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One of the toughest challenges presented by the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been understanding its message in relation to everyday events. For many of us, change in climate conditions is normal. That period of drier-than-usual winter days that encourages us to play hooky from work or school, or that seemingly unending string of scorching summer weather can, to some degree, be paired with experiences of the past. Most of us can remember experiencing extraordinarily strange weather anomalies when we were kids that would suggest that climate change and global warming assertions are, well, just a lot of hot air.

Combine this conundrum with the fact that the IPCC report is anything but reader-friendly and easy to process, and it’s understandable why 23 percent of the U.S. population doesn’t believe climate change is a real issue, and 64 percent of Americans say they don’t believe it will be a real threat in their lifetime.

It’s no surprise then, that Stanford University, which maintains a sizable investment in climate change research, has developed a tidy little website for debunking intellectual challenges  just like these. The Stanford Alumni website equips the reader with a regular post of quick, fail-safe answers that will pass any after-class cocktail hour quiz. It may not convince everyone that climate change is a real threat, but it proves that heady topics like this one have little hope of being understood without a good stiff cocktail to go along with it.

But for the rest of us, who don’t have time to mull answers over evening schmoozes, what hope is there to really comprehend, on a personal, real-life level what the IPCC has handed us?

So call this our debunking tool: a handy, although somewhat unsettling list of some of the more awe-inspiring phenomena that have begun to occur of late.

The mystery of the rising methane

Methane emissions are up these days. After a brief lull in rising levels of atmospheric methane (1999 to 2006), levels increased sharply in 2007. Scientists have never had a solid understanding of what drives these emissions, but a recent study by a Guelph University researcher and team suggests that the answer lies not in the tropics as previously believed, or in the dietary habits of bovines, but in the loss of the Arctic’s precious permafrost – which is melting at an alarming rate.

“Methane makes methane, that’s what we’re seeing. You have a feedback loop where methane heats things up and then we get more wetland emissions.” - Prof. Euan Nisbet, University of London.

Prof. Merritt Turetsky and his 19 co-authors took 20,000 measurements across the Arctic, tropics and more temperate areas and discovered that the melting is contributing to greenhouse gas concentrations at a faster rate than anywhere else on the planet.

Not only does the permafrost contain twice as much carbon (CO2) than the atmosphere, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency, methane is much more efficient in trapping radiation than CO2. According to the IPCC report, over a 20-year period, methane will have 86 times the global warming potential of CO2 .

But that’s not to say that the fault of global warming can be foisted on Canada. Measurements taken by air over the Uinta Basin in Utah, home to America's largest concentration of natural gas sites, showed a leakage rate of 6 to 12 percent of the methane that was produced each year.

And while there is the belief that more efficient technology can curb natural gas leaks and even make cows less flatulent, a melting permafrost is exceedingly harder to control without curbing the actual source: a warming planet.

As University of London and author Prof. Euan Nisbet succinctly put it: “Methane makes methane, that’s what we’re seeing. You have a feedback loop where methane heats things up and then we get more wetland emissions.”

El Nino’s gift to India: Monsoon  droughts

Here in North America, particularly on the West Coast, we often associate El Niño with balmy, blustery winters and more rain. But in India, where monsoons can be both a blessing and a torrential force, the weather phenomenon is often the opposite -- and can spell disaster for farmers that rely on the rain to irrigate their crops.

As we reported in March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave a “soft” prediction that El Niño would make an appearance this year. And according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, El Niño is on its way.

If there’s one bright spot in the forecast, it is that scientists are getting closer to understanding the relationship between the climate phenomenon and the monsoon season. Still, with 14 percent of its economy based on agriculture, the forecast of yet another drought (the fourth for India since 2002), is likely to have an impact on the country’s population of  1.3 billion.

IPCC report: Worsening weather anomalies

While scientists are still debating whether this spring’s string of fatal tornadoes can be attributed to warmer temperatures, many scientists do believe that the escalation in catastrophic storms is related to climate change.

According to a report released this week by the Obama administration, the Northeast U.S. has seen a 71 percent increase in precipitation since 1958.

