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By Michael Aper

Every working day of the week, as in all major cities across the states, quiet professionals -- disciplined in the arts and sciences of regional and municipal planning -- labor with the hopes of steering the nation’s great communities in a direction of sustainable prosperity.  The city of Charlotte, North Carolina, often goes unmentioned when discussions arise about nation-leading exemplars of sustainable development.  The city coasts humbly along, moving confidently under the radar into the 21st Century.

The city of Charlotte is named after Queen Charlotte: wife to King George III of England, circa 1760.  Historians tell us that the queen, in her daily pursuits, was an avid botanist and connoisseur of music.  It’s a namesake fitting to anyone who has leisurely strolled among the city’s tree-lined corridors or relaxed and enjoyed the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Pops series.  In such moments, Charlotte can be reminiscent of the world’s great cultural hubs, emoting a sense of royal dignity.

Among Queen Charlotte’s most cherished artisans was a talented landscape designer named Capability Brown.  Brown was responsible for designing over 170 gardens in England during his tenure in the latter half of the 18th century -- many of which still endure today, including Kew Gardens and Milton Abbey.  The Queen City too, it seems, is also fond of her talented planners.  Renowned planner John Nolen helped to design Charlotte’s memorable Myers Park and Dilworth suburbs.  Simply take a walk in some of the area’s communities, and it’s hard to ignore the collective effort toward aesthetics as your eyes wander across seemingly undulated landscapes redolent of Brown himself.

Charlotte, better known nationally as a banking hub, is home to Bank of America. It’s consistently a national finance leader only outdone annually by the banking behemoth of New York City.  Today, it’s making headway as a different kind of national leader through the efforts of professionals who work with different forms of capital.

At the forefront are planning organizations like the Centralina Council of Governments (CCOG) and Envision Charlotte.  The success of these organizations in managing sustainable growth has been catalyzed by the city’s recent surge in population; its numbers swelled from 569,858 inhabitants in 2000 to over the 800,000 mark last year.  Among the top 25 incorporated places in the U.S., only Austin, Texas, had a greater percent increase between 2010 and 2013.  The key to these organizations’ success has been a combination of measurable metrics built on the time-tested philosophies of grassroots processes.

The Queen’s Court: Centralina Council of Governments

In 2008, the Centralina Council of Governments (CCOG) completed the CONNECT Regional Vision.  The vision, working collaboratively with local governments as well as dozens of public, private and nonprofit organizations, consisted of six core principles for future growth:

• A strong, diverse economy


• Sustainable, well-managed growth


• A safe and healthy environment


• Increased collaboration


• Enhanced social equity


• High-quality educational opportunities

In 2012, with the core values, CCOG -- supported by a $4.9 million HUD Sustainable Communities grant and $3 million in local in-kind public and private matching resources -- began developing the CONNECT Our Future Regional Growth Framework.

The framework is one of the most holistic community engagement processes ever undertaken by a regional planning agency to date.  Senior Advisor Dwayne S. Marsh from the HUD Office of Economic Resilience wrote of the process:

"[The] planning effort put [CCOG] amongst excellent company nationally with regards to innovative approaches to engage communities in resolving their local issues.  [CCOG] efforts moved the greater Charlotte region from being the largest metropolitan area without a long range comprehensive plan to national model for sustainable development."

The Framework was developed with a simple grassroots philosophy: Everyone’s voice matters.  In more than 80 transparent public-engagement opportunities, 60 local governments and government agencies, 29 nonprofit and community foundations, 12 private-sector businesses, seven educational institutions, and over 8,400 individual community-members shared their vision for the future.  The input was synthesized into 10 Regional Priorities:

• Support Our Communities: Create new, active town centers and support existing downtowns


• Maximize Return on Public Investment: Reduce waste and control the cost of providing public services


• Support Local Farms: Protect and ensure the sustainability of agriculture in the region


• Improve Access to Parks and Open Space: Ensure that residents have equitable access to parks, open space and other natural assets


• Increase Transportation Choices: Provide a range of alternative transportation options


• Improve Water Quality: Protect the region’s key watersheds to enhance water quality


• Improve Air Quality: Reduce pollutants in the air and help improve public health


• Grow Jobs Closer to Home: Improve housing and jobs accessibility


• Increase Housing Choices: Provide a range of housing types at different prices points that support residents within communities of the CONNECT region throughout all stages of life


• Reduce Commuting Costs: Decrease the percentage of household income spent on transportation

One of the major outcomes of the process has been the CONNECT Our Future Toolkit.  The Toolkit provides regional stakeholders with nearly 80 in-depth, multi-faceted technical support guides for addressing issues pertaining to the 10 Regional Priorities.  A few examples include the Farm to School, Creative Public Finance, Storm Water Best Management Practices and “Buy Local” Campaign tools.  Each tool provides metrics for success, an explanation of why it’s important for the community, where the tool is appropriate to use, the priorities it addresses and places where the tool has worked, among many other resources.  A cohort of the Master of Arts in Sustainability program at Wake Forest University recently concluded a year-long best-practices analysis and found the CONNECT Our Future Toolkit to be among the most comprehensive and well-organized in the country.

