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By Val Bisharat

Corporate volunteerism tends to have a singular look: Employees from one company, volunteering together for part or all of one day. That has been—and remains—a valuable and important approach for the benefit of communities throughout the United States. But I’m part of a group of businesses that has been experimenting with another volunteer model for the past decade—an approach we think is more powerful and transformative. It involves multiple companies coming together, each lending employees to volunteer as a group for a week at a time, often in communities far from home—living, eating and working together as a team.

We call the approach In Good Company, an alliance of values-driven businesses that join forces to donate time, energy, tools and materials to communities in need of access to healthy food, adequate housing and a healthy environment. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to organize and several times a year lead In Good Company volunteers on week-long projects that transform lives and communities across the country.

In Good Company was formed from the belief that collaboration among businesses can be a powerful force for positive change, and that we can accomplish more together than alone. With each project, we see our vision coming to life.

For a week in June 2017, 19 volunteers from 13 In Good Company partners gathered in New York to revitalize the Garden of Youth, an 8,000-square foot community garden in the Bronx that except for two small plots was underutilized by the community. Working closely with local nonprofits Bronx Green-Up and the Mary Mitchell Family & Youth Center, and Crotona neighborhood residents, we converted the underused space back into a thriving community garden, featuring 31 garden beds, a greenhouse, planting tables, picnic tables, benches and a composting system. We also built a children’s section with kid-sized raised beds for planting, discovery tables, a sensory garden and a living green tunnel that’s the perfect height for children to play in.

All of the garden’s bounty is maintained by the local community and is theirs to keep or to sell at the nearby La Familia Verde market. Because local community members and nonprofits had an integral role in planning and executing the project, we’re confident this beautiful garden will continue to serve its purpose long into the future.

For the volunteers on any In Good Company project, a week of living, cooking and working together creates a more transformative experience than a single day can do for both the communities and the volunteers themselves. The communities benefit from the work a sizable team can accomplish with 750 or more volunteer hours dedicated to a single project. The volunteers have the time to gain new skills, from learning how to use a power tool to installing a living room window. They meet new people and share best practices. They also gain a better understanding of the local areas they’re serving through guided tours and conversations with community leaders.

What’s more, the volunteers are immersed for a week in an experience—volunteering—that research suggests benefits the people who volunteer—in this case our employees--by enhancing their physical, mental and emotional health.

In Good Company was started by Clif Bar & Company in 2008. Since its inception, In Good Company has engaged 462 employees from 50 companies to volunteer on 26 week-long projects in seven communities, including New Orleans and Louisiana’s Gulf Coast; West Oakland, Calif.; the Hopi Reservation in Arizona; the Stanislaus National Forest; Exeter in California’s Central Valley; and the Bronx, N.Y.

Alone, it would be virtually impossible for any of In Good Company’s participating businesses to send large groups of employees on week-long trips across the country several times a year to volunteer on community projects. Missed work responsibilities and cost would be prohibitive. Partnering together, however, In Good Company makes that possible for a wide array of companies, creating meaningful change in communities and building partnerships and friendships along the way.

Businesses that are part of In Good Company--such as Clif Bar & Company, Annie’s, Amy’s, EILEEN FISHER, King Arthur Flour, Klean Kanteen, Organic Valley, QBP, Seventh Generation, States Logistics, Timberland and UNFI—share a belief in the power of human impact and the ability to change the communities in which we live, work and play.

Business can drive positive change. Through collaboration, In Good Company believes groups of businesses can drive greater positive change than if we act alone or for a few hours at a time.

What do you think? Is In Good Company right for your business?

Val Bisharat is the Community Programs Manager for Clif Bar & Company. She is responsible for managing the In Good Company volunteer program, which is an alliance of values-driven businesses that join together for a shared purpose to volunteer in local communities for a week at a time. Val has been with Clif Bar & Company for nearly 10 years. Prior to her current role, she was a Field Marketing Manager in the Los Angeles market. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she earned a B.A. in French and Multi-media Arts.

Image credit: Ryan Struck

2017 was a watershed year for gender and human rights ... sort of. Landmark legislation aimed to control the migration and advancement of some of the world's poorest peoples, and an unthinkable tally of abuses has helped galvanize the call for more humane governance across the globe.

Still, the world has made progress. Businesses once again played a critical role in addressing not just the rights of people, but the environment on which they depend.

#MeToo Campaign

My mother's sage response to hearing that there had been some advances in both women's rights and human rights this year pretty much sums up the #MeToo message: "Aren't women also human?" Sometimes it takes a 90-year-old editor to remind us both of semantics and the humanity of the subject.