Other discoveries:

• The length and intensity of heat waves in the U.S. have tripled since 2011. The “prolonged (multi-month) extreme heat has been unprecedented ...” (GlobalChange.gov*)

• But freak episodes of heat waves were building even before 2011. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7,233 deaths occurred from extreme heat between 1999 and 2009, including 514 mortalities in during a 10-day heat wave in Chicago in 2005.

• America is losing its coastlines. An average of 8 inches over the past century doesn’t account for the much higher losses around New Orleans and the Northeastern Seaboard*.

• Heavy downpours have increased since 1991, with episodes averaging about 30 percent higher than prior to 1960*.

• Alaska has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the country*. Our story of the eroding coastline of Kivalina  is perhaps the best example of Alaska’s disappearing way of life.

Come to think about it, maybe that drink is in order …

Image of flood following storm in Midwest, 2008: Don Becker

Permafrost, Devon Is. Canada: Anthonares

Extreme heat occurrences: GlobalChange.gov

Over the last several months we have been tracking the progress of Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) efforts to manage its supply chain in a more responsible way. Following longstanding campaigns against the company and its customers, in February 2013, APP announced a comprehensive Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), in which the company committed to zero deforestation commensurate with its forest clearing moratorium. Later, the company went further still with a commitment to stop processing natural forest fiber in its pulp and paper mills from any pulpwood supplier.

Now, APP has gone a step further still with its announcement on April 28 that in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, APP will conserve and restore 1 million hectares of forest across vital landscapes in Indonesia.

This is a significant development, because while Greenpeace already ceased its campaign against APP last year with the announcement of the FCP, other groups, World Wildlife Fund notable among them, withheld their full support because APP's conservation policy did not address the company's legacy of forest destruction.

The latest announcement goes some way towards getting WWF on their side. Indeed, APP's new commitment has nudged WWF to acknowledge that it represents progress, posting on April 28 that, "WWF cautiously welcomes the restoration and conservation initiative announced.." adding, "By declaring its intention to restore and support conservation of one million hectares of natural forest and other ecosystems in Sumatra and Kalimantan, APP has substantially strengthened the Forest Conservation Policy it announced in February 2013."

WWF also indicated that it will take a more collaborative role, saying it will continue discussions with APP and other stakeholders, "to offer input on potential implementation approaches, priorities and development of a time-bound action plan for achieving real conservation impacts."

Of course, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. In its response to the news, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) both welcomed the initiative and at the same time led with the statement that the new commitment, "requires further specifics and is fraught with challenges."

Lafcadio Cortesi of RAN said, "The promise is fraught with uncertainties about what will count towards the target, what approaches will be used and how the progress on the commitment will be implemented and measured, but these are welcome challenges." Fraught though it may be, RAN applauded the intention and went as far as saying APP can be proud of the commitment, and that the company is going beyond what any of its peers have done in Indonesia and perhaps internationally.

Rhett Butler, writing in Mongabay.com, details that APP's restoration commitments target nine "landscapes" across Sumatra and Kalimantan and that the company's initial focus will be on Bukit Tigapulah or "30 Hills" -- an area of forest that provides critical habitat for endangered tigers, elephants and orangutans. To facilitate the efforts, APP will provide seed funding for "an independently administered" trust fund. APP's press release says that the company will, "work with an NGO coalition to preserve the natural forest in the 30 Hills landscape."

The 1 million hectares slated for restoration across the nine landscapes is equivalent to the total plantation area from which the company sourced pulp in 2013, according to Mongabay. APP and its supplier concession holders manage a total area of 2.6 million hectares of Indonesian forest land.

The restoration commitment comes ahead of the publication of key results from work undertaken as a result of the Forest Conservation Policy launched last year. Since APP's announcement of FCP, much of the work since undertaken has been in the areas of both "High Conservation Value -- HCV" and "High Carbon Stock -- HCS" assessments on supplier concession lands. As of January this year, APP also secured the help of peatland management experts to address concerns voiced by environmental groups over how these landscapes will be managed.

