Blog Archives: July 2009
July 22, 2009
Lobbying, Internal Alignment, and Boosting Your Company’s Sustainability Impact
Diane Osgood, Ph.D.
This week's front page headline in Le Monde, “Industries Against the Greens: The Battle of Lobbying” calls out the growing resources aimed at lobbying on environmental issues in Beijing, Brussels, and Washington. Read more
July 20, 2009
Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Index: A World Changer?
Ayesha Barenblat, Former Director, Stakeholder Collaboration
The halls were abuzz with energy and excitement as some 2,000 Wal-Mart suppliers and associates gathered in their Bentonville, Arkansas, office auditorium (not to mention overflow rooms and offices worldwide via teleconference) for the official announcement of the much-leaked Sustainability Index (PDF). Read more
July 16, 2009
Demonstrating the ROI for Responsible Labor Practices
Nikki Weston
Return on investment. It’s the Holy Grail of corporate social responsibility. Everyone wants to make the business link between responsible labor and competitiveness, but how to do it? Actually coming up with indicators that can accurately measure things like the business return on an investment in responsible labor is not a simple matter. Read more
July 15, 2009
All (Climate) Politics Is Local
Aron Cramer , President and CEO
The failure of last week’s G8 summit to make meaningful progress toward an agreement on climate change is dispiriting enough—but the reasons behind it may be even more worrying. Read more
July 14, 2009
The Need for Transparency and Cross-Sector Partnerships
Pei Bin, Former Director, China Partnership Development
Together with 500 representatives from private and public foundations and grassroots NGOs across China, I participated in the first national private foundation forum, a great endeavor to assess the development of and challenges for private foundations in China. Emerging from the forum was a clear call for increased transparency and stronger cross-sector partnerships. Read more
July 13, 2009
Message to the G8: Use Climate Commitments to Restore Trust
Farid Baddache , Director, Europe
At the G8 talks in Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel seemed confident that the G8 would limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. But we should be pessimistic about how these discussions have carried forward the global agenda on climate change mitigation. A success at COP15 is still a very long way off. Read more
July 10, 2009
Waxman-Markey and the Business Case for Strong Climate Policy
Ryan Schuchard , Manager, Climate and Energy
In light of the disappointing outcomes at the recent G8 negotiations on climate, many now see the U.S. Senate’s forthcoming deliberations over America’s first-ever cap-and-trade law (the American Clean Energy and Security Act, or Waxman-Markey), as the next big step on the road to Copenhagen. Read more
July 2, 2009
The Next Big Ideas: Postcard from the Aspen Ideas Festival
Kara Hurst, Former Vice President
Here at the Aspen Ideas Festival (where, at 8,000 feet in elevation, every idea has the propensity to seem lofty), I have spent the better part of the week talking and debating about “ideas that work.” Read more
