For host countries, the Olympics is about far more than sporting feats; it’s a matter of national pride and an opportunity to showcase the country. Cultures, heritage and traditions are for a month under global scrutiny and many previous hosts have commemorated the occasion with extraordinary architectural mementos. London 2012 aimed to go a step further and leverage the high profile and global reach of the event to inspire far-reaching recognition of contemporary sustainability challenges. It was destined to be the ‘greenest Olympics ever’. But to what extent has this been achieved?
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Posts Tagged ‘environmental management’
London 2012: Greenest-ever Olympics?
Wednesday, September 26th, 2012Time to replant the EU Ecolabel flower?
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012I don’t think anyone should be surprised that Tesco has dropped its association with the carbon reduction label. The early reported costs of achieving the label beggared belief – and even with economies of scale, the approach was never going to grow legs. The whole scheme seemed like a pipe dream when it was announced, given the number of products on the average supermarket shelf.
And the problem was not only the reported costs of assessment, but also getting consumers to understand the results. Did we really think that consumers would understand or engage with the idea that 80g of CO2 for a bag of crisps was good or bad?
Let’s also be clear that Tesco has only ditched a carbon label, not a true ‘eco-label’ – i.e. one that seeks to take into account all manner of environmental impacts in a product’s lifecycle. A single issue label was always going to be controversial, particularly being promoted by only one of the big supermarkets looking for green hero status.
What’s the alternative?
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Digital does not mean zero environmental impact
Friday, January 21st, 2011I’ve been following the Financial Reporting Council’s proposed changes to reporting requirements of listed companies. One point that stood out was the proposed removal of the requirement to provide a printed annual report on the basis that this format has been left behind by the online format.
It wasn’t long before I was reading a news article citing the “obvious” environmental benefits of only publishing online. This is something I vehemently challenge. The fact is very few companies have a true grasp of the environmental impacts of their online footprint; it’s a hugely complex issue.
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