The Queen’s Court: Envision Charlotte

Envision Charlotte, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is also revolutionizing pro-business approaches for energy, water, waste and air resource conservation by turning Charlotte into a smart city.  The organization provides real-time aggregated usage information at user-friendly kiosks in participating buildings of the Charlotte Uptown area and recently obtained a grant to expand their operations to include some 200 buildings.

On March 23 and 24 of this year, Envision Charlotte and the city of Charlotte hosted the Smart Cities Council to discuss their efforts aimed at making Charlotte the “smartest" city in the nation.

Organizations like CCOG and Envision Charlotte, through their targeted efforts, are making clear that they plan to transition toward sustainable practices with decisive, pro-business strategies founded on the principles of transparency and inclusion.  Through the utilization of extensive cross-sector partnerships, the aforementioned organizations and their partners are showing that Charlotte and its surrounding region are serious about sustainability -- and they’re doing it with an air of Southern diplomacy worthy of only a queen.

Long live the Queen City.

Image credits: Michael Aper

Special thanks to Emily Parker and Blair Israel

Michael Aper served as a combat Infantryman in the United States Army from 2007 to 2010. During his time in service he deployed to South Korea and Afghanistan. As a member of the 4th Infantry Division, his unit was one of the first to deploy during the troop surge of 2009. During the deployment, his unit conducted route clearance operations and worked alongside Afghan Nationals to improve the local economy in a remote area outside of Kandahar. Upon returning in 2010, he was honorably discharged and began college at Northern Arizona University. In 2013, he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Community Development and Sustainability. Today, he is pursuing his Master of Arts in Sustainability at Wake Forest University, class of 2015.

By Carrie Pillsbury 

Their summer itineraries read like a global sustainability consultant’s work plan:

• Tour Geothermal Power Stations in Iceland;


• Observe operations at a Waste-to-Energy plants in Amsterdam;


• Research solar settlements in Germany;


• Explore the world’s first zero-waste town in Italy;


• Design products using sustainable materials in Ghana;


• Interview sustainable business owners in Argentina and Chile.

The individuals tackling these tasks, however, are teachers – recipients of Fund for Teachers grants who designed fellowships to pursue sustainability issues that engage their students as innovators and activists.

Fund for Teachers has awarded $23 million in teacher grants to 6,500 pre-K through 12th-grade teachers since 2001. Grant recipients design their own summer fellowships based on learning gaps (theirs and/or their students'), and sustainability-related fellowships are on the rise. The number of teachers applying for “green fellowships” more than doubled over the past five years, with only one teacher applying for such a fellowship 10 years ago.

Victoria Merriweather, a teacher at Paul International High School in Washington D.C., spent two weeks in July volunteering at the Kokrobitey Institute in Accra, Ghana. Merriweather worked alongside students using traditional skills and textile methods to create children’s lunch bags out of recycled materials. She also observed classes where students learn how to turn their creations into profitable enterprises.

"Sustainability is not at the top of a lot of my students’ priority lists, and understandably so," Merriweather said. "In our neighborhood, plagued with violence, food deserts and poverty, many of my students do not see the direct connection between protecting our natural resources and improving their immediate environment. So, I designed my Fund for Teachers fellowship to learn from a community - where needs are also great - how to use recycled materials to create basic essentials that will serve our community for years to come."

With her new skills and insight, Merriweather plans to establish a social entrepreneurship program at Paul International High School that guides students' design of products using sustainable materials to generate revenue for the school and surrounding areas.

“By developing a curriculum that produces future business owners, my students can contribute to the restoration of our community's businesses, neighborhoods and traditions. Assisting students on entrepreneurial quests can, unlike standardized tests, extend into lifelong skills and learning experiences.”

With a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant, a teaching team from New York City researched global corporations and initiatives to spark students’ interest in becoming scientifically-literate problem solvers.

Katelin Corbett and Danielle Neubauer, teachers at New Explorations into Science Technology and Math High School in Manhattan, designed their Fund for Teachers fellowship to investigate the science, engineering and citizen awareness involved in the European urban sustainability movement.

