which is populated with walleye, catfish, crappy and three types of bass. Many spawn along the river or in the reservoir, and are prime attraction for sports fishing enthusiasts.

“Once ash reaches Kerr Reservoir in significant amounts, which it will, exposure and toxicity to fish and wildlife in this ash deposition zone could be highly significant,” Lemly told the News & Record. And the fact that the coal ash tends to also settle in hard-to-find clumps along the eddies of the river is also a concern, since those are the spots that fish may spawn.

Several studies conducted over the years have shown that metals like mercury, arsenic and copper not only cause deformities in exposed fish but also interfere with the species' homing ability during spawning.

Those coal ash deposits that aren’t washed downstream still pose a long-term risk to the river’s health. High winds and storms can stir up the silt and dredge up deposits that had “disappeared” into the silt. This action not only re-exposes marine life to toxins, but also makes cleanup even harder, and more sustained.

The Dan River cleanup

Local environmental groups have been critical of Duke Energy’s timeline for cleanup and have been urging the state’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) to speed the process up. On March 20, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed motions on behalf of four environmental groups requesting that they be allowed to participate in the state enforcement action of the cleanup.  To get a better sense of the problem, I spoke with Frank Holleman, a senior attorney for SELC.

“We have seen that we cannot count on DENR to effectively enforce the law and require cleanups of these sites,” Holleman said in a recent telephone interview. “In fact, DENR has been an obstruction to our efforts … to clean up Duke’s coal ash pollution. So we thought it was important that local conservation groups and river groups … be involved and at the table have a voice before the court to press Duke to effectively clean up the dangerous Dan River site.”

SELC filed the motions on behalf of the Dan River Basin Association, Roanoke River Basin Association, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Waterkeeper Alliance. Holleman said the court approved the intervention this week.

North Carolina’s environmental quagmire

But progress in seeing a quick and expedient cleanup has been fraught with challenges. In March, Superior Judge Paul Ridgeway ordered the company to clean up the spill immediately, ruling that state regulators and the company had been misinterpreting the law for several years.

That led a bizarre move on the part of the state’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC), which interprets and oversees environmental regulations in the state, to take sides with Duke Energy.  The EMC asked the judge not to give it, and regulators at the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, the power to force Duke to clean up the pollution.

I asked Holleman why the regulators would appeal a decision that would lead to an earlier resolve of environmental problems. He said the first red flag was not that the state was appealing the issue, but rather the lack of transparency as to their reasons.

“It is a very odd position for the state to be in, because the state, by appeal, is objecting to the ruling of the court that the state has authority to require Duke to immediately clean up its pollution of the state’s waters. You would think the state would enthusiastically embrace that authority.”

In fact, transparency may be at the heart of the state’s concerns. Its appeal was discussed with the court under executive session, where the press would be unable to hear the reasons for its action. But Holleman pointed out in an interview with the North Carolina-based News & Observer that public scrutiny and outcry has in the past been successful in propelling the state to take action against Duke.

“If there's anything we have seen here it’s that enforcement action has only been taken when the public has known what is going on,” Holleman noted.

Three months after 39,000 tons of coal ash flooded into the Dan River, cleanup crews are still trying to remove the pollution that lined the river with gray sludge. For its part, Duke Energy’s Chief Executive Officer Lynn Good said during a shareholder’s meeting that the company is working both to clean up the sludge and to find long-term solutions for its 14 different containment ponds around the state.

Duke Energy declined to be interviewed, but provided a fact sheet with a map of the company's 14 coal plant sites and an estimation of the time that will be needed to close or improve the sites. The improvements won't be cheap: Duke estimates the cost to be around $10 billion.

But environmental groups that feel that Duke Energy’s CEO has been evading opportunities to sit down and really discuss the river’s worrisome ecology, may soon have their chance. During the company's annual shareholders’ meeting last month, Water Keeper Alliance representative Donna Lisenby invited Good to “see the problem from our perspective,” meaning up close and personal from the side of a river boat.

Good has agreed to join them. There will likely be little room in the canoe for disagreements as the two groups take a float through some of North Carolina’s most beloved and still contaminated waters.