The results of these assessments are not yet in; HCS and HCV are due by the end of June, but APP has already committed that the recommendations following these will be incorporated into the company's Integrated Sustainable Forest Management Plans (ISFMPs). Consequently, adopting these recommendations and implementing ISFMP is a key milestone that has yet to be reached. But APP says in its press release that the new restoration plans, "will be developed into a more detail time-bound plan that will form part of the company's ISFMP." So, perhaps this displays an air of optimism that things are well on track and that the new plans for restoration will be able to mesh smoothly with prior commitments made under the FCP.

Other recent developments lend credibility to APP's progress, too. In January, the Rainforest Alliance agreed to conduct an audit of the company's zero deforestation policy; their agreement to do so was predicated in part by APP's association with respected organizations such as Greenpeace and The Forest Trust (TFT).

Then on April 15, The Forest Stewardship Council agreed to continue talks with APP about the potential for a re-association of APP with FSC. In the press release, FSC stated that the organization, "appreciates the recent steps taken by APP to become a more responsible company in the field of plantation management and forest conservation following its 2013 Forest Conservation Policy."

For APP's part, they continue to push ahead and want to put distance between the present and past criticisms. Mongabay.com's piece reports Aida Greenbury, APP's managing director of sustainability and stakeholder engagement, as saying: "Past relationships with any of our critics are exactly that - past relationships. History," adding, "Our focus has been simply to keep going with the business of building trust, transparency and delivering commitments. And I think we are succeeding."

Photo by author

Follow me on Twitter: @PhilCovBlog

Airbus Group’s E-Fan, an all-electric trainer aircraft made of composite material, made its first flight last month--proving once again that it is possible to fly without jet fuel.

That’s with one caveat however: The plane can fly for about an hour on a single charge. But still, this seems like a big deal mainly because the largest aerospace and defense company in Europe and the world’s leading commercial aircraft manufacturer is backing it.

The successful first public flight of the electric E-Fan experimental aircraft was the highlight of Airbus Group’s E-Aircraft Day in Bordeaux, France on April 25. The electric E-Fan training aircraft is an experimental demonstrator based on an all-composite construction. Airbus Group and its partners intend to perform research and development to construct a series version of the E-Fan and propose an industrial plan for a production facility close to Bordeaux Airport. In addition, the group’s research efforts support the environmental protection goals of the European Commission, as outlined in its Flightpath 2050 program.

Built with an all-composite construction, the E-Fan is 22 feet long and has a wingspan of 31 feet. It looks like a toy version of a jet aircraft with a pair of nacelles that aren't really jets, but two ducted, variable pitch fans spun by two electric motors with a combined power of 60 kW. The ducting increases the thrust while reducing noise, and by centrally mounting them, the fans provide better control. The E-Fan flies at only 114 miles per hour.

Powering the fans are a series of 250-volt, lithium-ion polymer batteries made by Kokam of South Korea. These batteries are mounted in the inboard section of the wings and carry enough charge for up to one hour of flight. They can be recharged in one hour. Worried about the “recharge” light coming on while up in the air? There’s a backup battery for emergency landings.

Another key technology on the E-Fan is its e-FADEC energy management system, which automatically handles the electrical systems. According to Airbus, this simplifies system controls and, since E-Fan is a trainer, eases the workload of instructors and students.

The E-Fan has zero carbon dioxide emissions in flight and should bring a significant reduction in noise around airfields, according to Airbus, “thus improving relations between local residents and flight schools with long-term prospects for the discreet and economical initial training of future professional pilots.”

“It will not only lead to a further reduction in aircraft emissions and noise to support our environmental goals but will also lead to more economic and efficient aircraft technology in the long run. Our focus is to develop innovations that will help define what tomorrow’s aerospace industry will look like,” said Airbus Group Chief Technical Officer Jean Botti.

So today the E-Fan is a learning platform, tomorrow a larger hybrid version that can fly 80 passengers on short regional trips. That’s apparently the plan. From small beginnings, a revolution in the air.