Their odyssey started in Iceland, with guided tours of the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Station, the Irofoss Hydro-Power Station and Sorpa, a company that transforms water into methane. In Copenhagen, they observed the city’s initiatives to become carbon neutral by 2025, including Denmark’s bicycle superhighways. Neubauer and Corbett visited Sweden’s Solar Region Skane, an association striving to raise awareness of solar energy technologies among the general public, then documented sustainable practices in three German cities. Finally, in Amsterdam, the duo visited a Waste-to-Energy plant. Each stop included interviews with industry experts and citizen activists.

“This fellowship helped us realize that sustainability means different things to people in different places. The dream of being carbon neutral is on the horizon for many European cities, but does not look the same in Denmark as it does in Iceland or as it could in America. This is why it is important to educate our students about the social, political and economic implications of creating a green community,” Corbett said.

“Having the opportunity to see a geothermal power plant is far more inspiring then reading through the specifications online.” added Neubauer.

“During the coming school year, we will provide students with a hands-on approach to designing and building models of solar energy technology and encourage them to examine and compare sustainable initiatives and businesses within their communities and the greater New York metro area. We believe it’s important for our students to understand that a collective commitment to a better future begins with sustainable solutions.”

Additional 2015 FFT Fellows pursuing sustainability learning this summer include:

• Amanda Dennard (Atascocita High School - Humble, TX) who documented sustainable business practices in Brazil and Argentina to learn how emerging markets balance increased productivity and economic growth with social/environmental sustainability efforts to develop a global business unit for students interested in social action;


• Becca White & Stacy Slater (Ursula Stephens Elementary - Katy, TX) who researched the sustainable food movement in Italy by exploring organic gardens, specifically the first Zero-Waste town of Capannori, to influence organic gardening projects within the school community and influence students’ healthy food choices; and,


• Daniel Kim (Downey High School - Downey, CA) who explored the flora and fauna of Costa Rica’s marine coastal and rainforest biomes to create more tangible and relevant learning tools for AP Environmental Science students that will improve their comprehension of sustainability and environmental conservancy.

For more information about Fund for Teachers and applying for a 2016 summer grant, visit fundforteachers.org and the nonprofit's blog.

As Fund for Teachers’ director of communications, Carrie Pillsbury curates and communicates Fellows’ stories of exploration that impact education. You can contact her at carrie.pillsbury@fundforteachers.org and follow FFT Fellow’s unique contributions to classrooms on the organization’s blog.

By Scott Tew

As COP21 approaches, countries continue to debate policies that foster a sustainable future. Should companies wait to align their climate targets with international goals? Or, should they take a stance now to drastically reduce their impact on the environment? Where is the path to becoming more sustainable, and how can organizations keep their employees motivated to meet their goals?

It’s important to remember that a broad issue such as sustainability requires commitment and participation from all stakeholders. It’s simply not an issue that any organization acting alone can solve. No matter how powerful a governing system is in any country, policies alone will not create substantial change.

For example, take the issue of increasing energy efficiency in big buildings, which are the largest energy consumers in the world. The floor space and sheer number of these buildings are constantly increasing to meet population growth. So, it’s no surprise that 30 percent of energy in buildings is used inefficiently or unnecessarily, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Solving this problem takes a multi-pronged approach. Industry associations are embracing environmental change by proactively taking a stance to reduce their impact and force their peers to keep pace.

Many business leaders are also taking this approach and inspiring their colleagues and employees to commit to energy-efficiency practices. Similar to climate commitments made by Unilever, Dow and Bank of America, companies can develop a commitment to improve sustainability within their own organization instead of waiting on a magic recipe from government policies.

This type of all-inclusive action will help create change, such as making big buildings and cities more efficient, and it’s important for organizations to understand their role in this dynamic. Companies need to move beyond nominal, local sustainability efforts and embed sustainability into the global company culture to create meaningful change. Here are some suggestions on how to make internal progress.

Benchmark your organization

Take a deep look across your organization’s industry and peers – from associations to customers and suppliers – to gain perspective and benchmark your company’s current efforts. Once you identify key areas for improvement and how these can add value to your business and align with your goals, the next priority is to embrace sustainability within the company culture and get your employees more engaged.

Inspire employees

Now that you understand areas for action within your company, it is critical to spur greater awareness and momentum within your company, as well as the local community. To achieve this, you must secure executive leadership support and create sustainability ambassadors

This will be the moment when your organization truly begins to “walk the talk.” Employees trust their respective business leaders and peers; they'll listen to their words and, more importantly, watch their actions. I recommend that you provide engagement avenues for employees to help them begin to incorporate sustainable thinking into their everyday work lives. A multi-faceted approach that provides ways for employees to learn more, participate in local projects, or share their own “green” passions -- from minimizing resource use to planting trees -- will inspire employees to incorporate sustainable thinking into their lives. It will also provide the best outcome for your company.

