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Abu Dhabi's sustainability week - one of the largest sustainability gatherings in the world - draws more than 30,000 participants from 150 countries. As a key organizer of the event, Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, receives a great deal of attention from visiting dignitaries, world leaders and media alike.

Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with Steve Severance, manager of program management and investments for Masdar City, to discuss how the company is walking the fine line between sustainable innovation and savvy business management.

TriplePundit: Can you speak to how Masdar City balances its position as a trailblazer in sustainable innovation and design with its need to attract business interest and corporate tenants?

Steve Severance: You rightly point out that it's one thing to use less energy, it's another thing to create an attractive real estate development that uses less energy.

While using less energy is one facet of what companies need, they're also looking for attractive office spaces they can use efficiently and pricing that's competitive. But a lot of companies ask for some fairly mundane things, like where will my employees eat? Where are we going to park? Can I easily access the buildings? Where's the one-stop-shop? How can I get my free zone license? How easy is it to process visas for my employees?

So, it's a real full-service offering, and of those obviously the sustainability is the part that gets noise and the biggest global recognition. But without the rest of that and without the rest of the facilitation, very few people would come here.

3p: Moving forward, do you hope that attracting corporate and residential tenants will help Masdar recoup some of the investments it has made in the city and break even financially?

SS: I think a lot more than break even. No company comes in saying, "You know what would really help? We hope we can break even out there, recoup some of the investment."

I think companies are coming to Masdar City because they want to do business in a sustainable method, not just with Masdar, because more companies will come here than will have contracts with Masdar. Certainly many of the companies we've worked with we've done partnerships with…but Masdar itself is not big enough for companies to come here only to do business with Masdar. You have to come here because you want to be part of the region and because you want to showcase your sustainability products and highlight that you can have an impact - not just with Masdar but across Abu Dhabi.

3p: Do you expect the employees of your forthcoming corporate tenants to live on-site?

SS: We certainly expect some of them to live on-site. I don't believe that all of them will live on-site, as some of them will want a different type of service offering. But we certainly expect that we'll be very attractive for people who are living here - including Masdar employees…and create an environment for them that they want to live in.

That has to do with not just sustainability but creating a really attractive real estate offering - that mixed use, walkable community. We think it's going to have a lot of traction in the market.

The next announcement you'll hear out of Masdar will be about residential. We want to really bring critical mass into the residential side, to give the city not just a business park and university feel, but a complete, well-rounded feel. We hope to develop a true mixed-use community.

3p: Masdar City has recently made a departure from the car-free model - allowing visitors, employees and residents to park their cars within the city limits. What other transportation options do you plan to explore as the city expands, especially given the fact that many Abu Dhabi residents rely on cars for the majority of their transportation?

You're absolutely right, this is a very car-driven society - demand for cars comes from the low taxes, the price of gasoline but also the heat and the humidity and how a car protects you. There used to be a TV commercial in America - "It's not just your car, it's your freedom." And that is very much true here as well. It is a lifestyle choice.

But we want to make Masdar City the most pedestrian-focused place in the Middle East. Walking is our primary mode of transportation in Masdar City. But that's not really technology, and that's not really innovation; it's bringing back some of the old ways. We have the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system - the electric, driverless pod cars - which will be expanded to the central business district. So, the central urban core - Masdar headquarters, Masdar Institute and the most densely populated commercial areas - will be serviced by the PRT.

The more residential neighborhoods will have a sustainable system of electric buses, but really what we're talking about is future-proofing. We expect Masdar to be here a long time. So, a technology that may be here for 10 or 15 years may not be here in 25 years.

So right now, yes, for accessibility reasons cars are coming into the city. Ten years from now, 20 years from now when we have a Metro, we have an LRT, we have significant Abu Dhabi transportation solutions that are both sustainable and convenient, you'll see a lot fewer cars. You'll really see over the next few years a transformation in transportation - not just in Masdar City. I think Masdar City will be a catalyst and a leader in this region, but the technology will be utilized worldwide.

3p: Right now, Dubai has an operational Metro, but Abu Dhabi does not. Do you expect to see a Metro in Abu Dhabi over the next decade?