Coal ash: "No further warnings warranted"

As to the conditions of the John H. Kerr Reservoir, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border, DENR does not appear to be overly concerned about further pollution. In a fact sheet the agency published on the Dan River coal ash spill, it noted that there’s no need for further health advisories on the lake, since the reservoir’s fish stock is already off the menu list for local tourists who fish at the lake – or should be.

“Due to historical activities not associated with the coal ash release, [Virginia Department of Health] has an existing fish consumption advisory for the Kerr Reservoir and it includes the Dan River … Certain species of fish in these waters contain elevated levels of methyl mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Results of the analysis of fish tissue samples collected from the Dan River after the coal ash release do not warrant additional fish consumption advisories.”

That will no doubt be a relief to this year's summer visitors.

Images: Dan River pollution testing: USFWS Southeast Region

John H. Kerr Reservoir: vastateparkstaff

The reach and aggregation power of the Internet might enable the American public en masse to accomplish what many U.S. politicians have struggled to do for decades -- go toe-to-toe with powerful lobbies and inspire campaign finance reform.

At least so believes famed political activist and Harvard ethics and law professor Lawrence Lessig and other co-founders of MayOne.US. The KickStarter fundraising campaign aims to ignite fundamental U.S. campaign finance reform by crowdfunding an initial $1 million to create a super PAC (short for political action committee) to rival those created by public figures, big corporate donors, powerful lobbyist and special interest groups.

Though taking the same legal organizational form, the MayDay Citizens' Super PAC could be seen as the antipode of most of the super PACs we now know. While the latter aim to rake in large donations from large corporations and the wealthiest Americans supportive of their political agenda, the MayDay Citizens' super PAC aims to raise a critical mass of money in small increments from Americans who see U.S. democracy and capitalism being undermined by the ongoing accumulation of wealth, political influence and power in the hands of a super-rich elite.

Countering the concentration of political power

It's been true throughout world history that large concentrations of wealth have led to large concentrations of political influence and power, which brings to mind that twisted, though oh-so-valid variant of The Golden Rule. It goes something like: "Them that gots the gold, makes the rules.”

The mix of economic, tax and regulatory policies of the past three decades – along with the very same sorts of digital information technology Lessig and MayOne.US are bringing to bear – have led to concentrations of wealth and political power in the U.S. that haven't been seen since the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the days when the great “Robber Barons” and industrialists, such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, used almost any means imaginable to bring "order from chaos," and in the process accumulate unheard of amounts of wealth and political power.

Super PACs are the latest weapons in the escalating arms race that is U.S. campaign finance. A type of independent PAC, super PACs enable contributors – including corporations, unions and individuals – to donate unlimited amounts of money to these political fundraising organizations without full public disclosure.

Designed to circumvent limits on campaign contributions by corporations, other large organizations and individuals to PACs, super PACs came into existence following two 2010 Supreme Court rulings -- the now notorious “Citizens United” and Speechnow.org v. FEC (Federal Election Commission). Though super PACs are not permitted to contribute to or coordinate directly with political parties or candidates, they have and are being used to fund the political campaigns of candidates in local, state and national elections across the nation.

Crowdfunding U.S. campaign finance reform

The U.S. Founding Fathers, including George Washington and John Adams, and presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, were keenly aware and keen to prevent such inequities -- which they believed would undermine the foundations of American democracy and capitalism. Lessig and MayOne.US co-founders and supporters apparently see that happening today. They're not alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCcqkyRJl7M
Since its launch on May 1, MayOne.US is more than halfway toward reaching its goal of raising $1 million and forming the MayDay Citizens' super PAC. On the May 1 launch of the MayOne.US Kickstarter campaign, Lessig wrote on his blog:

“There are a couple times in my life when I have felt like I’ve just leapt off a tall building. On the whole, I’ve decided, I’ve not had this feeling often enough. So today, I leap again — with certainly the biggest chance to fail of anything I’ve ever done.

“Today we launch the MayDay Citizens’ SuperPAC — the 'moneybomb' Matt Miller wrote that we were working on about a year ago, and the 'moonshot' BillMoyers.com wrote about last month. Think of it as a 'SuperPAC to end all SuperPACs,' built first from small-dollar contributions, which, if we’re successful, will be matched by larger contributions."