Image credit: E-Fan Technology Demonstrator, Airbus Group

Fashion retail giant Forever 21 recently commenced the installation of a 5.1-megawatt solar power system at its headquarters in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Forever 21 is the latest business to participate in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT) program, which seeks to encourage renewable energy development within the Los Angeles Basin by partnering with energy producers under a standard purchase contract. The goal of the program is to help the city of Los Angeles meet the 33 percent Renewables Portfolio Standard mandate by 2020. Upon completion of the solar panel installation, manufactured by PermaCity Solar, the power generated from Forever 21’s system will provide enough energy to power 1,450 homes in the area—or the equivalent of removing 1,200 passenger cars from the road.

"The solar system we will construct here on site will provide Forever 21 with the best solar technology available on the market today, designed to deliver reliable, emissions-free electricity over the next 25 years or more," said PermaCity CEO Jonathan Port in a press statement.

Little is known, however, if Forever 21’s new commitment to this rising renewable energy project will spill over into its rather sparse sustainability and environmental policies in the near future. The brand has seen more than its fair share of consumer backlash for its egregious crimes in the name of fashion -- sacrificing the reputation of its trendy cheap aesthetic for accusations of slave labor, environmental degradation and questionable design piracy practices.

According to the brand’s Corporate Social Responsibility clauses, Forever 21 leads a Vendor Audit Program to verify fair treatment of workers in their overseas factories and ensure adequate pay and working conditions. The audit program allegedly maintains a highly trained Vendor Compliance Team, which promotes and enforces lawful and ethical operations at factory sites. Further detailed information on the success and compliance of the program is currently unavailable.

The retailer’s environmental policy leaves much to be desired boasting minuscule initiatives that include installing LED lighting within new stores to reduce energy use, recycling all shipment boxes at its distribution center and transporting products via sea in lieu of air, to help curb carbon emissions.

Perhaps, Forever 21 would do well by marching in line with its retail counterpart H&M that has made remarkable strides and commitments as part of its sustainability goals. H&M is the leading fast fashion retailer -- pushing the proverbial envelope on how its operations benefit from adopting policies that reduce the use of water in the company's manufacturing processes, increase the amount of sustainable materials in its products and recycle old garments to divert textile waste from landfills.

If Forever 21 is betting on one sole solar panel array project to set the tone for its future environmental endeavors, the call for a chief sustainability officer is in order.

Image credit: © 2011 Flickr: StampMedia - Jelka Lepever and Vlad Solovov 

By Julie Gorte

Four years ago, Ceres and Sustainalytics produced a report that it called a roadmap for sustainability for the 21st century corporation, and noted that while there were pockets of leadership in sustainability, these pockets were surrounded by oceans of incrementalism that were insufficient to address the sustainability challenges confronting us.  This year, celebrating its 25th anniversary, Ceres released an assessment of the roadmap report with the uplifting title Gaining Ground.  The bumper sticker: Corporations are doing better at integrating sustainability into their souls.

That is worth celebrating, to be sure.  Some of the specific candles on this celebratory cake include:

• More companies are incorporating sustainability performance into executive compensation packages.


• More than half of the 613 companies evaluated in Gaining Ground are engaging investors on sustainability issues.


• Forty percent of the companies evaluated are engaging employees on sustainability issues.


• Over two-thirds of the companies have taken some steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.


• Nearly 58 percent of companies have established codes of conduct for suppliers that address human rights and other sustainability issues.

These are important milestones, ones that the companies should be proud of, and the investors and other stakeholders who encouraged them should chalk them up as accomplishments.  If we are going to pass on to our children a world that provides at least as many opportunities for enrichment and fulfillment as our forebears did, these companies are the enablers.

But let us also remember that better is not the same as good enough.  Reducing GHG emissions is great, but compared to the amount that we must reduce those emissions by in order to avoid crossing the 2 degrees Celsius Rubicon, accomplishments to date are not adequate.  Ceres and Sustainalytics also point out that there has been no significant uptick in the percentage of water-intensive companies that assess water-related risks.  And while it is good that almost one-fourth of the companies tie executive compensation to measures of sustainability, it is useful to understand the history of executive compensation, and attempts to tie it to performance, which have not been terribly successful.   Many companies tie performance-based shares to financial performance, but they use a measure of financial performance -- called Total Shareholder Return -- that does not appear to create much of an incentive for improved performance, according to a recent study.  Performance measures that actually drive performance are not as common as they ought to be.