SS: Absolutely. Abu Dhabi has plans to build one. We have a Metro stop and a Metro corridor through Masdar City planned. And it's important to note that there are significant parts of the population here that don't have cars, and the Metro is extremely popular in Dubai. In fact, much like every other place in the world where Metro comes in, real estate around the Metro stops becomes more valuable.

Steve Severance headshot courtesy of Masdar

Masdar City image: Mary Mazzoni

Ed Note: Travel expenses for the Author and TriplePundit were provided by Masdar.

As a lead-up to Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, Jan. 18-25, Masdar sponsored a blogging contest called “Engage: Cities and Sustainable Development.” The following post was a runner-up.

By Reginald Raye

No two cities are alike, and likewise no two “sustainability master plans” should be the same. Urban climates, not to mention urban populations, vary radically. Nevertheless, there are a number of proven measures that most local governments can take to make their city a greener and more inviting place. Here are four action areas, along with 14 concrete steps, that your city can take to be a leader in sustainable urban development.

​1. Energy

• Create incentives for building managers and homeowners to reduce their energy use. (After all, existing buildings account for the majority of urban energy consumption - and waste.)  Incentives might include tax breaks, monetary prizes and recognition programs.


• Offer tax rebates or subsidies to those who make their property more green through solar panel installation, rainwater collection, shading systems, etc. Selecting a preferred provider or installer can further reduce unit costs.


• Facilitate dynamic energy pricing to reduce energy demand during the hottest times of the day. The dirtiest and oldest power plants are turned on during periods of high load, so making sure these plants don't get turned on in the first place is important.

2. Transportation

• Bring in bike lanes. Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen and other bike-friendly cities have slashed car use simply by making it faster and safer to go by bike.


• Raise tolls to reduce the number of cars on the road. A $10 fee to enter downtown will persuade many would-be drivers to put down their doughnut and take the train instead.


• Jump-start the world's first autonomous taxi program. Self-driving vehicles are safer, more reliable and less traffic-jam-prone than any human-driven vehicle. Autonomous, electrically-propelled taxis could reduce transit times, as well as emissions.


• Improve vehicle emissions controls to cut down on smog. Beijing was able to temporarily halve their air pollution by taking half of cars off the road, but results would have been better – not to mention longer-lasting – if they had halved the permitted emissions per car.

3. Construction

• Update building code to reflect climate-specific best practice.


• Be sure to encourage local sourcing of materials, and discourage use of imported materials with high embedded energy.


• Host several yearly roundtable meetings between the city zoning board and architecture/engineering/construction professionals to make building code updates clear.


• Discourage non-licensed builders from building by tasking police with monitoring new construction sites. Rapidly industrializing cities often reward people for throwing up their own buildings, in spite of the fact that they are substandard and impede future development.


• Implement and enforce a minimum greenspace-to-building ratio. Just as setback laws are needed to prevent the urban canyon effect, greenspace laws are needed to reduce the concrete jungle effect.

4. Commerce

• Conduct an audit of the carbon footprint of products being sold in your city, and launch a program to locally manufacture those with the biggest footprint. Alternatively, increase tax rates on the worst offenders – the environmental equivalent of a sin tax.


• Investigate whether some energy intensive goods could be 3D-printed locally. Regardless of the production process, encourage entrepreneurs to manufacture consumables in your city.


• Create an urban garden/greenhouse network to increase local food production. Introduce an online buying program to facilitate sales of the resulting produce in grocery stores.

Last but not least, don't forget about building grassroots support for these green initiatives. While a few of the above steps can be taken by good leaders acting alone, the majority require the participation, engagement and enthusiasm of city residents. And at the end of the day, we're all stakeholders when it comes to sustainable development.

Image credit: Flickr/jadell

Reginald Raye is a student at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

By Blair Bowie of U.S. PIRG and Lucia von Reusner of Green Century Capital Management

Four years ago today, the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision unleashed a flood of secretive corporate money into our democracy, leading to the most expensive elections our country's history, and allowing a new class of mega-donors to drown out the voices of regular Americans. Yet the decision didn't just hurt democracy and regular voters: It also hurt investors, by letting corporations spend huge sums of money for political purposes without the knowledge or approval of their shareholders.

That's why, on the fourth anniversary of the Court's fateful decision, U.S. PIRG and Green Century Capital Management are calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to fulfill their mission of protecting investors by requiring corporate political spending transparency.

