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By Jonathon Porritt

I honestly can't remember when I last heard anybody argue that the sustainability revolution we so urgently need will be driven primarily by consumers.

There have been times when such a view was strongly favoured, going right back to that original classic, The Green Consumer, by John Elkington and Julia Hailes in 1988. That particular surge of consumer interest in all things green fizzled out ingloriously a few years later, and every subsequent resurrection seems paler and paler by comparison.

So where does the consumer fit in when it comes to analysing the potential for change? For a start, we’ve pretty much given up on our politicians doing anything substantial about today’s converging sustainability crises. It seems they’ll only act when they’re ‘given permission’ to act by others: by the private sector, for instance, or, occasionally, by voters. Worse yet, we’ve completely given up on investors, as they’ve proved themselves incapable of doing anything other than sticking to their short-term profit-maximisation story.

The NGOs are still doing good stuff, but with much less traction than we would all like to see and, though we haven’t exactly given up on the voters, in the round you would have to say they don’t seem to be particularly engaged! Which is why such a huge burden of responsibility now sits on the shoulders of leading companies – and why this seems to be the only place where real leadership can currently be detected.

Not that they’re acting on their own. They still depend on government not to screw up (in terms of bad regulation, inconsistent incentivisation and so on), and indeed they depend on their investors not taking fright. But, from personal experience, I know that they have very low expectations of both – as they do of their consumers. Recent years have taken the shine off the idea of ‘green consumerism.’  Every survey that purports to demonstrate significant levels of consumer concern is automatically discounted by companies because of the yawning ‘say–do gap’: we talk green, but we buy brown.

A minority of consumers stay loyal to organic food and fair trade products and, outside of the UK, numbers have actually been growing over the last few years – despite the economic recession.

But any hope that more sustainable products might command a premium evaporated years ago. The vast majority of consumers are astonished at the idea that cheap is often synonymous with destructive, unhealthy, irresponsible and cruel. And the sad truth of it is that a disturbingly large percentage of UK consumers are either too lazy or too indifferent to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

You’ll not hear any of our corporate partners express such heretical views. They never do it in public, and only very rarely in private. And you’ll not hear any of the campaigning NGOs express such views either. They love beating up on the corporates, but they won’t beat up on the consumers who support those corporates in their unsustainable ways. Too many of them could be members, or prospective members…

All you hear about today is what companies can do to ‘enable’ or ‘empower’ their consumers – in terms of product innovation, reducing risk in the supply chain, increased transparency, ‘doing the right thing’ and so on. Ok, I exaggerate to make a point. It is of course brilliant that fair trade, organic and niche ethical brands continue to thrive in these troubled times. But there is something worrying about the current state of play.

Not so long ago the prevailing view was that governments would sort it out on our behalf – poor, deluded fools that we were! Now we’ve transferred that semi-detached dependency onto the corporate world, indeed onto the very multinationals we once looked to governments to regulate the hell out of! We’ve moved from one illusory comfort blanket to another – this one market-friendly, seductively branded, and reassuringly undemanding. From Nanny State to Nanny Corp – ‘editing our choices’, doing the heavy lifting on water, carbon or waste, refurbishing that yellow brick road to the land of notionally sustainable consumption…

This is a funny one for us to get our heads around. Forum for the Future spends every waking moment urging companies to do more. And more. Given the economic backdrop, what today’s leading companies are doing – with no support from governments, near zero interest from investors, and very little limited affirmation from mainstream consumers – occasionally borders on the astonishing. And you know what? That’s simply not sustainable.

Jonathon Porritt is Founder Director of Forum for the Future.

Green Futures is the leading magazine on environmental solutions and sustainable futures.

[Image credit: Günter Steffen, Flickr]

This is part of a series of articles by MBA students at California College of the Arts dMBA program. Follow along here.