There is no doubt that there are obstacles around motivating employees and increasing internal engagement. However, these challenges can certainly be met. Instead of making employees feel like training is another mandatory task, make sustainability relevant to employees’ day-to-day lives by tying sustainability initiatives to their personal lives and encouraging them to incorporate sustainable thinking into their home environment. An employee that understands the impact of recycling or adding LED lighting is more likely to bring these actions back to the workplace. By forming a personal connection to sustainable thinking, employees will be more eager to get involved in sustainable actions within your company. Offering opportunities for sustainable education can only help broaden the impact of these actions.

In addition, empower employees with a learning program that leaves them inspired and recognized by the broader industry. Training programs should be positioned as a voluntary learning opportunity with flexible scheduling, so employees who find value in extending their skill-set can be trained at convenient times. Rewarding individuals and recognizing achievements is important and should be a key part of your sustainability framework. It is also critical to provide a repeatable framework for successful programs (simple tools, templates and guides), which can be implemented, measured and rewarded consistently across the enterprise.

Long-term actions

Once internal momentum is established, the opportunity to make a real impact externally through adjusting the product portfolio follows -- which in turn increases energy-efficiency practices among the partners and customer organizations that are using these products. Exceeding customer expectations is the big driver for lasting change for cities, the energy grid and the environment.

While many companies are in the defensive mode and looking to extend their product lines, this does not help push the bottom line to reduce greenhouse gases or improve energy efficiency. Long-term planning and commitment from the top down is the recipe for success and has a direct impact on our society. Leaders need to understand that to be taken seriously in the energy-efficiency conversation. They need to not only enter the conversation, but also be highly engaged to further initiatives. Energy-efficiency tactics require action now and can be the most effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions internationally.

While energy efficiency is a global issue and no one company or institution has all the answers, organizations should act as a convener to help identify a lower global-warming potential roadmap for areas without viable alternatives. The only route to transformation is pursuing an all-inclusive approach, involving action by government, business, civil society, research institutions and academia -- and the public at large. Multiple paths may be taken, but the key is to take action now.

Image credit: Flickr/four12

W. Scott Tew is the founder and leader of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand (CEES), which supports all of the company’s strategic brands – Club Car, Ingersoll Rand, Trane and Thermo King – and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives. Since the CEES was formed in 2010, Ingersoll Rand has successfully exceeded its long-term goals in energy use and waste reduction, while embedding sustainability in all parts of the product development process. Tew's recent efforts have led to the development of world-class initiatives including the creation of a green product portfolio (EcoWise), personalized employee engagement programs, and unique research on unmet needs in the green space. Tew manages all sustainability-related public transparency, advocacy, reporting and goal setting initiatives for the company. Ingersoll Rand has garnered recognition for these successful sustainability practices in Andy Savitz’ book The Triple Bottom Line, among others.

A farm has been created to grow food with only minimal effects on the environment – below the streets of London.
The enterprise, the world’s first underground farm, is at Clapham, 33 metres down and two miles south of the city centre.
It occupies almost forgotten, disused Second World War tunnels, formerly used as a bomb shelter for up to 8,000 Londoners.
No pesticides are used and water consumption is 70% lower than in traditional outdoor farming thanks to the hydroponics method of growing plants without soil but in water containing mineral nutrients. Energy use for lighting and irrigation is low and is sourced entirely from green suppliers.
West Country entrepreneurs Richard Ballard and Steven Dring, who have developed the farm in partnership with the Michelin-starred celebrity chef Michel Roux Jr, believe their efforts will reduce the need for imported food and cut the distances covered by carriers supplying wholesalers, retailers and customers.
They say their produce will not travel outside the M25, the road encircling Greater London, and could be in domestic kitchens within four hours of being picked and packed. The crops include pea shoots, radishes, mustard, coriander, red amaranth, celery, parsley and rocket. The first deliveries were due this month.
One great advantage is that crops can be produced all year round as they are unaffected by the usual weather variations.
Ballard and Dring are aiming ultimately at a zero environmental impact and hope to obtain carbon-neutral certification. They are also looking forward to increasing production as neighbouring tunnels are available for expansion.
Roux is enthusiastic: “It’s great to be involved in this ambitious project, for which we have ambitious growth plans. Above all, it’s fantastic to source produce so fresh in the heart of Britain’s largest city.”
Further information: http://growing-underground.com 

South Korea is commemorating the 70th anniversary of its 1945 liberation from Japanese colonial rule by creating an unusual grand piano to generate interest in the reunification of South and North Korea.