Lessig is no stranger to direct action and blowing open the doors of government, particularly when it comes to open disclosure and public access to knowledge and information.

The co-creator of the Creative Commons (CC) license and the nonprofit organization of the same name, Lessig, James Boyle and Hal Ableson in 2002 adapted and applied the same basic principles underlying open-source software development's GNU GPL (General Public License) to effectively rewrite the rules of U.S. copyright law. The initiation of the license enabled floods of information, as well as music, video and other creative works, to flow freely over the Internet and across the world. With a bit of good luck and the support of American citizens, he may do the same for U.S. campaign finance.

*Image credit: MayDayOne.US

It’s often been said that actions speak louder than words. But perhaps words and actions can be combined in a way that makes both more powerful.

That must have been what the folks at Peru’s Universidad de Ingeniería  & Technología (UTEC ) were thinking when they decided to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to the air pollution that is overtaking Lima with the help of a major construction boom. Working in collaboration with the Mayo ad agency, they designed and constructed a billboard that was equipped with special air filtration technology capable of removing dangerous particulates from the air. The billboard can effectively process 100,000 cubic meters of air each day, protecting both the construction workers and the local residents. This is roughly equivalent to the filtration capacity of 1,200 trees (although trees also remove carbon dioxide from the air).

This filter removes tiny particles of dust, stone and metal as well as bacteria, all of which can enter the lungs and cause a variety of respiratory illnesses. The innovation is totally on target considering the fact that the World Meteorological Association has rated Lima, which situated between the mountains and the ocean, as the most polluted city in South America. It works using water, which is combined with incoming air, and conveyed through several stages of pressurization and vacuum, effectively eliminates 99 percent of all airborne bacteria. The billboard filters all the air in a five block radius, using a modest 2,500 watts of electricity.

So while the billboard announces the upcoming arrival of the new campus, which is still very much under construction, the billboard’s filter is quietly working, literally, behind the scenes -- demonstrating, as UTEC’s director of promotion, Jessica Rúas, says,  “that engineering is behind everything,” and that this air-purifying billboard is “closely aligned with the university’s mission of educating creative engineers who are sensitive to social needs and have extensive scientific knowledge that enables them to become researchers and find solutions to society’s problems.”

This is the same university that unveiled another billboard, a year ago, that literally pulled drinking water out of thin air. This is particularly useful in the region where the university is located, where ground water is scarce but humidity is high. These projects both accomplished multiple functions: advertising the university, exhibiting the kinds of useful and appropriate technology that engineering can produce, and providing a needed service to the local community.

While many have come to view billboards as eyesores, particularly in scenic areas, the addition of this technology could make them a welcome addition in places where they are most needed. There might come a time, when, in particularly dirty cities, of which there are many, this technology could become mandatory on all billboards. Better yet, if the two technologies are combined, perhaps the billboard could become self-sufficient, producing all the water it needs to do the filtration, while receiving its power from the sun.

Image credit: UTEC

RP Siegel, PE, is an inventor, consultant and author. He co-wrote the eco-thriller Vapor Trails, the first in a series covering the human side of various sustainability issues including energy, food, and water in an exciting and entertaining format. Now available on Kindle.

Follow RP Siegel on Twitter.

Parts of the U.S. are experiencing drought, including California. Other parts are experiencing floods, while others are also experiencing extreme weather events. How resilient are the world’s 50 most important cities? That’s what Grosvenor, a U.K. development and management group, wanted to find out.

The findings have been published in a recently released report, which ranks cities based on their vulnerability and adaptability. There are five categories for both vulnerability (climate, environment, resources, infrastructure and community) and adaptability (governance, institutions, technical capacity, planning systems and funding structures).

The most resilient cities are in Canada, with Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary in the top three spots. “Canadian cities have a strong combination of low vulnerability and high adaptive capacity,” the report states. Canadian cities also have a “high level of resource availability,” plus they are “well governed and well planned.” Although American cities are more vulnerable than Canadian cities, they have a capacity to adapt, which puts five (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta) in the top 10 of most resilient cities. The report points out that the strong adaptive capacity “suggests that U.S. cities will continue to see a pattern of effective public intervention, but often only after a major shock has occurred.”