By Shayta Roy

As an industrial designer, I work with a range of organizations, from small start-ups to large multi-national corporations, whose main objectives are to capture audiences, educate them about their brands and drive consumer interest. Recently however, I have struggled with an ethical debate, wondering If I am part of ‘the problem.’  Am I facilitating the exploitation of the world’s resources by corporations? My lack of trust in corporations, especially after reading such books as The Gangs of America by Ted Nace, have led me to investigate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the shift towards corporate shared values (CSV).  Can corporations share common goals?  How does corporate sharing help organizations contribute to our welfare?

Trust is integral to the foundation of relationships and is defined as the “dependence on something future or contingent.”  Who do you trust? Do you trust your neighbors? How about the corporations that fill your aisles with product with the primary objective of serving your needs?  Over the past 30 years, we have witnessed prospering corporations alongside the unparalleled prosperity of the people around us. With widespread misery leading to more family conflict, more crime and less trust, there would be no surprise that you don’t trust corporations. As the environment and socio-economic climate deteriorate, corporate legitimacy fails. Corporations are seen to be the major cause of these and other social ills. No one likes being in the proverbial doghouse, so when the recession hit, corporations naturally began to gravitate towards corporate social responsibility in attempts to rebuild relationships through philanthropic endeavors of doing good.

It's the thought that counts, so we’ll give corporations a big high-five for good citizenship.  CSR, however has not proven to lead to sustainable growth on both economic and societal fronts, as it is generally separated from profit-driven core business practices and is limited by corporate budgets.  An emerging trend that is reshaping the capitalist landscape is the idea of corporate shared values.  Shared value is all about rethinking the effects that charitable dollars can create and how to achieve more with money than just its purchasing power. CSV means enhancing competitiveness through meaningful value propositions that not only boost shareholder value but serve as catalysts to advance social conditions in the communities in which it operates.  Michael E.Porter, the founding father and leader in this school of thought, pins shared value as the next evolution of capitalism, stating that “incorporating societal issues into strategy and operations is the next major transformation in management thinking.”

Profitability and growth from value sharing are achieved through three facets that are ‘mutually reinforcing’:

1. Re-identifying customer needs by addressing problems in communities and redesigning products and services to serve these needs 2. Innovating value-chains to enhance productivity and efficiencies 3. Enabling local development by taking into account local deficits and/or current offerings that are deemed insufficient

Underserved markets, pollution, large-scale inefficiencies and cultural barriers become opportunities in the world of CSV.  When organizations embrace CSV, they undertake the common goal of improving overall well-being and standards of living; the greatest factor in this equation is community.  Companies such as Unilever have demonstrated the potential for CSV to transform entire communities.

Although they may work closely with NGOs, governments and organizations such as the World Economic Forum, the degree to which businesses work to improve their own local communities varies widely. Over the past ten years or so, centers for social innovation (CSI) have been springing up around the nation to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. Companies now have the opportunity to reach out to community groups though the CSI arm and engage in lively discussions around pertinent subjects that effect all parties at large.  Will the unspoken mandate of CSV evolving into a competitive necessity promote cross-organizational conference calls with shared community-driven goals in mind?

The new sharing economy has placed an emphasis on the proliferation of knowledge and assets to benefit all of humanity, rather than a select few, further probing me to explore the idea of greater cooperation among community and business sectors. Partnerships across public, private and non-profit would deem beneficial in aligning the goals of key decision makers with a wide spectrum of industry perspectives. A community charter, similar to this or this, that clearly identifies the means by which entities may strive to solve the big giants of poverty, unemployment, education, housing, disease and mental health in an efficient and scalable manner, only makes sense. Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving together, then success takes care of itself.” By garnering a common consensus to work as one unified driving force, mass change can take effect.

[Image credit: Nestlé, Flickr]

Running appropriately alongside this year's World Future Energy Summit, is the International Water Summit. The connection between water and energy is something we've been focusing on closely in the last few weeks and will continue in the year to come.

Like energy, water is a resource that could be used far more efficiently.  One way to do so is quite simply to re-use it. This is commonly done around the world for landscaping and industrial uses, but less so for drinking water. The largest such project in the United States is the Orange County ground water replenishment program but much work is being done elsewhere.