But the outpouring of admissions from celebrities that they too, had endured discrimination (and oftentimes, harassment) has opened the door to frank and surprising discussions about the way women have been treated in Hollywood. What hasn't been surprising, is that it's fueled discussions in other venues as well.

And it's led to business proposals, like Maria Contreras-Sweet's $275 million bid to buy the troubled Weinstein Company. Her proposal for the film company includes a 51 percent female board and four financial backers.

Dairy workers' rights get recognized

Ben & Jerry's success in negotiating better working conditions and accommodations for dairy workers may seem small, but it reset the benchmark for what dairy workers can and should be able to expect at the job site.

It took years to accomplish, but the ice cream maker, along with the nonprofit Migrant Justice, struck a deal with Vermont dairy farms to provide better pay and living conditions. Ben & Jerry's is footing some of the bill for this, proving that companies can improve working conditions within their supply chains just by speaking out.

VISA speaks up for women's rights

Microloans often serve as critical pathways for poor landowners who don't have the collateral or the business equity to get larger loans. In some cases, they are the launch point for aspiring business owners who need employment but don't have the money to start a business.

The concept of lending a small amount of money to an aspiring entrepreneur has done well in a number of underdeveloped communities in India, Ethiopia and Latin America. It's worked because nonprofits generally aren't out to make a lot of money; rather, they simply want to keep the fund going.

But the business model has been successful enough to the point that this year, VISA donated $20 million to the Women's World Banking. The money will go toward promoting funding and banking products to women entrepreneurs in underserved regions.

While some researchers have expressed concerns about a big business with a large balance sheet taking up a cause that benefits from low overhead strategies, VISA's support offers further recognition that small business owners can make a valuable contribution to developing communities and bigger businesses can help open those doors. The challenge is how to keep those small business aspirations affordable for all.

Gender discrimination: A transgender perspective

There has been much research to measure gender discrimination in recent years, but few have been able to quantify it with the fresh view of Dr. Vivienne Ming.

Ming, a theoretical neuroscientist and co-founder of the educational technology company Socos, has a long list of research and development credits to her name. But when it comes to intuitively understanding the implications of gender discrimination, she has an advantage: she knows from personal experience what it is like to be a man in today's workplace.

As a transgender scientist, she's been on both sides of the experience and has been able to poignantly describe what differences she observed after transitioning to a woman.

It is not usually the kind of data that researchers are able to add to their findings, but then, Ming isn't the usual scientist. She's already broken through barriers in a number of areas of research: data mining, predictive diabetes management and cognitive neuroscience, to name a few.

Perhaps her greatest contribution is being able to remind us that it is humanity -- not just numbers -- that define the implication of our success.

Human rights and continuing climate change

Climate change has human implications: that was the stark message for communities across the world in 2017. Mitigating the impacts of global warming will not just mean redesigning waterfronts or reclaiming dried-out forests. It will mean infusing our world with a better understanding of what assures a community's human rights.

This year, the U.S. saw populations displaced by record flooding, entire towns leveled by freak wild fires and communities that are still battling, decades on, for relocation assistance to higher ground.

As a nation and as a planet, we've come to gradually accept the weight of the expression, climate change refugees: to be a refugee, you must have a planet that can serve as a refuge.

That very topic has inspired another realization, one that is often under fire these days: That science does indeed have value, both in the decisions we make in our communities and the governments we elect. The March for Science rallies on Earth Day fueled a genuine interest to protect the very mechanisms by which we predict and mitigate climate change.

Finally, we were also reminded that to have a sustainable environment, we must have sustainable communities. Organizations including Cool Effect, which finds ways to blend carbon offsetting programs with improving the conditions of communities in developing countries, have taught us that in the end, those two aspirations are one and the same. Ensuring human rights of those less fortunate helps keep ecosystems resilient and valued. Restoring what we borrowed from Mother Nature gives us another resource for tomorrow's enduring communities.

Images: Catching.Light/Flickr; hdptcar/Flickr; Erik Jepsen/courtesy of Socoslearning.com; Molly Adams/Flickr

 

 

 

In an attempt to stay relevant in the low carbon economy of the future, some leading oil and gas stakeholders have been ramping up their investments in renewable energy. BP is among that group, and the company just sank $200 million into a major solar energy deal with the company Lightsource. The new investment is especially noteworthy for the sharp contrast it makes with BP's previous attempts to move "beyond petroleum."