Part of the report is a set of case studies that examine particular cities. One of these is for Vancouver, which ranked number two among most resilient cities. When it comes to vulnerability, the city ranks in the top five in each category except climate vulnerability, where it is in the bottom 10. The city is in a low-lying coastal location, making it vulnerable to sea level rise. However, British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment has undertaken research into sea level rise predictions for planning purposes. Vancouver has the “Greenest City 2020 Action Plan,” which has 10 goal areas around carbon, waste and ecosystems -- with the ultimate goal of making Vancouver the greenest city in the world.

American cities dominate the top 10 'most adaptive' list, with New York making the top spot. Seven other American cities make the list (Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Boston and Pittsburgh). Although New York has a number of long-term issues to face, including the increased severity of heat waves and extreme winter weather, the city has a plan called PlaNYC 2030 that addresses some of these challenges. The plan covers a number of areas, including energy, housing, investment in green infrastructure and economic opportunity. The PlaNYC was released in 2007, and within a year of its launch 97 percent of its 127 initiatives had already begun.

The lowest ranked cities have the highest population forecast figures, and the 20 lowest ranked cities are in emerging markets. Their vulnerability is due to inequality, poor infrastructure provision, environmental degradation and climate vulnerability, according to the report. The cities are also weak in all areas of adaptive capacity. The lack of democracy in some of the cities is a “long-term hindrance,” according to the report.

Mexico City is one of the lowest ranked cities, making the 44th spot. A case study points out that Mexico City is weak in terms of community vulnerability and infrastructure vulnerability. The city also faces “significant risk” from earthquakes. However, there is some good news. Mexico City launched “Plan Verde” in 2007 which covers seven areas:  land conservation, housing and public spaces, water supply and sanitation, transportation and mobility, air pollution, waste management and recycling, and climate. Progress has also been made in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

Stockholm and Zurich were the only two European cities to appear in the top 10. But most major cities in Europe fall into the middle group of cities, ranked 11 to 30, which "should be considered resilient," according to the report. In Asia, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, as well as Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei appeared in this middle group, as did Buenos Aires in South America.

Check out the report from Grosvenor to see the whole list.

Image credit: Flickr/Small

By Michael Solomon

For more than 12 years, my colleagues at Responsible 100 and I have been obsessed with the idea of being able to identify – and thus support and reward – genuinely responsible businesses.

If people can easily and assuredly identify and support such businesses, then, as consumers, employees, suppliers, investors et al, we are confident that a large proportion of people will do just that. And, if this is the case, then responsibility can drive profitability.

Profit-seeking shapes business, and thus the world around us, like nothing else. When responsible practices are adopted to increase profit, business’ huge potential to make the world a better place can be realized.

Having worked with the widest variety of businesses and collaborators, as well as supporters from the NGO, campaign group and not-for-profit worlds, and having conducted extensive research, experimentation and prototyping, we believe that we are close to a formulation for what makes a world-changing, responsible business. Further, we believe this is something that any business may adopt if it so chose to.

There are eight key ideas set out below. We are now seeking feedback. Please share your views with us and/or publicly by commenting on this article.

Our business, Profit Through Ethics Ltd, created and is busy developing the Responsible 100 movement. What our business and the other 30 or so now part of Responsible 100 have in common, in my view, are the following beliefs and attributes:

1. This is our fight

The challenges are huge: the lack of public trust in business; the barriers to social and environmental sustainability. They are not necessarily all our fault, but they certainly are all our problem. Action is needed. We seek to be the best organization we can be ourselves and to effect positive change on the world around us in the process. It is within our power to help create and be part of a better business; we will exercise that power.

2. We will prove it

Responsibility is not a game or a PR exercise. In this, we will leave no room for doubt as to where our business stands. Claiming to be responsible but not providing proof perpetuates ‘business as usual’. Words alone do not suffice. We are willing and able to prove our commitment to responsible business practices.

3. Open and honest on everything

We do not insist on defining responsibility on our own terms. We are not selective as to which responsibility issues are on or off limits. We are prepared to be transparent and accountable in respect of everything we do.

4. Mapping performance

We are committed to mapping our performance on all material social, environmental and ethical issues -- determining how we compare to other businesses, and how and where we can improve our practices.