For Green Century, the manager of environmentally responsible mutual funds, the undisclosed corporate money being spent as a result of Citizens United is particularly concerning. It means that our investors’ money may be used to support causes and candidates whose policy positions contradict their values, like climate denial.

Furthermore, corporate money in politics is increasingly opposed by a large proportion of the public, causing consumer backlash and even boycotts against companies that support controversial issues or candidates. Absent disclosure, investors have no way of evaluating the risks that may be associated with corporate political contributions. While some progressive companies are starting to voluntarily disclose their political contributions - many of them in response to pressure from shareholders - a much larger number continue to leave shareholders and the public in the dark about how their money is being used to influence public policy.

Regulation that would require companies to disclose their political spending to shareholders is critical for ensuring a transparent marketplace and enabling informed investment decisions. This information is increasingly demanded by investors - in 2013, just under one third of all environmental and social shareholder resolutions filed at corporations pushed for reports on corporate contributions to election campaigns, as well as spending on lobbying.

The SEC must act to protect investors by requiring publicly traded companies to disclose all political spending, including money funneled through nonprofits and trade associations. Such a rule has been proposed and received unprecedented support from the public and investors - generating the most public comments in the history of the agency, with all but five of the 700,000 comments in support of the rule.

For the SEC, this decision should be a no-brainer: By requiring corporate political spending transparency, they will not only be fulfilling their mission of protecting investors, they will be making democracy more vibrant and more transparent for all Americans.

[Image credit: Scott O'Dell, Flickr]

Blair Bowie, Democracy Advocate for U.S. PIRG, is a recognized expert in the areas of campaign finance, election administration, federal lobbying and ethics rules. U.S. PIRG is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society.

As Green Century Capital Management’s shareholder advocate, Lucia von Reusner leverages the investor perspective to encourage environmentally responsible business practices. Founded in 1991 by the state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), Green Century Capital Management is an investment advisory firm that manages a family of environmentally responsible mutual funds.  This information and data have been prepared from sources believed reliable  The accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed and is not a complete summary or statement of all available data.

For years, we’ve been told to take our vitamins. Vitamins have only been billed as practical sense, they have been touted as a necessity in an increasingly automated world in which on-the-run meals, canned foods, frozen entrées and instant ingredients are often diet mainstays. And according to some sources, vitamin supplements have not only been important for ensuring good nourishment, but also guard against chronic illness, like heart disease and cancer.

Some doctors disagree with that last statement. In fact, they are charging that the last few decades of multi-vitamin popping may actually have been doing some patients harm.

So multivitamins aren't good for us?

According to an editorial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, three different studies looked at whether multivitamins actually had an effect on certain health risks. Those risks were a) the likelihood of preventing a cardiovascular event b) cognitive function in men in later life and c) the development of cancer or heart disease in people who didn’t have nutritional deficiencies.

The findings, say the authors, irrefutably say no. Multivitamins don’t help people stave off the chances of developing chronic disease. Nor do they help improve cognitive function in people with age-related dementia at 65 or older. And they don’t prevent the chance of a cardiovascular event in patients who, for example, have already had a heart attack.

Supporting the $30 billion vitamin and mineral supplement industry (2011) therefore, because we are afraid of the possibility of developing a chronic illness, is wasting our money.

Research, peer reviews and opinions

But not everyone is completely convinced. One article printed in the British Daily Telegraph and ironically, republished by the U.S. website PubMed Health, points out that the editorial that the researchers wrote was more publicized than the studies it was based on. The actual studies received relatively little peer critique “which is disappointing as it summarizes findings from multiple studies, and is one of the strongest forms of evidence.” In other words, vigorous debate is as much a part of scientific investigation as the findings that are put forth as evidence.

The newspaper article also calls into question whether the editorial is more about opinion than the actual scientific results: Is this about doctors’ confident findings, or about ongoing, beneficial research?

This point was also raised by one of the comments left on the editorial, who said that the authors had not considered certain hallmark findings published by the AMA in 2012. The 2012 study revealed that all cancer rates excluding prostate dropped 8 percent when a daily multivitamin was administered.

Scientists rarely are willing to state irrefutably that a “case (is) closed” about a given study. There’s a reason: There’s always somebody, or something that contradicts the finding. Find a loophole in the argument, and there goes a researcher’s well-stocked notoriety, and possibly his or her reputation.