$200 Million says solar energy is for real

Not too long ago, solar energy was perceived as a niche fuel for space exploration and a nifty DIY project for off-gridders, with practically no market in between.

Solar energy has gone mainstream since then, and the new BP investment in Lightsource is a case in point.

Lightsource already operates on three continents, and BP is describing the new investment as a "strategic partnership" that will drive the solar company's reach "across the world." Here's the rundown from BP:

"BP will acquire on completion a 43% equity share in Lightsource for a total consideration of $200 million, paid over three years. The great majority of this investment will fund Lightsource’s worldwide growth pipeline. The company will be renamed Lightsource BP and BP will have two seats on the board of directors."

The new name is not just window dressing. Major oil and gas stakeholders are jockeying for position as the renewable energy field opens up new areas of competition. The name linkage enables BP to cement its role in energy innovation.

Group CEO and founder of Lightsource Nick Boyle sums up the strategy:

"We founded Lightsource to lead the solar revolution and chose to partner with BP because, like us, their ambition is to build and grow this company for the long-term. Not only does this partnership make strategic sense, but our combined forces will be part of accelerating the low-carbon transition."

What a difference a year makes

If that $200 million figure rings a bell, you may be thinking of BP's old "Beyond Petroleum" tagline. The Beyond Petroleum campaign launched in 2000 at a reported cost of $200 million, with the A-list ad firm Ogilvy and Mather doing the honors. "Beyond Petroleum" was the tagline BP deployed to identify itself with the transition to a low carbon business model.

The Beyond Petroleum campaign failed. To be fair, low cost solar and wind technology were not widely available in the early 2000's. In addition, here in the US President Bush took office in 2001 and promptly made oil and gas development a priority. By the time President Obama began his first term in 2009, it was too late. BP's notoriously ham-handed response to the colossal 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was the final nail in the coffin.

Just last year, the company's former BP CEO John Browne detailed the collapse of the Beyond Petroleum campaign in a new book, “Connect: How Companies Succeed by Engaging Radically with Society.”

For Browne, the main problem was that the company's intentions were running far ahead of public opinion and public policy. In addition, when the campaign was first formulated back in 1997, the technology was far from mainstream:

"In essence, the company had gotten ahead of itself and ahead of where industry and government were willing to go at that time. Beyond Petroleum was never meant to be literal – not yet, anyway – but there was still too much of a gap between the aspiration and reality, which I now regret."

Timing is everything. Earlier this month -- barely one year after Browne's book was released -- here is current BP group chief executive Bob Dudley's statement announcing the new Lightsource partnership:

BP has been committed to advancing lower-carbon energy for over 20 years and we’re excited to be coming back to solar, but in a new and very different way. While our history in the solar industry was centered on manufacturing panels, Lightsource BP will instead grow value through developing and managing major solar projects around the world.

As for pushing solar into the mainstream, Lightsource already has more than 1.3 gigawatts of solar capacity under its belt. The company also has maintenance contracts for another 2 gigawatts and its growth pipeline includes another 6 gigawatts, mostly in the US, India, Europe and the Middle East.

Baby steps to a sustainable future

The Lightsource buy is a significant move, but it doesn't necessarily mean that BP is winding down its petroleum and gas business just yet. Like ExxonMobil, the company could ratchet up its natural gas investments and claim lower carbon emissions on that score. That's a controversial strategy, to say the least, considering the local and global impacts of natural gas production.

Controversy aside, last September BP announced a new joint venture with Argentina-based Bridas (and 50% China-owned) Bridas corporation. As described by Reuters, the new venture retains BP's holdings in the oil producer Pan American Energy and the  refiner and fuel retailer Axion Energy, which is a partner in Pan American and owner of Bridas.

Got all that? According to Reuters, on the Pan American side the venture includes 262,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and holdings in "sought-after" Vaca Muerta shale fields, a major oil and gas producing region. On Axion's side, it includes a refinery with a capacity of 90,000 barrels per day, and more than 755 retail sites in South America.

Reuters cites a statement from Dudley indicating that BP may be ready to take another shot at solar energy but it still isn't ready to go beyond petroleum -- yet:

"We see value-enhancing opportunities throughout PAEG’s businesses; from extending the life of mature production and developing new unconventional resources including Vaca Muerta to growth in retail fuels and lubricants marketing . . . "

As further evidence, on December 22 our friends over at Oil & Gas Journal reported that BP will join with Russia's Rosneft to develop oil and gas in a region of Russia that includes the major Kharampurskoye field.

Photo: Mike Mozart/flickr.