5. As (net) positive as possible

We are committed to maximizing our positive impacts on society and the environment and minimizing our negative impacts, as quickly and as widely as possible, across our operations.

6. Real dialogue

We are willing to publicly explain and justify the decisions we make and the things we do. We welcome dialogue with any stakeholder group – even members of the public who simply have a view – and invite them into business decision-making processes where possible.

7. Legitimate profits

We are prepared to avoid or withdraw from markets for services and products where avoidable harm occurs to people or to the environment. We will challenge ourselves, and others, to do this as rapidly as possible.

8. Balancing profit and society

We are actively and deliberately balancing our pursuit of profit with the best interests of society to the fullest possible extent.

--

Responsible 100 is working to enable businesses which are aligned with the above to differentiate themselves from those which are not.

We believe businesses prepared to accord with these eight attributes will soon find themselves able to compete on price, quality and their success in helping people live better lives in a better world. We believe they will restore public trust in business.

We also believe that, together, we can shift the economic paradigm. That we can tilt the playing field in our favor by forcing laggard businesses to play catch-up. Not because they are finally persuaded of some moral argument to be ethical, responsible or sustainable, but because remaining profitable will demand it.

Business as a force for good? It may be nearer at hand than you dare imagine.

Image credit: Responsible 100 via Facebook

Michael Solomon is the founder of Responsible 100 which combines a management tool, a business performance ranking, an internet platform and a growing social movement. He firmly believes that market mechanisms can be harnessed to enable responsibility to drive profitability.

Please provide your feedback on these eight suggested attributes by commenting here, below the article on the Triple Pundit website, or by contacting Responsible 100 directly.

#McDSustainability will take place on May 7, 2014 at 10am PST / 1pm EST. Join us for a lively discussion with McDonald's! 

When a company like McDonald's with a worldwide presence and a complex network of stakeholders creates a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, you expect flavor, complexity and challenges. And lots of discussion about the "right" approach.

For the fast food giant, which restructured its CSR and sustainability team in 2012 to focus on developing a strategic framework, the process was, shall we say, meaty. Like a well-balanced meal, McDonald’s has put five portions on its CSR plate: Food, Sourcing, Planet, People and Community.

The company's aspirational goals for 2020 include:

• Supporting sustainable beef production by collaborating to develop global principles and criteria


• Increasing the amount of in-restaurant recycling by 50% at company-owned restaurants


• Developing goals to reduce sodium, sugar, saturated fat or calories across the menu

“Our new CSR framework demonstrates our intent to grow the business while having a positive impact on society,” said Bob Langert, VP of Sustainability at McDonald’s. “Now, more than ever, customers care about their food and where it comes from. They want to know what companies like McDonald’s are doing to improve the world in which they live. Because of our size and scale, we can influence change for the better.”

Using the 2012-2013 CSR and Sustainability Report as a foundation, TriplePundit's Nick Aster and CSRwire's Aman Singh will host a live conversation on May 7, 2014, with Bob Langert, a 30-year McDonald's veteran and passionate proponent of context and materiality.

FOLLOW ALONG LIVE HERE Tweets about "#McDSustainability"

Among the questions we hope to cover:

• How is it leveraging its brand presence to shift consumer behavior?


• How will McDonald's fulfill its sustainability goals across its independent franchises?


• What do the next 50 years hold for its impact on waste, recycling, sourcing and animal welfare?


• What is the company doing to reduce sodium, sugar and/or saturated fat across its menu?


• What are some of the challenges it's facing in aligning taste preferences with nutrition?

Here’s what you need to know:

• Date: May 7, 2014 at 10am PST / 1pm EST


• Hashtag: #McDSustainability


• Speaker: Bob Langert, McDonald’s VP of Sustainability - @McdonaldsCorp


• Moderators: @AmanSinghCSR of @CSRwire & @NickAster of @TriplePundit

To register, send out the following tweet:

I'll join @CSRwire & @TriplePundit to discuss how @McdonaldsCorp is addressing #McDSustainability challenges http://bit.ly/McDonaldsChat. 