The reunification of the two Koreas that resulted from liberation is an ongoing issue. Many families were split apart when the boundary between the countries was established. Travel between the two is not allowed, except for occasional brief trips permitting handfuls of South Koreans to meet their surviving Northern relatives.

Working with Cheil Worldwide, an advertising agency in the Samsung Group, the project saw the Korean Ministry of Unification commission a piano made using barbed wire instead of regular piano strings. Gongmyeong, a Korean musical group, known for unusual music performances, collected the barbed wire over three months from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two countries.

Until the end of September, the piano will be exhibited and performed in public at a number of places.

According to Gongmyeong, the tension and sharpness of the tough border wire made the work difficult. Especially problematic was getting the piano to produce the exact sounds needed.

Using old, thick barbed wire gives a sound closer to the thud of percussion than the ringing tone of a piano.

The project was first proposed by Cheil Worldwide Inc. as part of the firm’s CSR programme. It was their second North Korea project this year. In March, Cheil introduced a smartphone app designed to help people, particularly teens, cope with the differences in language between the two countries.

Since the two countries were separated, the Korean language has developed differently in North Korea and South Korea and with travel prohibited between the two, learning the differences is difficult.

According to a 2012 study by the National Institute of the Korean Language, North Korean defectors understand only half of the Korean language used in the South.

Cheil partnered with DreamTouchForAll, a non-profit education organization, and Community Chest of Korea, a charitable organization, to develop the Univoca South Korean-North Korean Translator, which works like a digital dictionary.

The app includes 3,600 words used in Korean language textbooks for high school students. When a user scans an unfamiliar word with a smartphone, the translated text appears.

Users can also manually input text for translation and suggest more words to add to the app in future updates. 

BBC One’s new primetime drama The Interceptor has been awarded full marks for its efforts in sustainable production, having received a three star rating by industry certification scheme albert+.

The eight-part series, which follows a law enforcement team as they hunt down criminals, used only electric vehicles as unit and production cars during the making of the show.

This makes The Interceptor the first large scale television production to use electric cars behind the scenes during the production of the drama. Using this type of car saved eight tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – enough to drive 50,000 miles or twice around the globe. Driving green also enabled the BBC to save over £10,000 in fuel and congestion charges.

Cast and crew committed to reducing their energy output while making the show. The construction team ensured materials for props, paints and timber were sourced sustainably, with water based paints and FSC timber chosen for the set. Low level lighting was used in the efficiently run studio while the team reduced the amount of paper consumed by not printing scripts and 92% of waste was recycled.
The catering team sourced sustainable food alongside water fountains and reusable bottles rather than plastic bottles for water, all of which significantly reduced the team’s carbon footprint.

Howard Ella, producer of The Interceptor, said: “It was important for us to have the whole team on board and committed to working towards the same mission from the start.

“Everyone from catering, set designers, script editors and actors fully embraced the sustainability task to ensure the show achieved the albert+ status, reaching the three-star rating is testament to how dedicated the team was.”

“None of what we did is rocket science it is just a case of changing habits and embracing a new culture in the industry. With an eight-part drama series like this we had enough time to organise and plan ahead meaning that by the time the production ended nearly all waste was recycled. It’s such an important thing to do and something all of us programme makers should be doing as a matter of course, if you plan ahead it’s a win-win situation – for the production and the environment.”

The BBC, as a public service broadcaster, has always focused on supporting the whole sector which ultimately led to the development of albert. Created in 2010, it offers a way for production teams to calculate their own impacts, understand where they can make a difference (whether that’s in making sure cast accommodation is closer to the set to reduce transport, or saving power by using low-energy lighting) and compare themselves with similar types of productions.

It has been adopted by most industry players, with the likes of Sky, Channel 4, ITV and BBC all working together as members of a BAFTA-led consortium to make the tool even better. It is complusory for all in-house children’s and BBC TV productions to use the system.

Sky has gone further, asking all its suppliers to do the same.

Around 280 companies have signed up to use albert, incuding big independent production firms like Twofour and Kudos, and it has more than 1,800 users.

Albert + goes one step further. It has been developed to help companies certify their impact reduction and continue to manage their impacts. Successful productions are given a 1, 2 or 3-star rating and get to display the albert+ badge uring TV show credits.

So next time you’re watching your favourite show, keep your eyes peeled. 

Private sector investment in developing countries dwarfs aid budgets several times over, writes Matt Foster, director of strategies and programme effectiveness, VSO.