Biomimicry, the study of nature to solve technical problems, is far from a 21st century concept. Leonardo da Vinci's study of birds led to the creation of his unique (though unsuccessful) ornithopter, the first known attempt to fly. And the majestic-looking domes that grace stately buildings, churches and mosques are said to have been a nod to the smooth and versatile egg (or maybe, some suggest, the protecting structure of the human crown).

Call it plagiarism or just ingenious science, but nature's best patent-free inventions are becoming the go-to source for companies that need to solve tough problems.

The automaker's tiniest friend

How do you build a car without glues and other toxic adhesives that leave sticky residues? For vehicle manufactures like Ford Motor Company, improving its recycling options often requires upgrading the way they manufacture cars -- including how they secure certain devices to supporting structures.

That's because recycling streams are most efficient when they don't require a lot of prior disassembly -- including removing residues that may get in the way of reusing  materials.

So to come up with alternative answers, Ford, and its partner in this case, Procter & Gamble, turned to the gecko lizard, which is known for its agility in tough spots (and its ability to grasp surfaces without leaving sticky messes). The gecko's sticky pads allow it to climb branches, rocks and other surfaces without leaving a residue.

In fact, it isn't fluid or glue that binds the gecko's toes to the surface, but  hundreds of minute hairs, so fine as to be imperceptible to the naked eye. The microscopic tufts of hair, called setae, can actually "grasp" the surface through what is called the Van der Waals force, a distance-dependent interaction with the surface at the molecular level that also allows the lizard to move at a moment's notice

For manufacturers, the gecko's unique "sticky" pads offer an answer for a number of equally sticky problems -- including how to adhere removable parts that could later be replaced or recycled.

For now, research is ongoing. But it's only a matter of time that scientists will find a way to duplicate the gecko's attributes.

Of course, it's worth noting that biomimicry isn't new to Ford. The automaker has found that nature has some surprising answers for problems in tough spots. The recyclable honeycomb paper in its EcoSport cargo area for example, is based on the engineering feats of the honey bee, which uses a comb-like structure to house its larvae. The honey comb has become the teachable example for many companies' efforts to develop durable but light surfaces that are adaptive to thin spaces or areas that need porous surfaces.

The slippery slug: Improving medical technology

And vehicle manufacturers aren't alone in their pursuit for better adhesives. Quick and effective medical treatment options are often ruled by the products that doctors and nurses have at hand. When it comes to surgical recovery, having a product that can interface with an open wound is critical -- and often hard to find.

In this case, researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) used the slug's sticky underside as an example of how to create a hydrogel that can bind surgery sites and won't interact with the wound area.

The key was determining what it was about the slug's mucus that was so effective. Researchers figured out it was the positively-charged proteins in the slimy liquid that gave the slug's grip tinsel strength. The new product, an alginate-polyacrylamide matrix that can be applied directly to wound sites, is one of medicine's latest examples of biomimicry at work.

Biomimicry: The key to cleaning up the world's landfills?

Those piles of plastic shopping bags in our closets, landfills and miles of ocean gyres may one day have a global recycling stream all of their own.

Earlier this year a researcher at Cantabria University in Northern Spain who also has a talent for beekeeping noticed something peculiar when she placed a moth inside a plastic bag: It could develop its own escape hatch.

Many of us might not have thought about the implications of a plastic-eating moth, but to Dr. Federica Bertocchini, this discovery opened a whole new opportunity for research and development. What if her team could develop a product that "ate away" at polyethylene or polypropylene plastic like the moth could? Would this one day herald a new way to get rid of thousands of tons of plastic bags?

More than 90 percent of the plastic found in landfills pose an added problem when it comes to recycling because they can't always be combined with other types of plastic in recycling streams. Finding a way to degrade the polyethylene and polypropylene offers not only a possible answer to how to reduce our landfills, but how to clean up the miles of garbage in the world's ocean gyres.

So far, Bertocchini and her associates have determined that the moth (or specifically, the juvenile worm of this particular moth) has a facility for eating through plastic because of its molecular similarity to beeswax. The moth lays its larvae in the bee's honeycomb and as the worm develops, it chews through the comb to gain freedom.

Research is ongoing, and there are still questions about how these findings can be applied to reducing the world's waste. When it comes to biomimicry, Mother Nature's reference book may well hold part of that answer.