About Our Stakeholder Engagement Campaigns

We regularly conduct webinars and Twitter chats with our partner CSRwire. These chats are aimed at taking a pulse of our community, sharing knowledge and inspiring action. Whether the topic is sustainable living, shared value or responsible careers, these interactive sessions help our clients push their communication boundaries and also gain valuable feedback, criticism and the attention of an active and engaged community.

Got a question for the McDonald's team? Send it to [email protected].

British business is being advised to get ready for the implementation of the UK’s response to the energy efficiency directive from the EU. 

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently putting the finishing touches to the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) which will required more than 7,000 businesses to produce detailed reports on their energy use.

Under the ESOS scheme any company with more than 250 employees, a turnover of more than €50m(£41.5m) or an annual balance sheet total of more than €43m (circa £35m) will now be affected.

Exact details, including penalties for non-compliance, will be revealed by DECC in June.

Global supply chain risk management firm Achilles is urging businesses to prepare now and get ahead of the game. Achilles runs the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS), which measures energy use and emissions and to help organisations meet ISO accreditations.

Jon Williams, head of CSR and sustainability at Achilles, commented: “The ESOS scheme is already being seen by businesses as a real ‘double-edged sword. Many businesses don’t measure and record their energy use and face a big administrative burden unless they get external support.

“However, for those not already focused on carbon reduction and energy efficiency, ESOS compliance represents short-term pain for long-term gain. Ultimately, this is a fantastic opportunity for companies to save thousands of pounds on their energy bills while communicating positive messages on their achievements.”

The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive came into force in December 2012. It was agreed businesses affected would have to comply, and carry out energy audits within three years – with a deadline of December 2015.

 

Picture credit: Dreamstime.com
 

Nominations are now open for the Responsible Tourism 2014 awards, run by responsibletravel.com and sponsored by the Oman Ministry of Tourism.

This year the Awards have expanded their roster of categories to 12, reflecting some of the key contemporary issues in responsible tourism - including best animal welfare initiative and best for people with disabilities. There are also new categories for best city hotel and best for beach tourism, as well as a new creative category - best responsible short film - seeking nominations for those films and documentaries that inspire consumers to take more responsible holidays.

Justin Francis, Awards founder, and md of responsibletravel.com commented: “The winners we uncover are the heroes and the trendmakers of the industry - those holiday providers with the vision, compassion and originality to shake things up. With the new categories we have a chance to celebrate some new outliers, discover fresh ideas, and add some diverse new holiday experiences to our wish-lists too.”

You can nominate here.

 

Picture credit: © Kenishirotie | Dreamstime.com 

 

Ecology campaigners in Brazil are asking FIFA to live up to its environmental commitments after it pledged a greener World Cup through its ‘Football for the Planet’ programme.

In a recent article in Biotropica, researchers have challenged FIFA and the Brazilian government to protect 1,000 hectares of the critically endangered Caatinga ecosystem – the natural habitat for its World Cup mascot, Fuelco, the armadillo - for each goal scored in the World Cup.

“Protecting the remaining Caatinga is extremely urgent. We want the choice of one of the Caatinga’s most iconic species as the World Cup mascot to be more than just a symbolic one”, said José Alves Siqueira, one of the paper’s authors and a Professor at the Federal University of the Valley of São Francisco.

For the 2014 FWC in Brazil, FIFA adopted the endemic Brazilian Three-banded armadillo, an endangered species, as its mascot. They named it Fuleco by combining the Portuguese words for football (“futbol”) and ecology (“ecologia”). The armadillo, when threatened, will protect itself by rolling up into a ball.

“The Caatinga is a uniquely Brazilian ecosystem. By acting boldly and swiftly, FIFA and the Brazilian government could help save the Brazilian Three-banded armadillo and protect thousands of hectares of its habitat”, added Enrico Bernard, another author also based at the Federal University of Pernambuco. “That would be the best goal scored this World Cup.”
 

Germany's Adidas is a world leader when it comes to footwear and sportswear manufacturing. It's also a global leader when it comes to corporate social and environmental responsibility.

In 2013, Adidas garnered RobecoSAM Sustainability Gold Class and Sector Leader awards. It has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 14 consecutive years and was named both industry leader and included among the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” for the tenth time.