Large institutional donors like the UK’s Department of International Development (DfID) and the EU have kept a close eye on this and even overhauled their approach to private sector engagement because they recognise the value matched funding from private companies can bring to their own investment programmes.These increasingly blurred boundaries between the main actors in international development have also changed the nature of skills required to drive development solutions. From value chain analysis to organisational development, international NGO programmes are increasingly looking for talent that the private sector is already investing a huge amount in developing.

Yet, despite a trend in mainstream CSR programmes towards mass participation in corporate volunteering, donating staff time and skills to development programmes is still relatively small scale. At a time when global companies should be looking outwards to find new ways to develop leaders who can operate effectively in an increasingly interdependent global marketplace, you have to ask why this is.

Skills-based volunteering has long been recognised as an important way to develop talent and create experiences that simply cannot be replicated in any classroom situation. Volunteering in a development setting takes this to a whole new level, challenging traditional models of effective corporate leadership, and pushing individuals outside their comfort zone.

Volunteering does not just have a profound impact on the individual’s outlook. Recent research conducted by VSO with the Institute of Development Studies showed that volunteers also play a unique role in sustainable development. By living side-by side with local people in communities across the world, volunteers put themselves in a position to stimulate social innovation and create lasting impact long after they have returned home. Corporate volunteers bring this back into the businesses in which they work, becoming more socially, environmentally and culturally aware corporate leaders as a result of their experiences.

Many professional services companies are starting to recognise the value of investing their staff time in pro-bono or ‘not for profit’ consultancy and some of this even focuses on international development specifically. But, this is not enough or not happening quickly enough.

VSO, with the support of DfID seed funding, has just launched a new initiative called Knowledge Exchange which hopes to propel this model of collaboration forward. Knowledge Exchange is all about skills based volunteering – a tangible starting point for what we hope will be greater collaboration between the development and private sectors. Businesses are invited to join the Exchange as partners, and follow in the footsteps of firms like IBM, Syngenta, Accenture and Randstad which have already been growing their employee volunteering contribution in emerging markets.

The enduring scale and complexity of global poverty is challenging us all to find better ways of doing business as usual. It requires skills that the private sector has in abundance, and a willingness on the part of us all to find ways to work together differently to more effectively tackle poverty.

At the moment, the landscape in international corporate volunteering is extremely fragmented. We would like to throw down the gauntlet by calling on others to join with us in the Knowledge Exchange, because corporate skills are a resource that will only ever be effectively deployed if done at scale. And, that requires us to work together.
 

The Chinese saying that a fish rots from the head down has long been bandied about in business circles to reinforce the importance of strong leadership. Now new research from the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University signals the same: middle managers will mirror top management’s bad behaviours, regardless of how ethical they are as an individual.

The research, conducted in partnership with Cambridge University, shows that in cases of unethical leadership at the top of an organisation, middle managers will treat their subordinates unfairly if the social and spatial distance between them and the top management is low. In turn this will lead to employee dissatisfaction, lower organisational commitment and increased employee turnover.

In contrast, the effect is reversed if the social and spatial distance between managers and top management is high. Middle managers, who are unfairly treated by their bosses, will treat their employees fairer if, for example, they are based in different offices or buildings from their managers, and the social distance is high.

So the research also shows that the structure of the organisation plays its part too.

Dr. Gijs van Houwelingen, says: ‘’ We demonstrate that higher level management unfairness can have detrimental effects throughout the organization and it is passed down from high management to middle management, but only if the spatial and social distance is low.”

So what the research seems to be saying is that the head rotting fish concept is only valid when the structure of the company enables it. Indeed, for any organisation to go toxic, there has to be an organisational structure, that allows the toxicity to take root and then to flourish. In some companies, problems do not necessarily develop because of one person. The toxicity develops over time and because of the people and the systems.

The financial crisis and a series of scandals at non-financial companies points to this too and have prompted more focus on culture as a significant risk to corporate health. Boards are increasingly concerned to embed a sound corporate culture to protect and enhance their company’s ability to generate sustainable value.

The leaders may indeed set a tone, but it is the people and the institutions that slowly bend to their will or dismiss them. I suppose while the rot may be most apparent at the top, the rest of the organisation is part of the process too. In the end, the rot is from the inside out and not necessarily from the top down.

On that note, the Institute of Business Ethics has just published a new briefing which sets out the role of internal audit in advising boards on whether a company is living up to its ethical values.

Dr Ian Peters, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors commenting on the report said: “The public is increasingly focused on how poor organisational culture has led to failures in the public and private sectors. Through a properly positioned, resourced and independent internal audit function a board can satisfy itself not only that the tone at the top represents the right values and ethics, but more importantly, that this is being reflected in actions and decisions taken throughout the organisation.”
 