Progress is great, and Ceres and Sustainalytics deserve a great deal of credit for finding a medium and a message that helped to motivate the progress that has been made.  Now it’s time to amp it up.

Image courtesy of Ceres

Julie Gorte is Senior Vice President, Sustainable Investing for Pax World.

Growth in energy generation capacity has gone hand in hand with economic development over the course of human history. Recently, on the liability side of the ledger, so too have carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the natural resource depletion and degradation that have come along with fossil-fuel dependence.

Replacing coal, oil and natural gas with clean, renewable energy sources offers societies across the world an opportunity to decouple socioeconomic development and growth from fossil fuel use and forge new sustainable development pathways.

Spanning a vast area of growing populations and high geographic, biological, cultural, political and economic diversity, renewable energy markets across the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region are growing fast as governments, businesses and local communities come to recognize and place greater value on the social and environmental, as well as economic, benefits and advantages solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and other forms of clean, renewable energy have to offer.

Aiming to spur investment in and the deployment of renewable energy technology and generation capacity across the Americas, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is strengthening public-private partnerships through its international programs and Power Generation and Infrastructure Initiative. In support of this effort, ACORE recently released a 10-page white paper entitled, “Renewable Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Renewable Energy in the LAC: Ripe for development

Collectively, the human population in LAC countries totals some 600 million and is growing 1 percent per year. Regional GDP doubled between 1990 and 2013, according to Clean Energy America's (CELA) executive summary in ACORE's report.

Government, business and community leaders across the region are actively seeking out viable sustainable, low-carbon development pathways that offer an alternative to the fossil fuel-driven paths taken by developed countries over the course of the last 150-odd years. Renewable energy is increasingly seen as a key element. As Ramos states,

“The growing economies of Latin America and the Caribbean region are ripe for renewable energy development.”

The challenges

However, high prices, lack of access to reliable sources of electricity and water, outdated electric and water infrastructure, and highly unequal distribution of wealth and income are among the challenges faced by societies across the LAC as they seek to develop their economies, improve the lives and livelihoods of residents, and preserve ecosystems health and integrity.

With demand for electricity in the LAC region expected to double by 2030, “per-capita electricity usage in the region, at 1,987 kWh (kilowatt-hours), is still a third below the world average, and 29 million households do not have access to residential electricity,” Ramos notes.

In order to meet forecast growth in electricity demand, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that LAC countries will need to invest over $350 billion in new power generation assets between 2013 and 2030. As Ramos writes,

“The present scenario of strong electricity demand growth, decreasing costs for renewable energy, increasing prices of fossil fuels, and concerns about climate change in the LAC region presents interesting opportunities for the expansion of renewable energy.”

Realizing Latin America & Caribbean's clean energy potential

Widely varying geography also has played a significant role in making it difficult to establish centralized power infrastructure – both electrical and political – in nations across the LAC region. That makes distributed renewable power generation sources – which can be built quickly on varying scales and with less of a geographic and ecological footprint – that much more practical, beneficial and economically viable. According to Ramos,

“[T]here is significant potential for expanding the use of renewable energy sources, ranging from extensive solar and wind resources from Mexico to Argentina, to geothermal resources along the tectonically active Pacific Rim, to biomass resources throughout the region. These energy sources can help diversify the overall electricity supply mix beyond conventional options such as fossil fuels.”

Changing energy policies to promote clean energy growth

Key to carrying out a migration to clean, renewable energy and sustainable development and growth pathways, governments across the region are instituting policies and programs to spur greater deployment of solar and other renewable energy technology and systems.

Due to their size and the degree of development of public and private infrastructure and markets, Brazil, Chile and Mexico are among the regional leaders in this regard. Following up on the institution of national climate change legislation and a national carbon tax on fossil fuels, Mexico's stock exchange, the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, last November launched the LAC region's first carbon-offset credit exchange.