Fundamentally, enhancing the overall sustainability of a business enterprise is about corporate culture -- about instilling a set of social and environmental values and attitudes that fosters and encourages awareness, innovation and responsibility among employees, suppliers, customers, and in the communities where a company represents itself. Adidas recognizes this.

In its “Sustainability Progress Report 2013,” Adidas takes a new approach to its sustainability reporting, something it's done since 2000. Aptly adopting the short title “Fair Play,” in it Adidas frames its sustainability goals and reviews both its successes and challenges from within the overarching context of a new approach centered on four pillars, or 4Ps: People, Product, Planet and Partnership.

What makes a good corporate citizen?

In the foreword to its “Sustainability Progress Report 2013,” Adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer clearly states the ethics underlying the multinational business's sustainability activities, and its effort to instill a mindset of achieving ongoing progress:

“While we had many successes to celebrate in 2013, we are aware that there is always more that we can do. For us, succeeding in business is about more than making money. It is about treating our employees, our suppliers and their workers fairly, being straight with our partners and supporting our local communities.

“It is about respecting the environment and making the best products we can for our customers. We are not perfect and we do not always get it right. But as we go about our work, we aim to honor the spirit of ‘fair play’ in everything we do. Therefore, let me assure you that we continue to take serious responsibility for our actions. And we continue to integrate sustainability into our business strategy.”

Adidas's four pillars, or 4Ps: People, Product, Planet and Partnership, provide a conceptual framework that enables Adidas stakeholders -- from its 50,000 employees on through to suppliers, customers and communities -- to better and more easily understand, assess and realize the multinational footwear and sportswear company's sustainability goals.

Four pillars of sustainability: People, Product, Planet and Partnerships

A massive undertaking, Adidas's “Fair Play Framework” for sustainability is now established across the company's 3,500 locations and among its more than 50,000 employees worldwide.

Surveying progress across Adidas's four pillars, sustainability initiatives range from working to support all suppliers, direct and strategic, in their efforts to achieve sustainability self-governance; sourcing and being able to trace more sustainable materials from the original source through the supply chain; extending environmental assessments to selected suppliers; reducing energy, water consumption, waste and carbon emissions and other pollutants; and establishing sustainability partnerships with individuals, NGOs and other social and environmental interest groups.

A veteran in Adidas's sustainability drive, Nicole Sievering summarizes some of the highlights included in the 2013 sustainability progress report:

“For 2013, again, we collected numerous sustainability stories from all over the business. The Report talks, for example, about diversity initiatives at the Adidas Group, an improved system to address human rights complaints, our employer branding project, the successful DryDye technology and virtualization projects, our ambition to reduce the environmental footprint with our Green Company initiatives and our community project in Brazil.”

Highlighs of progress across Adidas's "Four Pillars of Sustainability” include:

People

• The “SMS for workers” project, launched at the end of 2012, was introduced to a total of five facilities in Indonesia and one in Vietnam -- covering almost 35,000 factory workers.


• 1,346 factory social and environmental audits took place at suppliers; these involved management and worker interviews, reviews of factory policies, practices and documents, as well as facility inspections. The company’s sustainability team also conducted 148 training sessions and workshops for suppliers, licensees, workers and Adidas Group employees.


• More than 1,000 local community projects were supported financially or through employee volunteering globally.

Product

• Water is a key area of focus for the company. The brand's product offerings integrating DryDye fabric have steadily increased, reaching 2 million yards of DryDye fabric produced by the end of 2013, and saving 50 million liters of water. This game-changing technology will be further rolled out across product ranges. Also, the company recently announced a partnership with Pharrell Williams and his textile company Bionic Yarn, through which plastic debris from the oceans turned into yarn and fabric will be used in some of Pharrell's upcoming Adidas Originals products.


• The target of using 15 percent Better Cotton by 2013 was overachieved as in 2013 the Adidas Group sourced more than 23 percent of all cotton as Better Cotton. The Adidas Group has committed to source 100 percent of cotton across all product categories in all its brands as ‘sustainable cotton’ by 2018.


• The increasing use of virtual samples allowed the Group to save close to 1.5 million samples between 2010 and 2013.

Planet

• As part of the Adidas's Green Company program, four additional locations received ISO 14001 certification.


• Energy consumption was reduced at supplier level, also thanks to Energy Management trainings.