More and more companies are linking staff pay and bonuses to sustainability performance. Is it a fad, or a genuine tool to drive employee engagement at scale? And is it having the desired impact? Tom Idle reports

A multitude of studies point to the fact that there is little correlation between how much people earn and how happy they are. New research by the recruitment business Michael Page reveals that hairdressers might well earn ten times less than most chief executives, but they are just as happy with life. Fitness instructors take home an average of £10,378 a year. But they are happier than lawyers who earn more than £75,000. In fact, the happiest workers in the UK are vicars, who earn less than the national average of £26,500.

Despite this continued reinforcement of the fact, it is human nature to react to our pay slips at the end of each month. And while not everyone is in support of the bonus culture that is still prevalent in most Western economies, most of us like to be recognised, and would appreciate being financially rewarded, for doing a good job. Money might not bring happiness, but it certainly offers stability, choice and freedom.

Of course, traditional pay and bonus structures have been linked to economic growth; ‘Make more sales, hit your targets and generate more profit for the business, and you will be rewarded for your efforts’. It is an approach that works and has done for hundreds of years - especially when base pay is kept low in a bid to incentivise bonus-chasing, and the economic growth that comes with it.

But could a similar executive compensation mechanism work in helping companies to meet their sustainability goals? Those that work in corporate responsibility and sustainability (CRS) are satisfied with their jobs. The latest Salary Survey, carried out by CRS recruitment specialists Acre, shows that more than 50% of professionals are ‘satisfied’ with their jobs and around 28% are ‘very satisfied’. More than 90% of them say they would recommend a career in the sector.

So, is it possible to financially incentivise people that are inherently happy in their work? After all, people go into this profession for the love of it, rather than the money, don’t they?

Well, a number of companies are experimenting with compensation structures to engage the staff that will ultimately help them to meet internal operational efficiency goals, such as saving energy, waste and water. Employee engagement is one of the biggest challenges for companies right now, according to the sustainability professionals that responded to a recent survey by 2degrees.

A study by Ceres, the US-based advocacy non-profit, reveals that 24% of large companies in North America are now incorporating sustainability performance into executive compensation packages - up from 15% in 2012.

While most of these payments are linked to compliance-based performance - such as keeping a check on health and safety issues or pollution incidents that might lead to legal challenges and financial penalties - some are going beyond rewarding people for merely helping companies stay within the law. Around 3% of companies are today linking executive pay to things like improving workforce diversity, reducing water risks in the supply chain or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The aluminium business Alcoa, for example, allocates 20% of executive bonuses to environmental stewardship, including voluntary GHG emissions reductions, energy efficiency and improved diversity.

The Colorado-based utility, Xcel Energy ties executive compensation to specific performance measures, such as the amount of energy it helps its customers save.

At the City accountancy practice, Grant Thornton, the newly-appointed CEO Sacha Romanovitch has brought in a John Lewis-style profit share scheme, designed to boost salaries across the business by 25% and bring back “trust and integrity” to the company. The 47-year-old is capping her own salary, limiting it to a maximum of 20 times the average salary in her firm - a fraction of the 149 times average ratio across FTSE 100 businesses.

Meanwhile, Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman famously received a significant bonus in 2014 for meeting sustainability targets. And the likes of Marks & Spencer, Royal DSM and British Land have also started to integrate sustainability-related pay into their executive KPIs.
But are these approaches having the desired effect in driving sustainability improvements and creating companies that are fit for the future? Is the CSR profession upping its game, motivated by the promise of extra cash?

According to Lydia Langford, a manager at Acre, “a number of companies I have spoken to have seen a significant improvement in sustainability performance when related to exec bonus payments. It sends out a strong message to the business when initiatives are driven from the senior management.

“For non-sustainability individuals, who may be more interested in commercial streamlining, if embracing sustainable efficiencies impacts their total remuneration directly, then they are likely to embrace it and percolate it down to their teams.”

The computer-chip giant Intel started linking environmental performance to every employee’s compensation back in 2008. It worked. By 2012, the company’s GHG emissions had dropped by 35% on an absolute basis, and by 28% on a per-chip production basis - all against a backdrop of continued business growth.

In 2013, Intel ran an internal competition for staff designed to get them to come up with new innovations that the company might be able to use itself or put out into the market. By offering a bonus for every member of the team that had the best concept, the company managed to generate a host of new ideas. The winning project, from a team in its New Mexico office, found a way to reconfigure energy flows and reduce CO2 emissions by 27,000 tonnes a year from one of its central utilities buildings.