Headway is being made across the region, however, as governments in Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, along with Caribbean countries, look for viable sustainable-development pathways. In Central America, Costa Rica has garnered international recognition for its efforts to preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as its commitment to becoming the first carbon-neutral society in the world.

Forecasting renewable energy growth across the LAC region

Market researchers at NPD Solarbuzz in a January 2013 report forecast demand for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy across the LAC will boom out to 2017, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45 percent. As NPD Solarbuzz Analyst Chris Sunsong noted,

“Historically, PV demand was confined to rural off-grid and niche applications, but new renewable energy policies and incentive programs are now opening up the region for strong PV deployment. Set against a backdrop of strong economic growth, expanding energy demand, and increasing electricity prices, the conditions for PV adoption appear particularly attractive.”

Clean energy market mechanisms and trends

A combination of net-metering, Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), and other market mechanisms are coalescing to support sustained growth across the renewable energy sector.

Given the sharp decline in the costs of solar and wind energy systems, clean, renewable energy alternatives are cheaper than fossil-fuel energy across a growing range of countries in the LAC region, especially when the market-distorting effects of fossil fuel subsidies, as well as the long-term carbon emissions and environmental degradation associated with fossil fuel use, are considered.

Determined, nationwide efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy resources are just beginning to gain traction, however. A few global business leaders, including Virgin Group and Carbon War Room founder Sir Richard Branson, are helping lead the way.

Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies

Governments in the LAC need to significantly scale back, if not eliminate, longstanding fossil fuel subsidies in order to level the energy market playing field, as well as initiate the long-term efforts required to address grid access and interconnection issues across the LAC region, NPD Solarbuzz's Sunsong points out.

“Electricity subsidies in Mexico and low natural gas prices in Peru are also delaying the onset of PV grid-parity for some end-user categories, while import tariffs across the region are keeping PV system costs on the high side.”

Adds CELA's Ramos in ACORE's report, “Policymakers have been compelled to set national carbon reduction and/or clean energy installation goals and to hold auctions for renewable power and biofuels supply contracts to attract additional investment to the region.”

Ramos recognizes and acknowledges the stiff challenges associated with enacting a determined, effective shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources. “Bottlenecks and difficulties in terms of legislation, market maturity, and supply chain constraints are present,” she writes.

Those challenges are gradually being met, she continues, noting that new funding sources are opening up and new market mechanisms are emerging that can accelerate renewable energy investment and deployment. In addition, grass-roots activism and ground-breaking partnerships between NGOs, businesses and industry, governments and local communities are contributing to renewable energy development and growth.

Momentum should be added as the United Nations finalizes its strategic, post-2015 “Sustainable Development Goals,” and multi-lateral, regional and national development banks, such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) are compelled to allocate more capital and other resources to helping developing countries across the LAC and around the world forge alternative, clean-energy pathways to sustainable development and growth.

*Image credits: 1) ACORE; 2) Bloomberg New Energy Finance; 3) World Resources Institute, UNEP, GRID Arendal

 

By Tom Bowman

“Stay Golden.”  It’s not just a new rallying cry for water efficiency and saving energy in our state — it is a saying that represents the feeling many Californians share for our state’s beautiful landscape, communities and oceans, as well as our leadership in protecting the environment.

As a small business owner, I am aware of the challenges Californians face to “Stay Golden” as we work together to grow our economy and, at the same time, make a real difference in fighting the greatest challenge of our time — climate change.

I write this to say we can, and are, doing both. Californians should be proud.

One positive result of the effort to “Stay Golden” is showing up in your utility bill this month — the California Climate Credit. The Climate Credit is an automatic credit on electricity bills that residents will receive in April and October, and small businesses like mine will receive it every month.

The California Climate Credit comes from a program California is implementing to fight climate change by limiting greenhouse gas pollution.  It was developed as a result of landmark legislation called the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB32, which is fighting climate change and its costly effects by reducing greenhouse gas pollution by 30 percent by 2020.

