10.25.2011

Engaging Employees to Realize Your EHS and Sustainability Vision: NAEM Forum Session

Employee engagement is a cornerstone of integrated EHS management systems, but an ongoing challenge in EHS and sustainability efforts. David Zinger addressed this topic during his session at last week’s 19th Annual NAEM Forum in Tucson.

When developing and implementing an EHS and sustainability initiative, Zinger stressed, each person must be able to voice his or her opinion and be listened to. “Never do anything about me without me if you expect me to be engaged,” he said. “If you want them to be on the same page, they need to be able to write on the page.” Read More

Posted By | in High Performance Teams, Sustainability | No Comments »

10.19.2011

Winston Keynote Speech at the NAEM Forum: Green Recovery – Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top

The 19th Annual NAEM Forum began today with a morning keynote from Andrew Winston, co-author of Green to Gold.  He based his presentation on his most recent book, Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top. Some key points from his talk are below.

Winston argued that, though it may seem counterintuitive, these challenging times actually provide the perfect moment to double-down and invest in a strong sustainability program. This kind of program can be a catalyst for unbridled innovation. Forward-thinking leaders, he said, understand this and are acting accordingly.

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Posted By | in Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, Innovation, Sustainability | No Comments »

10.13.2011

Evolving to Sustainability 4.0, Value Chain Indices, and EHS/S Support with Developing Dimensions of Measurement

Sustainability has evolved from a reactive and defensive endeavor to one that is generative and central to all aspects of business decisions. This was a clear message expressed throughout the recent CR Commit Forum.

Commonly used was the phrase, “Sustainability equals efficiency.” That is, organizations that have a strong sustainability perspective and culture also have improved efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability. Yvon Chouinard et al echoes this sentiment in “The Sustainable Economy” in the current issue of the Harvard Business Review, which presents four sustainability eras: sustainability 1.0. 2.0, 3.0, and ideas for sustainability 4.0, where “sustainability will simply be [come] how business is done.”

The ideas presented in “The Sustainable Economy” are important for EHS/S professionals to understand and embrace. For instance, the phenomena of creating a sector-specific Value Chain Index (VGI) is innovative, cutting-edge, and appears to provide a powerful way to catapult sustainability, not only in an organization, but also more broadly in a market sector. The authors outline a process that Chouinard’s company (Patagonia) and Walmart, with assistance from BluSkye (a strategy consultancy), used to develop a VGI for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).

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Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, Innovation, Sustainability | Tags: , | No Comments »

10.4.2011

First Look: Highlights from the 3rd Annual MIT/BCG Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Survey

Initial findings have begun to surface from the 3rd Annual MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Annual Sustainability and Innovation Global Executive Survey, which had over 4,700 respondents. In an earlier post, I discussed some of the findings that Martin Reeves shared last week at the CR Commit Forum 2011 in New York City. The current issue of the Sloan Management Review presents more findings and indicates that the full report will be available next winter.

An important finding is that while sustainability is an important issue in organizations, it is not a top near-term priority. As Reeves indicated in his keynote, companies are concerned about short-term volatility and, to some extent, survivability. The top three challenges reported for the next two years are: innovating to achieve competitive differentiation (46 percent); growing revenues (45 percent); and reducing costs and increasing efficiencies (41 percent). Fourteen percent indicated that responding effectively to threats and opportunities of sustainability was a challenge. Read More

Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Risk Management, Sustainability | Tags: , | No Comments »

9.30.2011

Terms and Definitions in the CR/Sustainability Space

This past week, CR Magazine and NYSE Euronext co-sponsored the CR Commit Forum 2011 in New York City. The agenda was packed with valuable sessions that addressed a wide range of CR (Corporate Responsibility) and sustainability topics, issues, and challenges. Over the next several weeks, I will share insights and information from the Forum.