Flickr images: Maja Dumont; US Army Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Mark Henderson

Historical data shows that small businesses typically balk at the upfront costs and perceived risk of implementing energy-saving initiatives. While small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) consume 40 to 50 percent of the nation’s energy and more than three in 10 of them state that energy is one of their top three business expenses, less than 2 percent participate in their utility’s energy efficiency programs. This poses a huge challenge for the utilities trying to reach this untapped market and bridge the gap between SMBs and those program resources.

Fortunately, there are signs this is changing due to market evolution and innovation. Technology is transforming business processes for utilities and their end customers, and opening the door to a new era of energy management that utilities can use to engage budget-restricted SMBs. Three strategies in particular serve as critical change agents for utilities’ SMB engagement in the coming years.

Deploying Data-Driven Targeting and Engagement

Data analytics provide significant value for utilities through identification of high-potential customers for energy savings by examining their meter consumption data at scale. These include pinpointing customers who can save 10-20 percent or more on their energy bill through cost-effective equipment adjustments and upgrades.

With detailed assessments of energy consumption at hand, utilities can make unbiased, comprehensive customer recommendations for energy reductions and operational changes across lighting, HVAC, plug load and refrigeration. Utilities understand that small businesses have diverse needs, so they can analyze data from their energy meters to develop unique programs that work for any organization.

Embracing Intelligent Equipment

To capture the next frontier of savings, utilities and businesses must go beyond thinking about initial equipment installation to ensuring that the equipment is operated optimally over time. Operational improvements, in fact, account for 30-50 percent of the energy-saving potential in businesses.

Some utilities have tried to drive behavioral change in small businesses to maintain optimal operations – for example, making employees aware that they should turn off the lights at the end of the day. But this is not enough. As large businesses have long understood, automation is key. Control-based solutions, which automate when lights are on or optimize temperature set points based on when the business is operating or when energy prices are high, are now becoming more accessible to small businesses from both a cost and usability perspective.

Beyond the upfront cost of the equipment, business owners are often concerned about maintaining a particular ambiance for customers. This is a top priority for retail and restaurant owners who rely on environmental factors to create an enjoyable experience, in the hopes of bringing customers back again. Intelligent technologies are increasingly providing the benefit of creating a better ambiance, while simultaneously increasing energy efficiencies. These benefits, along with employee productivity, must be touted alongside pure energy savings as reasons to adopt as they can be the difference for utilities in getting to “yes.”

Meeting Them Where They Are

The question then becomes, where can SMBs find the right equipment, resources and financing required to make purchasing energy efficiency products easy?

SMBs make purchasing decisions in a variety of ways, and utilities need to make sure they are incentivizing various buying channels properly. For example, utilities are increasingly placing incentives at the manufacturer (upstream) or distributor (midstream) level to streamline the buying experience. By the time a business is working with a contractor to identify the right technology, they see attractive pricing on energy efficient technology.

Small businesses may also make purchases like everyday consumers – in a retail store or online. To meet the growing demand for digital channels, utilities can offer small businesses marketplaces specifically oriented around energy efficiency products and education to provide easy access to solutions and support. As utilities increasingly rise to the forefront of the purchase process for energy-related devices, they have the power to influence the distribution, purchase and installation of these products to create a seamless energy buying experience.

Energy-efficient technology and new channels for utility engagement enable SMBs to embrace energy efficiency without sacrificing the quality of their businesses. Not only can businesses reduce energy spend and drive cost savings, but they can also gain credit for sustainability. These organizations face a new generation of environmentally focused customers, and energy efficiency programs and sustainability initiatives will help them foster stronger relationships with these customers for continued growth.

Mark Henderson is Chief Utility Solutions Officer, Ecova

Image credit: PIxabay / StockSnap

Earlier this month, Xinhua, the Chinese government’s official press agency, announced the launch of the world's largest carbon emissions trading system. China’s new carbon market is expected to manage over 3 billion tons of carbon, which would make it at least 50 percent larger than the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

The first phase of China’s carbon trading system will cover the country’s power generation sector, which by most accounts currently burns about half of the world’s supply of coal.

“The news further cements China’s newfound role as de facto global climate leader, and it could both put a dent in its emissions and inspire other countries to make similar moves,” said MIT Technology Review shortly after the news was made public.

Of course, that assessment will only be correct if China’s carbon market venture is a success. Questions about the viability of carbon markets worldwide reap answers all over the map. The EU ETS has attracted its share of criticism over the years, including by The Economist, a publication that in general supports a broad global climate action plan.