Multivitamins and which chronic illnesses?

The authors did make an exception for Vitamin D, which they said may be of help to individuals who are susceptible to falls. However, they made no mention of the benefit of calcium in individuals with bone-related disorders like osteoporosis.

The researchers also made no mention of the fact that there are chronic conditions that due to new technology, have only recently been found to benefit from multivitamins. One example is  celiac disease, which prevents the absorption of key nutrients from fresh food.  Are there other diseases that may be affected by nutritional deficiencies?

Vitamin supplements: How nourishing is our food?

To be sure, not everyone is in love with our dependence on vitamin supplements. The Office of Dietary Supplements, which is overseen by the National Institutes of Health, points out that research findings are often conflicting and "observational." It mentions several studies, widely varying in their findings to substantiate this. But it also notes that "No U.S. government health agency, private health group, or health professional organization promotes regular use of an MVM (multivitamins and minerals) or individual nutrients without considering first the quality of a person's diet. However, individuals with poor nutrient intakes from diet alone, who consume low-calorie diets, or who avoid certain foods (such as strict vegetarians and vegans) might benefit from taking MVMs."

So can researchers actually say that multivitamins are ineffective? Is a blanket assertion that multivitamins aren’t any good for “chronic illness” (but while actually implying a limited number of diseases - not all chronic illnesses) really educating consumers and helping them to choose their healthcare wisely? Or does it just add one more layer of confusion in an increasingly automated society?

No doubt this will continue to be a highly contested topic, contrary to what the authors implied when they suggested that their research was conclusive.  As the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) points out, ensuring that people can actually buy food that has the recommended daily amount of those nutrients is the first stage in cutting vitamins from daily use.

"To call 'the case … closed'" says LPI, " and label MVM supplements as useless, harmful or wasteful is highly premature and unscientific, and does not serve public health."

Image by Ragesoss

We all knew it, didn't we? That the world's salvation might at least partially be found in that most ancient and beloved of humanity's discoveries: beer and fermentation. Ever since President Carter deregulated the U.S. beer market in 1979, a great and largely unsung accomplishment in this writer's opinion, the U.S. has burst into a beer renaissance. Those small breweries are helping to revitalize communities. They're giving us new places to fraternize with friends and family, and a sense of town pride. And many craft breweries are becoming early adopters of cutting edge, clean technology, putting clean tech into real world use.

For example, Bear Republic Brewing Company in Cloverdale, California, population 8,618, has become the world's first industrial scale adopter of a bioelectrtic wastewater treatment and reuse system created by Cambrian Innovation in Boston. The system, dubbed EcoVolt, is about the size of a cargo shipping container and is kept on the brewery's premises. The containers are modular, so a company can add more units as its water treatment and electricity needs grow. The EcoVolt takes waste water in, processes it using bioelectric microbes (or what I like to call "critters"), and pumps clean water and methane out. I'm sure the good folks at the MIT spinoff company, Cambrian Innovation, have a more detailed explanation of the process. It's only super-science at its best.

Basically, the brewery's waste water goes in one end of the EvoVolt system and comes out the other end as reusable water and methane. The water can be used for brewing. The methane can be used on the premises for either heat or electricity or both. All very useful for a brewery. Or a winery. Or a food processing plant. The system reduces Bear Republic Brewing Company's carbon footprint, sewage and water costs, and produces enough heat and electricity to compensate for over 50 percent of the company's baseload electricity use.

Less waste. Fewer resources. Lower carbon footprint. And an estimated 25 percent return on investment for the company annually. Annually!

Meanwhile in Michigan, home to Grand Rapids, recently voted Beer City (my stomping grounds), breweries are finding savings and a sense of purpose in powering their operations with solar and sourcing materials locally. Brewery Vivant is in a LEED silver certified building while working toward a goal of 10 percent on-site power generation, with a goal of 25 percent beer inputs grown within 250 miles of the brewery.

Arbor Brewing Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan and its sister company Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, Michigan became Michigan's first solar breweries in 2012 when they installed over $350,000 in solar photovoltaic, solar-thermal, and geothermal technologies and energy efficiency measures.