Among the key challenges is communicating effectively with people why water reuse is not only important, but desirable  clean and safe. I had a chance to talk to CH2MHill's Linda Macpherson to go over some of the basics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l3XqKNl1cg

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

At this year's World Future Energy Summit, a lot of attention is falling on new forms of renewable power generation. However, using existing energy more efficiently is every bit as important. DNV KEMA's Jacob Fontijne puts this in perspective with a Dutch concept called "Trias energetica."  Simply put, it's a guideline to achieve energy savings and sustainability by putting efficiency first, followed by the use of renewable energy, and only as a last resort, falling back on fossil fuels.

Rapid growth has begun to outstrip supplies of energy in the UAE and elsewhere in the region - a problem for sure, but also an opportunity for relatively inexpensive gains to be had in terms of energy efficiency. I had a chance to sit down with Jacob and talk a little bit about the energy situation in the middle east and to consider whether efficiency or new generation represents the better investment.

Video after the jump....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvPSHyibqV0

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

Men still dominate CSR, at least at the higher levels. GreenBiz's 2011 salary survey found that two-thirds of VP of Sustainability roles at large organizations are held by men - and it will surprise few readers to find that there was a 20 percent pay gap between men and women at the highest levels of sustainability.

Yet, the connection between gender diversity and CSR runs deep. Study after research study has found that simply having an executive team with gender diversity is highly correlated with having a strong CSR performance - even when those women aren't working in CSR.

And of course, despite the statistics, we've come across a number of inspirational women slowly but steadily inspiring sustainable change. Here are 35 of them. To keep things reasonable we limited ourselves to CSR leaders within organizations - those women cranking out the CSR strategy and CSR reports who you don't get to hear from very often. We also threw in a few thought leaders to round out the list. There are many more, of course. You should probably give these ladies a raise!

In alphabetical order and without further ado...

1. Pamela Alabaster, SVP Corporate Communications, Sustainable Development & Public Affairs, L'Oreal USA Pamela leads the CSR function for L'Oreal USA. L'Oreal was recently lauded by 3p correspondent Leon Kaye for their beautiful CSR report which goes far beyond skin deep.

2. Ephi Banaynal dela Cruz, Director, Social and Environmental Accountability (SEA) and Audit,
Microsoft Corporation Ephi was recently tapped to head Microsoft's hardware supply chain, Social and Environmental Accountability and Audit program. Microsoft scooped her up from SAP where she led sustainability strategy and developed a stunning, in-depth CSR report.

3. Mary Capozzi, Senior Director, Sustainability/Corporate Responsibility, Best Buy For five years, Mary has led the CSR team at Best Buy, spearheading initiatives like Best Buy's innovative Buy Back Program.

4. Molly Cartmill, Director - Corporate Social Responsibility, Sempra Energy Molly directs and manages the corporate responsibility reporting function at Sempra Energy, including production of the company’s annual corporate responsibility report.

5. Ginny Cassidy, Corporate Citizenship Consultant, Medtronic Medtronic sets the bar extremely high for sustainability reporting and Ginny has managed their Corporate Citizenship Report project and related corporate citizenship communications for over six years.

6. Robin Connell, Manager, Sustainability Programs, Del Monte Foods Robin is responsible for the overall development and implementation of Del Monte Foods' sustainability strategy and initiatives.

7. Tamara "TJ" Dicaprio, Sr. Director, Carbon and Energy, Microsoft Corporation TJ drives Microsoft’s environmental strategy by establishing the long term environmental footprint reduction and renewable energy strategy.

8. Jacqueline Drumheller, Environmental Affairs Manager, Alaska Air In 2008, Jaqueline co-founded Alaska Airlines' corporate sustainability program and she is currently responsible for the corporate sustainability, environmental audit, and data management programs at Alaska Air and Horizon Air.

9. Jennifer Dudgeon, Principal Program Manager, Office of Sustainability, CA Technologies CA Technologies, a public IT management software and solutions firm, provides sustainability software to its clients, among other products. Jennifer is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s sustainability strategy.