And it is in motivating people to develop innovations that will help companies prepare for a new, future sustainable economy that financial-reward mechanisms might be most useful. That’s certainly the view of Andy James, co-founder of Six Degree People. He spends his time helping companies find their next business leaders and creating advisory boards that will help them develop more innovative strategies. Rather than linking executive pay to being less bad (e.g. improving environmental efficiencies), James says more and more companies are looking into how they can motivate people (by extra cash, or otherwise) to develop “products and services the world needs more of” - something he says will come about by “encouraging co-creation and ideas hubs - taking away the hierarchy to create a more empowered innovation culture at all levels of a business”.

Ramon Arratia, sustainability director at the carpet-tile manufacturer, Interface, agrees. He says there is a danger that companies will end up linking compensation to “naive sustainability targets, rather than strong goals linked to business success”. “Just think about how you would link sustainability and executive pay at a traditional oil and gas business, for example,” he asks.

For Langford, keeping sustainability performance separate from commercial success could discourage an organisation from truly embedding more future-proof practices into business as usual. “Organisations need to embrace the true value and commercial benefit of sustainability across the business, so it becomes wholly integrated to all business activities and the true ROI can be established,” she says. “However, until that happens, it can be a useful way to kick start executives in to embracing sustainability into their business unit.”

Whether or not people will be motivated to embed sustainability into business quicker, faster and more effectively because big bonuses are on the table, “it’s too early to say,” adds James. But it seems that sustainability-related performance bonuses are here to stay, however they might manifest in the future, as sustainability becomes more commercially-integrated and mainstream across the business world. 

The London Stock Exchange’s (‘LSE’) launch of a range of new segments on its fixed-income markets “dedicated” to the issuance of green bonds this July saw the City of Gothenburg become the first issuer to use a new segment on the exchange via its recent SKr1.05 billion (c.$125m/£80m) green bond issue. Swedish officials from the city marked the listing by opening the London market.
Green bonds are classified as any type of bond instrument where the proceeds of the capital raised will be exclusively applied to finance or re-finance - in part or in full - new and/or existing ‘green’ projects.

The City of Gothenburg’s bonds, which have been admitted to the LSE on a trade reporting only segment (and for ‘off-book’ trade reporting), are available in minimum denominations of SKr10,000 (c.US$1,200/£765) issued at par with a fixed coupon of 1.455%.
The LSE’s new segments are touted as providing issuers with a “full suite of solutions” to support green bond issuance, offering the choice of a range of listed markets and trading models, spanning both Regulated Market and Multi-lateral Trading Facility (MTF), for retail and wholesale investors.

Gillian Walmsley, LSE’s Head of Fixed Income, said the exchange saw “huge growth potential for the sector” and that they were “leading the development of London as a key international hub for Green Finance.” The trading models on this new LSE segment include: (1) Continuous on-screen market maker quoting; (2) End-of-day pricing; or, (3) OTC-style trade reporting only.

The City of Gothenburg became the first city to issue a Nordic ‘green’ bond in September 2013 with a six-year SKr500m issuance facilitated by SEB. Part of a “potential” SKr2bn bond programme by the city to help finance environmental projects (e.g. for public transport, water and waste management), bond subscribers included Storebrand/SPP, Andra AP-fonden, Nordea Bostadsobligationsfond and SEB Företagsobligationsfond Flexibel amongst others.

The appetite for green bonds shown by investors continues to grow. They are seen as offering the same yield as other investments with similar conditions, but at the same time they “contribute to a better environment and higher awareness of climate-related challenges and solutions” according to Christopher Flensborg, SEB’s head of sustainable investments.

The market for green bonds has been steadily growing globally since 2008 when they were first issued by The World Bank, with organisations including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea issuing such bonds.

According to recent figures cited in SEB’s ‘The Green Bond’ report (March 2015) the market is set to double to at least $70bn this year. It follows bond issuance more than tripling year-on-year in 2014 to c.$36bn. Issuance is being propelled by growth in clean energy, green building and transportation sectors as well as heightened interest from municipalities, regions and supranationals.

Major investors that continue to commit to the sector include Deutsche Bank, which this February signalled that it intended to invest €1bn in green bonds. This followed Barclays earmarking £1bn and Zurich Insurance doubling its mandate to BlackRock to invest US$2bn.

Other positive developments for the sector include Oslo Stock Exchange being the first to list green bonds, introduction of green bond indices and funds, as well as the revision of the Green Bond Principles, which launched in 2014 and seeks to clarify the issuance process.

Issuers admitting bonds to the LSE’s green segments must provide a “third-party certification” that such instruments are considered ‘green bonds’, with written confirmation that the entity appointed to conduct the green bond certification meets certain criteria and is a legal entity with a registered office in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

Link for SEB ‘The Green Bond’ report here.