Carbon markets in North America, such as those in California and Quebec, tend to score more favorable reviews, though some observers question whether their success can be sustained. California tweaked its cap and trade system earlier this summer in an effort to stabilize carbon markets, but the verdict is still out. November’s latest auction sold out and also fetched high prices, but revenue projections after 2020 are highly uncertain, with estimates ranging anywhere from $2 billion to $7 billion.

China’s carbon trading system will start tackling energy-intensive industries in incremental steps. First, only companies with their power plants emitting over 26,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year will be allowed to join the system. And so far, there is no timeline for including other energy-intensive industries, such as transportation, construction or manufacturing.

Nevertheless, this plan is integral to China’s goal to slash carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 percent to 65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The Chinese government claims that based on that metric, emissions declined 6.6 percent last year, far outpacing the country's original goal of a 3.9 percent reduction.

With the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, China’s government is eager to step in and exert itself as the world’s climate action leader. The reality, however, is a mixed bag when it comes to environmental stewardship. China’s solar power sector is booming as the country builds more solar installations at home while exporting more components abroad. But the country’s coal producers are also increasing the amount of that fossil fuel exported to developing countries.

That conundrum opens China to criticism that its climate change agenda is about cleaning up its air at home while exporting pollution abroad – not unlike other global energy producers such as Norway, which has promoted an ambitious domestic green agenda, while simply exporting its carbon emissions to other countries.

In fairness, China's emissions have surged because it has become the world's manufacturing center. The country deserves credit for at least attempting this tactic to reduce pollution while deploying more renewables.

Image credit: Leon Kaye

By Elliot Negin 

According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), one-quarter of the world’s land mass has suffered environmental degradation over the past 50 years. The costs have totaled at least $6.3 trillion in lost ecosystem services; on the flip side, there is massive investment potential in repairing all these lands. The challenge, however, is finding ways to make land restoration more enticing for investors.

A report WRI issued earlier this week suggests seven essential steps by which governments and the private sector can find ways to make ecosystems restoration an attractive financial proposition. The results would include more food grown, improved energy efficiency and of course, better air and water quality.

So what is getting in the way of restoring forests and other remediation efforts worldwide?

Environmental and social benefits are of little value to private investors

The restoration of forests and other lands creates clearly results in a huge net positive for citizens and businesses. The problem is that conventional financial metrics give no value to environmental and social benefits. WRI suggests both the public and private sectors adopt accounting measures that assign a value to benefits such as carbon sinks, improved farmland and clean water. An additional suggestion is the adoption of a payments for ecosystems services (PES), which pay landowners and farmers to adopt practices that promote environmental stewardship.

Short-term incentives to degrade lands surpass efforts to restore them

The business case for land restoration is almost impossible to make when governments offer incentives for continued land degradation by incentivizing unsustainable practices in the first place. Examples include Brazil backpedaling on forest production in the quest to boost beef and soy production, or the U.S. federal government continuing subsidies to encourage the production of meat and poultry to the detriment of ecosystems. Eliminating harmful environmental subsidies would be one way to stop this trend, though WRI acknowledges the outsized political influence agribusiness interests have in most countries. Increasing the subsidies for restoration, however, would be one way to counter this ongoing problem.

For most restoration projects, climate access is difficult to access

When it comes to climate finance access, the winners are renewables, energy efficiency and transportation projects; at a first glance, this is understandable as those investments can often generate quick returns. That reality explains why of the $128 billion in funds available for climate finance projects available during 2015, only $7 billion of that amount was available for forest and land restoration. Meanwhile, red tape, especially in developing countries, can result in even more hurdles for such projects. If more governments included land restoration as part of their climate mitigation strategies, more of those funds' monies could find their way to repairing ecosystems.

Environmental budgets are too small to fund big restoration projects

WRI has estimated that the restoration of 150 million hectares of degraded agricultural land can generate as much as $40 billion in extra income for smallholder farmers annually, while raising enough food for up to 200 million people. There is also a connection between land restoration and energy; after all, less erosion from forests cleared for firewood means less sediment can end up interfering with hydroelectric power production. But those numbers frequently get lost in translation. Greater cooperation between government agencies responsible for the environment, agriculture and energy could help boost the case for environmental restoration. And more tools that clearly state the financial links between environmental stewardship and economic development could also help governments draft more coherent policies.

Restoration projects are too small for institutional investors

As this report’s authors note, a $5 billion fund will never consider any $5 million investment; the transaction costs are simply too high. Financial mechanisms similar to the resecuritization of assets such as auto loans (and ahem, mortgages before the 2008-2009 global financial crises) could help bundle such projects and make them more compelling for investors.