10. Karen Hamilton, Vice President, Sustainability, Unilever Unilever has made a huge splash on the sustainability scene this year, thanks to bold proclamations from CEO Paul Polman. Karen is a key member of the sustainability leadership at Unilever, based in London.

11. Laura Hodgson, Director, Social Responsibility, Nordstrom Laura manages the team and program dedicated to improving working conditions in global sourcing communities.

12. Catherine Gunsbury, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, General Mills Catherine leads the CSR reporting efforts at General Mills. We recently sat down with her to talk about her role and General Mills' approach to sustainability.

13. Joanne Howard, Manager of Sustainability, Spectra Energy Corp Joanne manages and guides the implementation of enterprise sustainability practices at Spectra and creates a platform for the ongoing integration of these practices as part of Spectra’s business strategy.

14. Hannah Jones, VP of Sustainable Business & Innovation, Nike, Inc. Hannah stewards the Nike, Inc. sustainability strategy and leads the Sustainable Business & Innovation team.

15. Cecily Joseph, Senior Director, Corporate Responsibility & Compliance, Symantec Corporation Cecily oversees Symantec's Office of Ethics & Compliance, the Symantec Foundation, Community Relations and Symantec's global corporate social responsibility program, which includes environmental, social, and governance program development, integration, and alignment.

16. Gail Klintworth, CSO, Unilever Gail Klintworth has been with Unilever for over 25 years, including a stint as chief executive of Unilever South Africa. She's currently Chief Sustainability Officer and is responsible for driving Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan.

17. Hunter Lovins, President and Founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions Hunter was called a "green business icon" by Newsweek and a millennium "Hero of the Planet" by Time Magazine for her 30 years of work framing the sustainability movement, setting forth the business case for energy efficiency, renewable energy and resource productivity and climate protection. She is president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions and co-creator of the “Natural Capitalism” concept.

18. Annie Longsworth, CEO, Saatchi and Saatchi S Annie is CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S, the sustainability arm of the global communications and consulting firm committed to creating lovemarks - high love, high respect brands and products.

19. Kim Marotta, Director of Sustainability, MillerCoors Kim has a multi-faceted role with the MillerCoors - the second largest beer company in the U.S. She is the sustainability brand manager, oversees sustainability reporting and policy, and also focuses on energy and water stewardship.

20. Jennifer Mattes, Director, Global Public Affairs, Johnson Controls, Inc. For the past five years, Jennifer has been responsible for global public affairs including sustainability reporting, global employee volunteer programs, and global philanthropy for one of the world's leading green building and energy efficiency companies.

21. Marilee McInnis, Senior Manager, Southwest Airlines Marilee founded the SWA green team and now manages the sustainability programs for SWA, including producing the ONE report - the company's integrated report on the triple bottom line of Performance, People, and Planet.

22. Susan McPherson, SVP/Director of Global Marketing, Fenton Fenton is a communications firm with a unique mission: to serve the public interest by creating powerful issue campaigns that make change, and Susan runs the CSR practice. She's also the leader of the popular weekly #csrchat on Twitter.

23. Bonnie Nixon, Senior Advisor, Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. Bonnie has 25 years of experience in this industry, including three years as the Director of Sustainability for HP and a stint as Executive Director of The Sustainability Consortium.

24. Beatriz Perez, Chief Sustainability Officer, The Coca-Cola Company Beatriz sets the overarching sustainability policies and strategies at The Coca-Cola Company and generates leadership systems around them.

25. Agata Ramallo Garcia, Senior Director, Sustainable Business & Innovation, Nike Inc. Agata is responsible for leading the integration of sustainable business practices in business operations across Nike, Inc. She oversees Sustainable Business & Innovation's strategic/business planning processes including the financial valuation of sustainability initiatives, sustainability performance management and reporting, sustainability data and analytics, and sustainable innovation portfolio/pipeline.

26. Stephanie Rico, VP, Environmental Affairs, Wells Fargo Stephanie is the lead for sustainability and environmental issues at Wells Fargo, including environmental and CSR reporting, communications and marketing.