• New heel counters made out of recycled material will be inserted into 110 million pairs of shoes every year. This will allow 1,500 tons of polystyrene waste to be diverted from landfills.

Partnership

• Adidas is the official Sponsor, Licensee and Outfitter of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. In a spirit of transparency, as has been done since the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, the list of factories manufacturing products for the event has been published.


• The Adidas Group has continued to be an active participant in the task forces of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), supporting the development, refinement and completion of the Higg 2.0 Index.


• The Adidas Group is collaborating with other brands to establish a more efficient industry-wide monitoring tool, both for brands and suppliers.

Sustainability, fair wages and human rights

Whether it's sourcing and developing more environmentally friendly materials, enforcing basic employee and human rights, or reducing water use and pollution, instituting open and trustworthy feedback loops -- both internal and external -- is a key facet of Adidas's “Fair Play” framework and sustainability efforts.

An example: When it comes to Adidas's “People” pillar, a global network of local compliance officers “act as independent contacts for any questions employees may have about compliance,” Adidas explains in its 2013 sustainability report. “Any employee who knows of, or suspects, wrongdoing is expected to promptly report it so that an investigation can be conducted and appropriate action taken.”

Social and environmental awareness, sensitivity and values vary across cultures and within organizations. Moreover, actions taken by business managers in accordance with a company's social, environmental or economic standards and policies can be seen in a very different light by those affected, such as employees. A case study brief in Adidas's 2013 sustainability report clearly illustrates this issue.

The owners of the PT Kizone apparel factory in Indonesia unethically closed and abandoned the factory some six months after being unable to resolve differences with Adidas regarding its operations. That left “hundreds of workers” without jobs, income and nothing in the way of severance pay.

Adidas in April, 2013 reached a settlement with the apparel factory's displaced workers that gave them additional aid. This “came on top of $525,000 from the Adidas Group in humanitarian aid as well as job placement services, and direct advocacy with the Indonesian government of the issue of workers' rights.”

A representative of the Indonesian district labor union applauded Adidas's efforts.

“The union and the workers are very pleased that Adidas has made this settlement, which will have a real impact on the workers' lives.”

Adidas conducts "Fair Wage Assessments"

Gaps in income and wealth have been widening in developed and developing countries around the world, even as multinational companies rake in record profits. That's brought the issue of fair wages to the forefront not only in developing world nations, but in the U.S. and European Union countries as well. Addressing the issue, Adidas in 2012 began conducting a series of “Fair Wage Assessments,” qualitative case studies, management self-assessments and workers' surveys among its suppliers' factories.

As part of the “Fair Wage Assessments,” Adidas interviewed 1,817 workers spanning 12 factories in five countries to gather information on how workers believe they are being treated, and what they believe is a fair wage.

On a positive note, Adidas found that its suppliers “paid wages on time, complied with legal minimum wage rates,” and compensation packages included “many non-monetary benefits.” In addition, it found “no practices that allowed wage discrimination or wage disparity,” and that “wage costs continued to rise as employers tried to meet increased costs of living.”

Less encouragingly, “Fair Wage Assessment” staff found instances of "under-payment of overtime, workers not being well informed of the current legal minimum wage, the piece-rate system being the overly dominant method of calculating wages, and the lack of a direct link between the wages paid and the factory's economic performance.”

In response, Adidas management has made eliminating the root causes of these issues a primary focus of its 2014 sustainability efforts. It also plans to extend “Fair Wage Assessments” to suppliers in other countries, such as Cambodia.

“Furthermore, we plan to develop a roadmap to drive effective wage-setting mechanisms at out suppliers' sites.”

Management also intends to integrate “Fair Wage” elements into its own monitoring toolkit and suppliers' Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the company states.

In reading through Adidas's 2013 sustainability report, it becomes abundantly clear that management isn't just paying lip-service when it says that caring for the well-being of people, both within and outside the company, is a core value and pillar of its “Fair Play” sustainability framework. The same can be said for the values that compose the other three pillars: Product, Planet and Partnership.

For more on Adidas and its sustainability drive, delve into “Fair Play,” Adidas's “Sustainability Progress Report 2013” for yourself.

Images courtesy of Adidas Group