The local pubs making local beer seem a strange launching ground at first for a more sustainable, cleaner world. But these craft breweries really are about bringing things closer to home. About being more bonded to and mindful of our communities. The water they use is our water, and more importantly, our beer. Preserving that resource is important to the community and to the business model. Clean, locally produced energy, and locally sourced grains and hops, brings that experience even closer to home.

In my home town, where the industrial economy collapsed and the down-town along with it, we've got two new breweries that are becoming a source of town pride. And an important driver of foot traffic in the down town area. Good, locally produced beer is about people. It's about planet. And yes...it's about profit.

Boeing is working with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other stakeholders to obtain approval for its planes to fly on green diesel. The company named green diesel as a “significant” new source of aviation biofuel, one with at least 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuel during its lifecycle. Boeing’s researchers have found that green diesel (made from oils and fats) is chemically similar to current aviation biofuel. If green diesel is approved it could be blended with traditional aviation fuel. Green diesel can be used in any diesel engine and is chemically different than biodiesel. Green diesel production in the U.S., Europe, and Singapore could supply up to one percent, about 600 million gallons, of jet fuel demand. The wholesale cost is about $3 a gallon with U.S. government incentives.

"Boeing wants to establish new pathways for sustainable jet fuel, and this green diesel initiative is a groundbreaking step in that long journey," said Julie Felgar, managing director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Environmental Strategy and Integration, in a statement. "To support our customers, industry and communities, Boeing will continue to look for opportunities to reduce aviation's environmental footprint."

"Green diesel approval would be a major breakthrough in the availability of competitively priced, sustainable aviation fuel," said Dr. James Kinder, a Technical Fellow in Boeing Commercial Airplanes Propulsion Systems Division. "We are collaborating with our industry partners and the aviation community to move this innovative solution forward and reduce the industry's reliance on fossil fuel."

Boeing is part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), whose goal is to develop sustainable jet fuel. Formed in 2008, SAFUG members are committed to accelerating the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation biofuel. United Airlines and Lufthansa are SAFUG members and both airlines have committed to using biofuels. In 2011, Lufthansa tested biofuels in regular flight operation, and became the first airline to do so. The airline used a 50/50 mix of regular fuel and biosynthetic kerosene made from  jatropha, camelina and animal fats produced by Finnish company, Neste Oil. Last summer, United signed an agreement with Seattle based AltAir Fuels to purchase 15 million gallons of biofuel. The biofuel is produced using camelina as feedstock. United will buy the biofuel over a three-year period beginning in 2014.

The cost of fossil fuels is driving the aviation industry to explore alternative fuels. A 2008 study cited the “high cost of petroleum combined with aviation’s total dependence on petroleum-based fuel” as the largest driver for developing and adopting alternative aviation fuels. The other drivers include environmental impacts and the possibility of disruptions of petroleum supplies. By reducing dependency on fossil fuels, alternative aviation fuels can lessen the industry’s environmental impact, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Photo: Sheldrake1

Jesse Hertstein of Amway asks: How do the benefits of day-long volunteering stack up against long-term investments?

I serve on the board of a Literacy Center that aims to elevate reading and writing levels across the community. One of our most powerful programs uses one-on-one volunteers to teach adults to read for the first time in their lives. It’s powerful stuff. But it can take many months to bring them to basic, functional levels.

The greatest impact you can have on a person’s life is usually made through steady, long-term commitments, like tutoring, mentoring, facilitating home ownership or providing nutrition. Change doesn’t usually happen in one day, but over a long period of time.

Global volunteer days: why bother?

So why do we place so much emphasis on single volunteer days that draw crowds of people?

As our Amway One by One Campaign for Children reached its 10-year anniversary, we asked ourselves whether we should have a single, global volunteer day. The idea had surfaced in the past, and each time we rejected it.

Why? Big change was happening at the grassroots level and each of our country offices was developing meaningful partnerships. We were helping children with disabilities in the U.S., providing nutrition in rural schools in China, building homes for families in Latin America, immunizing children in Africa through a pan-European alliance. These were thoughtful, long-term commitments that showed lasting change.

At first, we were afraid that a global volunteer day would devalue the investments we had made in local communities and turn volunteer efforts into a spectacle. But what made us turn the corner was the data.