27. Laura Rubbo, Director, Corporate Citizenship, The Walt Disney Company Laura manages the International Labor Standards department’s global factory monitoring program, external stakeholder engagement strategy, broad policy development, and creation of executive briefings and external communication materials, including the ethical sourcing section of the Corporate Citizenship report.

28. Beth Sauerhaft, Director, Global Environmental Sustainability, Pepsico In her role, Beth focuses on the connection between environment, agriculture, and health and nutrition policy. Her team has a unique approach to CSR - focusing on opportunities and risks presented by social and environmental issues.

29. Shauna Sadowski, Director of Sustainability, Annie's, Inc. Shawna leads the gourmet organic mac and cheese company's sustainability efforts including tracking and analysis and the development and implementation of programs to ensure that the company abides by its philosophy to source from trustworthy people and places they trust.

30. Kathleen Shaver, Director, Corporate Responsibility, Mattel Kathleen leads strategy and execution of Mattel’s public reporting of corporate responsibility initiatives.

31. Aman Singh, Editorial Director, CSRwire Aman directs content creation, distribution and syndication for CSRwire, a leading digital media platform for CSR and sustainability news, views and research.

32. Koann Vikoren Skrzyniarz, Founder/Chief Executive, Sustainable Brands Koann conceived of, launched and continues to grow Sustainable Brands - a learning, collaboration, and commerce community which now includes over 50,000 sustainable business leaders from around the globe.

33. Karen Solomon, Co-Founder & Advisor, Opportunity Green Media Karen is the co-founder and advisor to Opportunity Green, a multi-purpose media, event and consulting platform promoting innovative products, technologies and companies.

34. Andrea Thomas, SVP, Sustainability, Walmart Although many critique Walmart, it's clear that the super store retailer has changed the very meaning of CSR. Andrea leads Walmart's sustainability efforts.

35. Kindley Walsh-Lawlor, VP Social & Environmental Responsibility, Gap Inc. Kindley is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to further integrate social and environmental objectives into the company's Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy brands.

Special thanks to Nancy Mancilla, CEO of ISOS Group, an integrated sustainability agency specializing in GRI sustainability reporting, CDP climate change reporting and external assurance, for suggesting many of the names on this list. She's a rock star sustainability leader in her own right!

This isn't an exhaustive list by any means. Share the female CSR leaders you know in the comments!

[Image credit: Heather Carpenter Costello, Flickr]

At the 2011 World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince famously declared that "water is more important than oil."  That sentiment is taking on more meaning with water desalination comprising a large component of energy use.

Desalination accounts for the vast majority of the UAE's drinking water. It's an expensive and carbon heavy processs powered primarily by natural gas. As I discussed yesterday, the UAE has paradoxically become a net-importer of natural gas with demand for energy continuing to rise. This, combined with the country's 2020 goal to meet 7 percent of energy needs from renewable sources, makes viable desalination without fossil fuels something of a technological and economic holy grail.

Nonetheless, that is exactly what Masdar has set out to accomplish by 2020. The company, with as-yet-unamed partners, has launched a pilot project to build the world's first large scale, commercially viable, desalination plant powered completely by renewable energy. Exactly what "large scale" means isn't entirely defined, nor is the exact mix of solar, wind or other sources of renewable energy. However, the commercially viable aspect of the project is clear, and significant.

International Desalination Association president Dr. Corrado Sommariva summed it up during this morning's press conference as "bridging the gap between research and development and commercialization."  Sommariva noted that although other renewably powered desalination plants exist, none have been set up with practical commercialization in mind.

Here's how it will work:

Masdar will launch 3 different pilot projects around Abu Dhabi over the next 3 years - each testing somewhat different technologies, geographies and partners.   Each project will be funded 50 percent by Masdar and 50 percent by partners which will be chosen from an existing short-list of about 50 potential companies.  By 2016 each project should be well into planning and construction with launch a launch date of 2020 - the same year that the country's 7 percent renewable energy goal comes into effect.

Like Masdar's many other projects, much is likely to be learned while planning and partnerships evolve.  We'll be watching!

Ed Note: Travel expenses for the author were provided by Masdar.