Since energy use causes about 50 percent of the state’s emissions, using electricity more efficiently in our homes and businesses can have a big impact on helping to clean the air. And the Climate Credit that you and I receive can help each of us reduce our emissions.

Utilities across the state offer small businesses a variety of effective energy efficiency programs and rebates, as well as ideas for ways to use the Climate Credit to generate additional savings on energy bills. Onsite and online energy audits and other programs specific to the type of small business you may own or work for are available through Southern California Edison. For example, my small firm received energy efficient lights at no cost. We also signed up for a peak demand program that lowers our monthly bills.

While we work hard at our jobs, small business owners do get to go home, and the energy and money savings provided by the Climate Credit are available there, too. The Climate Credit could help pay for a programmable thermostat that helps you manage the temperature in your home, or you could use the credit to purchase more efficient lights or an advanced power strip that can help eliminate “standby power” from electronics. Together these small steps will reduce your energy use and help lower your monthly costs.

For small businesses like mine, the Climate Credit provides an opportunity to invest in energy efficiency products, which save our company money immediately — and every single year — and make a positive impact on climate change for the long run.

The California Climate Credit is a true win-win for all of us.

Image credit: Flickr/Samuel M. Livingston

Tom Bowman is a keynote speaker and founder and chairman of Bowman Design Group in Signal Hill, California, which develops communication strategies and creates museum and commercial exhibitions. Bowman Design Group received a 2009 Cool California Small Business of the Year award for reducing its carbon emissions by 65% in less than two years, and is the first marketing communications company to receive APEX/ASTM Sustainable Meetings certification. Bowman is the author of The Green Edge—a guide to cost-effective environmental performance in the event industry—and received the EXPO Elite and international Green Good Design Awards.

British business should award promotions or pay rises to employees who have done the most volunteering, according to a new Demos report.

With BITC's Give and Gain Day coming up this Friday, the think tank argues that in-house volunteering programmes are a 'triple win', boosting employees' skills and job satisfaction, reducing sky-high training costs for businesses and benefiting the local community. The scheme could see employees given time off work to mentor pupils to improve their literacy, organise community sports events or give careers advice at nearby schools. 

British businesses currently spend around £40bn a year on training, roughly equivalent to the government's annual spending on schools, with individual leadership training courses costing an average of over £2,500 per person. Instead, Demos recommends bosses give their workers 'volunteer days' off work, in addition to their annual leave, and encourage a work culture of volunteering by including targets in performance reviews and using volunteer league tables amongst staff when deciding pay rises and promotions.

Figures cited in the report calculate the average cost per employee of running a volunteer program is just £381.10 a year, less than a third of the average cost per year of training a manager (approx £1,337).

The report includes polling showing 61% of employees agreed volunteering experience made them perform better in their job. Two-thirds (66%) saw a noticeable improvement in their communication skills, with negotiating (45%), team-working (43%) and leadership skills (41%) also noticing significant progress. 

As part of the project Demos interviewed several business leaders, who backed the findings and reinforced the idea that employer volunteering schemes were a much more cost effective way of upskilling their workforce and retaining staff than expensive training courses.

The report is being published by Demos this Thursday.

A recent poll showed 58% of employees are likely to volunteer if they receive support from their employer, with less than one in five (17%) unlikely to take up the opportunity.

The report makes a distinction between 'skills-based volunteering' – utilising the employees existing professional skill-set such as an accounting doing the books for a charity – and additional volunteering – boosting soft skills such as communication, leadership and organisation. 

 

Picture credit: © Segoviadesign | Dreamstime.com

 

On Thursday, May 8, we hosted a series-focused Tweet Jam, which was one of our highest-impact, and most well-attended online chats to date. If you haven't yet seen our ongoing sustainable seafood series, please check it out.

Our sponsors Future of Fish, Bell Aquaculture, Verlasso Salmon, Fish Choice and Seafood Watch, along with TriplePundit's writing staff, have been contributing their insights on the subject, and this Twitter Chat allowed us to expand upon and explore the issues in more detail.

