Twenty years after the Earth Summit, Rio is once again the hub of activity, attracting world leaders from governments, the private sector and NGOs to tackle the big issues in sustainable development.
Stepping back to the first Earth Summit in Rio, the main outcome was the development of Agenda 21. Here we are in the 21st century and the Green Economy is high on the agenda. But what is the Green Economy and what does this mean for business?
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I 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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I’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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The third in my series of posts on CR and sustainability reporting. This time, I’m looking at an issue that comes up a lot in my discussions with would-be reporters: the GRI guidelines and their pros and cons . . .
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines are viewed with mixed feelings by reporters. At Two Tomorrows, we helped shape the original guidelines and are an official ‘organisational stakeholder’ of GRI, so of course we’re broadly supportive. But we do understand the reservations some companies have, and frequently support those who don’t use GRI at all.
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I’m soon to fly off to San Francisco for work. I’ve always wanted to go and have even considered taking some flowers for my hair (but I was worried about getting through Customs).
It will be my first time visiting the city and it will give me an opportunity to catch up with colleagues as well as clients I have worked with for a while but not been to visit.
Hang on a minute, I’m a sustainability advisor. What am I doing flying? (more…)
My four-year-old son is developing a new obsession for David Attenborough-style TV documentaries, and has discovered a channel on Sky called Eden, which runs these shows all day, every day. All well and good I thought; he’ll learn a bit about the planet to impress the teachers with. But then he turned to me and asked the killer question about what’s going to happen to our planet if too much CO2 builds up.
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If you put your head above the parapet at any conference or in the media nowadays, it seems the only question being asked is whether CSR was just a fad. The expected answer is that all corporate social, environmental and ethical activity was just cynical PR – and in the midst of the recession will be abandoned in the name of short-term profit.
The question amazes me. For sure, when times are hard, budgets get stretched and priorities change. But why does it have to be all or nothing? As I explained to Richard Northedge at the Independent on Sunday this week (see the resulting article ‘Recession is excuse for companies to ignore community conscience’), the question isn’t good enough if we are to draw useful conclusions.