Reframing the idea: a global demonstration

The data made us reframe the idea. While we had reached big milestones of helping 10 million children, and could count nearly 2.7 million volunteer hours and $190 million in contributions, we still had relatively low awareness and mediocre engagement in the programs.

Amway is made up of 21,000 employees and 3 million Amway Business Owners. If we could get more of them engaged, there would be no end to our positive impact on the world, working from the ground up through our international networks like no other organization can do.

A global volunteer day wasn’t just about the impact we would have on that day. It was a way to show the world that Amway is serious about mobilizing people to help children in our communities. Even more so, it was a way to show ourselves what we were capable of when we channeled our generosity on a global scale.

Our global volunteer day

We used the same approach we had been using for ten years. Create a simple call-to-action but allow our regional offices to develop their own plans. As a call to action, we leveraged all of the voices we could: our product brand celebrity spokespeople, our CEOs, top Amway Business Owners and NGO partners.

On the actual global volunteer day, we took over an empty warehouse at our U.S. headquarters and offered every single employee – office, manufacturing, logistics, executive – the chance to participate in a volunteer project, from building bikes to creating care packages to assembling disaster relief kits.

Around the world, projects were as diverse as our markets. In Thailand, Amway Business Owners delivered 22,000 winter jackets to kids in remote schools. In Mexico, we built Habitat for Humanity homes. In Korea, we volunteered for foster children at child welfare centers. Across Europe, we assembled and delivered care packages.

We encouraged people to upload Instagram photos using hashtag #amwayonebyone, and we saw more than 1,000 “volunteer selfies” from around the globe. More than 15,000 volunteers participated in 57 countries, helping more than 100,000 children. It was astounding to see how people responded, even to our global CSR team that had seen story after story for the last ten years.

Is a global volunteer day worth it?

The survey data will not be in for another six months, so the jury is still out on whether we moved the needle on awareness and engagement. But I am sure that we planted a seed in the hearts of many people around the world. I know that for many, this was their first volunteer experience and they will be looking for their next.

For organizations with a global footprint, or those spread out over a national geography, the question will likely come up. As a former skeptic, I am convinced that there is value in organizing such an event. But the value is mostly internal: It is a chance to engage those who may not otherwise sign up on their own. It is an opportunity for people to try volunteering for the first time in a safe, lively environment. It is a way to emphasize the importance of community involvement in your organization’s culture.

Be clear about your objectives, because it is a lot of work! But a demonstration of your commitment might just be the boost your program needs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=592YP60juNU

Jesse Hertstein is Amway Senior Corporate Citizenship Specialist, and author of the Amway One by One Campaign for Children blog, which provides thought leadership around grassroots cause activation and captures stories of successful partnerships around the world. He has traveled extensively documenting Amway CSR programs, and serves as a leader in his own community around issues of literacy.

Image credits: Amway Corporation

Volunteering initiative Give & Gain Day is extending its international reach with four new partnerships in Honduras, Panama, India and Kenya.

Now in its sixth year, the annual Business in the Community (BITC) campaign will see its 100,000th person take part and volunteer in their community on 16 May 2014. The initiative kicked off officially at the BT Tower last week.

Sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group, Society and Waitrose and in association with BT and ITV, Give & Gain Day 2014 is dedicated to getting thousands of employees out of the office, store or factory to volunteer in their local communities.

Last year, almost 300 companies sent out over 12,000 volunteers on Give & Gain Day – helping 600 community organizations in the UK. In total, the value of time donated by volunteers across the UK on Give & Gain Day was £1.3m. Business volunteers helped in schools, day centres and youth groups, doing everything from delivering employability workshops and CV training for the long term unemployed to supporting school sports days.

At the launch Stephen Howard, chief executive of BITC emphasized that the day this year was about celebrating what volunteering can achieve: “In the last year Business in the Community programmes were powered by 46,000 volunteers who gave half a million hours of their time. Give & Gain Day is an opportunity for businesses, community organisations and schools to celebrate what can be achieved through the power of volunteers. Employee volunteering is a win-win, the experience builds skills and motivates employees, whilst helping meet community needs.”

To get involved click here.  
 

With corruption still topping the list of FTSE350 company concerns, the Institute of Business Ethics has developed a timely app to help employees make the right decision in tricky situations.