A 10 to 20 year payback is too long for most investors

It is a given that $1 today will be worth more than $1 ten to 20 years from now. And therein lies the fundamental problem restoration projects have in attracting investors: how can the need for environmental restoration overcome the short-termism endemic across global markets? WRI suggests tactics such as the scaling up of agroforestry, which allows economic and environmental activities to continue side-by-side. Securitization could also aggregate such investments, giving them more liquidity while reducing those pesky transaction costs.

Restoration is still seen as a risky investment

The countries that could benefit the most from land restoration projects also turn off investors because the lack of transparency pushes them to look elsewhere. Tax credits and other investment guarantees, however, could help make these projects to financial institutions and companies, while building up trust between governments and the businesses investing in the long-term health of their ecosystems.

Image credit: Leon Kaye

By Tom Murray

The Trump Administration has proposed a rollback of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the nation’s first-ever limits on climate pollution from power plants. If the CPP is repealed, the United States will have no nationwide plan to reduce emissions from one of the country’s largest sources: electric power generation. That’s why companies like VF Corporation are speaking out in support of the plan.

All businesses have a critical role to play in determining the future of the CPP. Under the law, the EPA must take public comments into account when developing a new rule or withdrawal. By filing public comments in support of the CPP, you are speaking up for action on climate change, access to clean energy and accelerating low-carbon innovation and job growth in the United States.

Here’s why you should file comments with the EPA by April 26, 2018:

1. Shape the future of the power sector

By limiting climate pollution from power plants, the CPP impacts the entire electricity market – providing incentives for greater access to and investment in clean energy, as well as energy-saving efficiency investments that reduce energy bills for businesses and families.

As a major purchaser of electricity, your company has a critical stake in policies affecting the power sector. But your views will only be considered if you speak up. The way to do that is to file comments with the EPA, attend public hearings and make your voice heard through op-eds, blog posts and other communications.

2. Walk the talk on climate and clean energy

Speaking up for smart climate and energy policies like the CPP shows your stakeholders you’re walking the talk on sustainability. It should be a no-brainer for companies that have made commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions or shift to renewable energy, or signed on to We Are Still In.

Your stakeholders expect you to advocate for smart policies like the CPP:

• Investors and shareholders are increasingly scrutinizing companies’ engagement in public policy, and demanding consistency with their sustainability goals.


• Customers and employees broadly support policies that cut carbon pollution and protect human health.


• Millennials, in particular, care deeply about climate change and are significantly more likely to support companies they perceive to have strong environmental values.

3. Speed the transition to a thriving, low-carbon economy

The CPP is central to the U.S.’s ability to achieve the emission reductions we committed to in Paris in 2015. It also establishes a predictable framework for reducing carbon pollution from the power sector, and creates a stable environment for planning and investment for companies across all sectors.

Rolling back the CPP would slow job growth by reducing demand for clean energy, a sector that is adding jobs far faster than the rest of the economy. It would also put U.S. manufacturers of low-carbon technologies at a disadvantage globally if demand for their products shrinks here at home.

How to Submit Public Comments

Submit your comments via the regulations.gov page for “The EPA Proposed Rule: Repeal of Carbon Pollution Emissions Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units” by 11:59pm ET on April 26, 2018.

* Note: We recommend that businesses prioritize comments on the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, and not the recently announced—and separate—EPA request for input on whether and how to replace the Clean Power Plan, as EPA has not committed to move ahead with that process and finalize a replacement.

Please review the Federal government’s checklist and tip sheet for submitting effective comments. A single, well-supported comment can carry more weight than a thousand form letters. In particular:

• Identify your credentials and experience as a business leader to make your comments stand out.


• Explain the economic impact of the proposed CPP repeal on your company, using quantitative and/or qualitative data.

Here is a suggested outline for company comments in support of the CPP.

By Dion McBay

Farming is part of who I am. I am passionate about advancing and advocating for modern agriculture.  From my early days spent on our family farm in rural Tennessee and throughout a career devoted entirely to agriculture, the farm has played a major role in shaping how I view the world.

For me personally, it weighs heavy on my heart that 850 million people around the world are chronically hungry and more than a billion live in extreme poverty. With enormous numbers like these, we can sometimes overlook the fact that these statistics represent real people, amazing people, with hopes and dreams like yours and mine. That’s what gets me up in the morning – the opportunity to help advance agriculture to make a difference in their lives and for our shared planet.