Washington, DC is now overrun with visitors in town to witness Barack Obama’s second inauguration. With all those people and events, the next few days should be a gold mine for local recyclers. We have had the greenest Super Bowl ever, the most “sustainable” Olympics and even the Oscars awards ceremony claims it has gone green.

If you have not experienced an inauguration, you’re in for lots of fun, booze, food, protestors, corporate sponsors and, in addition: Metro trains filled to capacity with people riding rail for the first time; an avalanche of fur coats that will turn you vegan; self-importance so thick you need a machete to slice it; the overhearing of conversations including, “Oh Michelle, she’s a friend of mine, too”; and lots of garbage.

This year most of the “greening” efforts focus on the low-hanging fruit: recycling. We are far away from hybrid limousines, FSC-certified wood grandstands and red carpets made out of Interface carpet tiles--though we like that last idea. Not that you can score a ticket to any events--if you’re lucky, your U.S. representative gave you tickets so far from the action that that the U.S. Capitol dome is the size of a gum ball--but in case you don’t notice on TV, event organizers are paying more attention to sustainability than in previous inaugurations.

The National Wildlife Federation, which hosts the 2013 Green Inaugural Ball, is a start. Working with its venue, the Newseum, and Wolfgang Puck Catering, the ball’s organizing committee goes so far as to say that there will be no need for trash cans at the event. The Newseum will only use compostable serving materials or reusable items such as glass and flatware. Wolfgang Puck Catering’s employees will separate frying oil so it can be recycled into biofuels; expired light bulbs will be broken down in a Lampinator to separate mercury from glass and metals; and all food scraps will be composted for use by DC residents and urban farms. The inauguration’s events throughout the city will also  undergo similar efforts.

Pritchard Sports and Entertainment Group, working with the inauguration’s event organizer, C3 Events, is tackling waste diversion throughout Washington, DC. Led by David Meyer, Pritchard’s employees will work on sorting, recycling and composting everything from food scraps at cocktail parties to the horses who will traipse along the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue.

For the most part, however, the inauguration and its infrastructure will proceed as usual. The DC municipal government has taken heat for spending $342,000 to build its own stand for local leaders, though the city department responsible for building the stand said 90 percent of the materials will be recycled.

In the end, this inauguration faces challenges similar to other mega-events: folks flying in from around the world who want to soak up the festivities and like most travelers, behave differently from how they behave at home. Nonetheless, this inauguration could be a stepping stone to more environmentally responsible events of this scale in the future.

Leon Kaye, based in Fresno, California, is a sustainability consultant and the editor of GreenGoPost.com. He also contributes to Guardian Sustainable Business; his work has also appeared on Sustainable Brands, Inhabitat and Earth911. You can follow Leon and ask him questions on Twitter or Instagram (greengopost). He will explore children’s health issues in India next month with the International Reporting Project.

Via Antioch University of New England blog, National Wildlife Foundation, Washington Post

Photo courtesy Leon Kaye

transmission lines

The following is part of a series by our friends at CSRHub (a 3p sponsor) – offering free sustainability and corporate social responsibility ratings on over 6,500 of the world’s largest publicly traded companies. 3p readers get 25% off CSRHub’s professional subscriptions with promo code “TP25.″

As previously seen on the CSRHub blog.

By Bahar Gidwani

One of the smartest folks I know—one of my directors when I was at McKinsey—had time to have a cup of coffee with me last week.  During a chat that covered topics ranging from board practices to roof leaks, I told him a bit about CSRHub and our efforts to encourage corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability.

After a while, my friend sat back and said, “But why would a CEO care about CSR?”  He continued by pointing out that CEOs have to worry about profits, strategy, personnel…so many things that could push CSR off of her or his agenda.

I could have tried to pull a “study says” answer, and quote him data from a great Gibbs & Soell report.  They estimated that more than 80 percent of Fortune 1000 CEOs wanted their companies to “go green.”  However, my friend has done lots of studies himself.  He knows they don’t always predict what will happen in real world situations.