Participating organizations included Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Blue Ocean Institute, BlueYou Consulting, Upwell, Sea to Table, Chefs Collaborative, The Terramar Project, and numerous others. Our four distinguished panelists were:

• George H. Leonard – Chief Scientist, Ocean Conservancy - @GeorgeHLeonard
• Tim Fitzgerald – Environmental Defense Fund Oceans Program, Senior Advisor - @hawaiifitz 
• Jason Simas – iPura Foods, Director of Communications – @iPura
• Clare Leschin-Hoar – Independent Food Writer / Journalist – @c_leschin 

To see the full conversation, please follow the #3pChat hashtag on Twitter. 

Image credit: flickr/Challenge Program on Food and Water

With a busy week behind you and the weekend within reach, there’s no shame in taking things a bit easy on Friday afternoon. With this in mind, every Friday TriplePundit will give you a fun, easy read on a topic you care about. So, take a break from those endless email threads, and spend five minutes catching up on the latest trends in sustainability and business.

We all know that biking to work is a great way to cut back on carbon emissions. But in case a trimmer waistline and a lighter footprint isn't enough motivation for busy commuters, a growing number of companies are sweetening the deal with perks and incentives designed to get employees pedaling. Here are five of our favorites.

1. Clif Bar

Clif Bar, which employs more than 300 employees at its Emeryville, Calif. headquarters, takes bike-to-work incentives to a whole new level. The company’s Sustainability Benefits Program includes an incentive of up to $500 to buy or repair a commuter bike. Employees who walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation to work can also earn points for each trip -- redeemable for rewards like cash, massages and Clif gear.

2. New Belgium Brewing

Cars are a rare sight to see at New Belgium Brewing's flagship brewery in Fort Collins, Colo. It will likely be the same story at its new location in downtown Ashville, N.C., and it's not hard to see why.

After a year on the job, each New Belgium employee receives a free limited release Fat Tire Cruiser bike, in honor of the company's best-selling Fat Tire Amber Ale. Employees can also borrow a cruiser for local errands and lunch breaks.

3. Honest Tea

Headquartered in in Bethesda, Md., organic beverage maker Honest Tea gives its employees who either bike or walk to work $27.50 extra in their paychecks monthly. In addition, in the summer of 2007, the company bought each of its then 52 employees Jamis bikes.

The company's president and 'TeaEO' Seth Goldman bikes about a mile to work every day, so he understands the perils of the bicycle commuter. When the company moved into its current office building back in 2007, Goldman insisted on having showers installed in the bathrooms -- an unsung perk we're sure his bike-to-work employees (and those who share their working spaces) are eternally grateful for.

4. Patagonia

Patagonia's Drive-Less program provides a monetary incentive for employees to bike, walk, carpool or take public transit to work. It pays all U.S. and Canadian employees $2 per trip, up to two trips per day. Each employee can earn up to $500 (pre-tax) per year.

In the first year of the program, more than 900 employees participated. As a collective result, in that first year Patagonia employees drove 690,000 fewer miles, cut CO2 emissions by 500,000 pounds and saved 25,700 gallons of fuel.

5. Jamba Juice

Also headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., Jamba Juice provides some pretty sweet perks for peddlers. The company offers a set of bright orange loaner bikes for employees to use for errands and lunch breaks, as well as plenty of space for bike commuters to park their own rides.

The company has also developed an extensive wellness program that includes health insurance premium discounts in exchange for completing challenges -- including participating in Bike to Work Day, attending a bicycle repair class or going on a practice ride. Jamba Juice has become known in the area for its bike-friendly ways and was named as one of the most bike-friendly businesses of the year by local advocacy group Bike East Bay.

Images courtesy of Patagonia's The Cleanest Line blog

Based in Philadelphia, Mary Mazzoni is an editor at TriplePundit. She is also a freelance journalist who frequently writes about sustainability, corporate social responsibility and clean tech. Her work has appeared on the Huffington Post, Sustainable Brands, Earth911 and The Daily Meal. You can follow her on Twitter @mary_mazzoni.