The Say No Toolkit is a decision-making tool that can be used either as an App or via a website. It provides employees with immediate practical help in making the right decision across a variety of situations, such as when to accept a gift, when not to offer hospitality, what to say to avoid a facilitation payment and what to do if faced with a conflict of interest.

The IBE says the toolkit will help companies which are looking for ways to reinforce messages to employees about doing the right thing.

IBE’s director, Philippa Foster Back CBE OBE, commented: “Any one, at any level, in any organisation, can be offered a bribe. The SayNo Toolkit supports staff by giving them clear and easily accessible guidance about what can or cannot be accepted. Not only will the App provide an adequate procedure to combat bribery, it could also help to minimise the risks of corruption taking place.”

To access the toolkit, click here. The smartphone/tablet app will be available to download from the end of this month. Both are free of charge.

 

Picture credit: © Jyothi | Dreamstime Stock Photos
 

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), one of the largest sustainability gatherings in the world, launched today with a panel on the future of renewable energy development in Africa. Moderated by Adnan Z. Amin, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and featuring comments from the presidents of Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, the panel addressed the opportunities for economic growth in Africa and what the continent needs to grow sustainably.

"Ahead of us lies a future with a tremendous potential for sustainable growth," Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State in the United Arab Emirates and CEO of Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, said in front of a crowd of dignitaries, world leaders and media this morning. "Nowhere is this opportunity more evident or immediate than in Africa."

"Africa is undergoing unprecedented and sustained growth," Amin of IRENA added. "It has been one of the fastest growing regions of the past decade, with a GDP expected to grow in the coming years on an average from 5 to 6 percent annually."

Africa is drawing more and more attention as the continent of the future. A March issue of The Economist featured the headline "Africa Rising," pinpointing the continent's economic boom as one to watch in the next decade. With rapid urbanization and economic growth on the continent, the need to meet rising energy demand sustainably is a hot-button issue on the world's mind.

"Indeed, Africa is at a crossroads. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Africa is the continent of the future," President Macky Sall of Senegal said at the ADSW opening ceremony in Abu Dhabi. Sall referred not only to economic potential, but also to vast opportunities for renewable energy - pointing to his own country's potential for hydro and solar power and calling on governments and private companies to view Africa as an important partner in global sustainable development moving forward.

While daily headlines in the U.S. often speak of government corruption and human rights violations in Africa, panelists advised world leaders and corporate investors not to view the entire continent through the lens of a few countries still struggling to find their way.

"Africa is now prepared to move forward," said President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, whose own resource-rich country has overcome violent armed conflicts and is now on the path to economic prosperity. "Africa should not be defined by what has happened in the past. The issues that are…sadly happening in South Sudan should not be used to define what is Africa."

To date, almost half of African countries have undertaken national resource assessments for one or more renewable energy sources, according to IRENA. Solar and wind assessments exist for at least 21 countries, biomass assessments in at least 14 countries, and geothermal assessments are ongoing in seven countries. The agency also released a map that details renewable energy potential on the continent, ranging from bioenergy and geothermal to solar and wind.

In addition to recognizing this vast potential for growth in the renewable energy sector, panelists noted that the continent can't accomplish its goals alone. When asked what his country needs from the global community to move the needle forward when it comes to renewable energy production, Koroma said: "The potential for energy is great…but to get there we need interest."

To accomplish this, IRENA announced a new initiative to develop an Africa Clean Energy Corridor at its third assembly last week. Working with partners, IRENA will encourage accelerated expansion of renewable energy options on the power grids of Eastern and Southern Africa. The agency will help countries conduct assessments of wind, solar and other renewable energy resources, and to model the economic benefits of incorporating more renewable generating capacity into their expansion plans for power generation.

After identifying a set of goals for the region over the next five, 10 and 20 years, IRENA will help connect partner countries to public and private investors around the world - ensuring sufficient interest and investment that will allow Africa to meet its ever-increasing energy demands without excessive impact on the planet.

The panel on Africa marks the first event in a week-long sustainability gathering in Abu Dhabi, which includes the World Future Energy Summit, International Water Summit and the inaugural EcoWASTE summit.

Follow along this week for breaking news from the event.

Image credit: Mary Mazzoni

Travel expenses to Abu Dhabi were provided by Masdar, the main organizer of ADSW.