I know beyond a doubt that modern agriculture can be a meaningful part of the solution. Really, it’s nearly impossible to overstate its importance in addressing some of the world’s most critical issues. Hunger. Poverty. Climate change. Through innovations like digital tools and other advancements, modern agriculture provides farmers around the world the tools and the know-how they need to help feed the hungry while reducing the environmental impact of growing food, fuel and fiber.

Consider this: Since the dawn of agriculture over 11,000 years ago, human prosperity has been driven by success on the farm. Once farmers could produce enough food to take care of themselves and their families, they could provide for their communities, freeing rural economies to grow and flourish. But eliminate productive agriculture as a societal foundation and people get stuck in a poverty trap, fighting constantly just for survival or fleeing in search of areas that might more readily meet their needs. Agriculture makes a foundation that is sturdy and robust, and it helps build a more stable, prosperous and educated society, affording millions of people a better life.

While agriculture has faced and overcome numerous hurdles over the years, the global situation we’re in today vastly complicates things.

Challenge No. 1 is the huge growth projected in the global population. Today’s population of about 7.6 billion will balloon to 9.8 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations. Combined with richer diets in the parts of the world that are growing more prosperous, the increase means we’ll need at least 50 percent more food by mid-century, as the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has forecast.

Complicating the problem further is where the population growth will be concentrated. More than half of it, forecasters say, will be in Africa, where 27 of the 48 countries in the world that the UN designates as least developed (LDCs) are located. Here is how the UN summarizes the resulting situation:

“The concentration of global population growth in the poorest countries presents a considerable challenge to governments in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which seeks to end poverty and hunger, expand and update health and education systems, achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, reduce inequality and ensure that no one is left behind.”

While poverty and hunger (the focus of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] Nos. 1 and 2) are clear threats to the lives and livelihoods of so many, climate change further compounds the challenge. With extreme weather events like droughts, intense heat and floods, farming becomes more difficult and food and economic security are threatened. That’s one of many reasons SDG 13 calls for immediate climate action.

All three of these goals underline how important – how crucial – the success and progress of modern agriculture has become. With the right tools and best practices, farmers can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, better adapt to the challenges presented by climate change, and help meet the challenges of our growing global community.

What if, for example, we could plant maize (corn) seeds in Africa that grow big, healthy corn ears even in extremely dry conditions? Well, we can. And in Kenya, people like Bertha and Victor Otor, with the help of a program called Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), are doing it.

The result is that the Otors can not only feed their nine children, but also send them to school, helping climb out of the multi-generational poverty that traps so many poor, rural children. The Otors can also use their improved harvests to produce food for others in their community, and spend some of their newfound income in ways that help their family and their neighbors.

The Otors bring to life a great example of how modern agriculture is helping farmers adapt to our changing climate. But what about using modern agriculture to help stop climate change in its tracks?

We can. And we are. More and more farmers across the Midwestern United States, throughout the plains of Western Canada and in the Cerrados region of Brazil are doing their part. They’re planting high technology seeds and using climate-smart farming methods that result in better harvests while using less land and fewer natural resources.

Some of the seeds they’re using have built-in protections against weeds and insect pests, to reduce the need for chemical insecticides. And, because weeds are better controlled, farmers can reduce or eliminate tillage of their soil, which reduces the amount of fuel they must burn and helps keep carbon, a potent greenhouse gas, stored in the soil. And most excitingly, digital tools are emerging that enable farmers to be far more precise in their application of nutrients, which helps keep nitrous oxide, an even more powerful greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere.

And, what if farmers could grow crops with larger root systems that use nutrients more efficiently and in turn keep more carbon in the soil and more greenhouse gases from escaping to the air? They can. Today, farmers are using seeds that have been coated with naturally occurring microbes that do just that. These microbial advances help deliver healthier plants, healthier soils and a healthier environment.

And finally, what if we could boost the practice of planting cover crops between primary growing seasons, so that less topsoil and nutrients are lost and more carbon stays in the soil? We can and we’re working with farmers to do just that.

The climate-smart farming techniques enabled by modern agriculture are already proven, and adoption is growing rapidly. But there is an urgent need for even broader, faster adoption if we’re going to eliminate poverty, end global hunger and make agriculture part of the solution to climate change. And these are bold goals. But if we want to be able to look in the faces of hundreds of millions of hungry, impoverished people and say, “we’re doing all we can to help,” then modern agriculture must be part of the solution.

Learn more about how Monsanto is advancing the climate-smart practices enabled by modern agriculture in our 2017 Sustainability Report, Growing Better Together.

Image credit: Pixabay / bones64

Dion McBay is Global Sustainable Development Lead, Monsanto Company