I instead offered him my belief that three pressures will force CEOs to understand and evaluate how their businesses are performing, socially:

• License to operate.  If a business abuses the trust of the community it resides in, it can eventually lose the power to operate normally.  Communities can slow down and block company decisions to expand a facility or increase its use of power, water, and other resources.  They can make it hard for a company to hire or fire.  A CEO needs to be sure that her or his company’s behavior engenders support from its local communities.
• Supply chain pressure.  Major companies have put pressure on their supply chains for years to deliver products faster, more cheaply, or with better quality.  Now they are also asking their suppliers to deliver products that are made more responsibly.  Even if a CEO’s company does not have this type of program, his or her company most likely sells products or services to a company that has set out sustainability goals and guidelines.
• Hiring and retention.  In a recent MIT survey, 77 percent of graduating MBAs claim they would take a lower salary if necessary, in order to work for a company that had a clear sustainability strategy.  In most major companies, attracting, training, and retaining employees is a critically important function.  A CEO who does not encourage her or his corporation to be responsible, could lose key human resources.

At the time, I could only come up with one idea.  I’ve since thought of a second:

• Pride and jealousy.  CEOs track what other competing CEOs do.  They meet their competitors at conferences, envy them when they get awards, and parse their speeches and pronouncements for clues on their plans for the future.  When a competitor gets onto the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Glassdoor’s Top 50 Places to Work or is near the top of the CR 100 Best Citizen’s list, a CEO may ask her or his staff, “Why didn’t we get that award?”  An answer of “we don’t know” or “who cares about awards” is not going to satisfy a CEO who is proud of her/his company and its performance.
• Children.  I’ve heard several CEOs say that they became interested in sustainability and CSR when their children raised these issues. Like most parents, CEOs want to give their children a stable, comfortable life. A CEO should want to leave behind a legacy that her or his children can be proud of.  And, if the CEO’s company is still around in twenty years, it could continue generating job opportunities (and stock market dividends?) that may directly benefit a CEO’s children.

[csrhubwidget company="PepsiCo-Inc" size="650x100" hash="c9c0f7"]

Bahar Gidwani is a Cofounder and CEO of CSRHub. Formerly, he was the CEO of New York-based Index Stock Imagery, Inc, from 1991 through its sale in 2006. He has built and run large technology-based businesses and has experience building a multi-million visitor Web site. Bahar holds a CFA, was a partner at Kidder, Peabody & Co., and worked at McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to both large companies such as Citibank, GE, and Acxiom and a number of smaller software and Web-based companies. He has an MBA (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School and a BS in Astronomy and Physics (magna cum laude) from Amherst College. Bahar races sailboats, plays competitive bridge, and is based in New York City.

CSRHub is a leading source of corporate social responsibility ratings and information, creating direct comparisons of CSR and Sustainability performance among competitors and across supply chains, industries, and regions. CSRHub is the first to aggregate environmental, employee, community and governance data — 20 million elements from 200 sources covering 6,700 companies across 135 industries and 82 countries  — into an open, integrated, accessible database platform.

Through subscriptions at multiple price points, we serve corporations, consultants, academics and NGOs. We resell reports, training and consulting. Our sustainability widget feeds data to news sites, blogs, and corporate intranets. We sell data to our partners for integration into their products, using our API platform.

On Tuesday, January 15, Dr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of World Resources Institute (WRI), hosted an annual Stories to Watch in 2013 event in Washington, D.C. Dr. Steer identified six hotspots – topics that will dominate headlines in the coming year.

1. The evolving energy mix in the U.S. and worldwide

2. China’s balancing of economic and ecological concerns

3. Africa’s growth

4. Sustained progress on deforestation

5. Green investments

6. Obama’s action (or inaction) on climate change

WRI’s list offers few surprises, except for several conspicuous absences. In trying to maintain a tight focus, WRI may have missed critical parts of the story. Here’s what we might see if WRI expanded the hotspot list to ten.

7. Water

8. A different tack on global climate talks

9. India’s balancing of economic and ecological concerns

10. Game changing technology