One of the predominant issues that struck me was the plethora of terms and definitions used to define the CR/sustainability space. Martin Reeves, senior partner and managing director at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), discussed this in his keynote presentation, stating that the “concepts are treacherously fuzzy.” He presented a powerful visual: a word cloud that contained more than 40 words and terms used by respondents of the 3rd Annual Sustainability Global Executive Survey, conducted by MIT’s Sloan Management Review and BCG. Read More

Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategic Thinking & Planning, Sustainability | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

6.22.2011

ISO 50001 Just Published – “Energy Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use”

The much anticipated ISO management system for energy management was published on June 15. The ISO 50001 format closely follows ISO 14001 on environmental management. I will be posting comments over the next couple of weeks regarding things I see in it and issues that will help with implementation and integration.

At first glance, where an ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001 management system is in place, integration of ISO 50001 will be somewhat straightforward.

A unique piece for 50001 is section 4.4.3 that addresses “energy review.” This is the equivalent of environmental aspects in 14001 and risk assessment in 18001. While this standard is new and interpretations will be fleshed out in the coming months and years, the interpretation of “energy” may not be trivial when considering conformance with 50001. The way it is defined will impact how the energy review requirements will be met. Read More

Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, ISO News, Management Systems, Sustainability | Tags: , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

6.21.2011

Nonfinancial Reporting for Global Companies and Momentum Toward Integrated Reporting – A Call for EHS/S Leadership

With the evolution of the Triple Bottom Line, CSR, and sustainability issues over the past several decades, there has been increased attention given to nonfinancial reporting and the integration of nonfinancial, operational, and financial metrics.

This may seem to be a heady and non-relevant topic for EHS/S professionals, but I would suggest that EHS/S professionals should understand them because they will soon be affected by them, if they haven’t been already (e.g., developing EHS/S KPIs). With an understanding of these issues, EHS/S professionals and executives can provide important leadership in this area within their companies. Read More

Posted By | in Corporate Social Responsibility, Emerging Issues, Strategic Thinking & Planning, Sustainability | Tags: , | No Comments »

5.23.2011

Publication of ISO 50001 – Energy Management System. Leverage for EHS/S Performance and Auditing

The May 2011 issue of ISO Focus+ announced that the much anticipated ISO management system for energy management will soon be published in 2011.

ISO reports that 50001 will specify requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving an energy management system, whose purpose is to enable an organization to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy use, and consumption. This standard will specify requirements applicable to energy use and consumption, including measurement, documentation, and reporting, design and procurement practices for equipment, systems, processes, and personnel that contribute to energy performance. ISO indicates that it applies to all variables affecting energy performance that can be monitored and influenced by the organization. Read More

Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Emerging Issues, ISO News, Management Systems, Sustainability | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

3.31.2011

Is Biodiversity the Next Big Environmental Issue for Business?

The McKinsey Quarterly reported earlier this year on environmental management-related findings from a McKinsey survey conducted in June 2010. The 1,576 responses from executives in a wide range of industries, regions, and functional specialties indicate climate change and energy efficiency as the most important environmental matter in their companies, but also indicate an increasing concern about biodiversity.

The article titled, “The Next Environmental Issue for Business,” suggests that biodiversity may be the next large environmental issue for companies.  The June 2010 survey found that 9 percent of the respondents think biodiversity is an important issue. This finding is similar to what a survey in 2007 found related to climate change and energy efficiency. The suggestion here is that if biodiversity has the same trajectory as climate change and energy efficiency, then by 2013, biodiversity will be a significant strategic and management issue for companies.

A significant number of respondents indicated they felt that in the next one to three years, they would have increased pressure to change operations, products, and services to reduce impacts on biodiversity. Read More

Posted By | in Emerging Issues, Management Systems, Risk Management, Sustainability | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

3.2.2011

Sustainability Auditing – Are You Covering All of the Bases?

A challenge with sustainability auditing is first defining what should be audited. If sustainability practices are well-defined, the task is somewhat straightforward. When they are not, the internal risk management and audit function is challenged to define what “should” be done and then audit against it.

The December 2010 (pp. 49–52) issue of Internal Auditor contains a robust article that examines sustainability auditing issues and challenges.

“Equipped to Sustain” presents a set of traditional triple-bottom-line audit issues, along with a handful of others, including (1) supply chain reporting, (2) life cycle assessment, and (3) non-financial reporting. The article provides a bundle of questions, in 10 groups, to ask during a sustainability audit. It also offers recommendations as to how to provide internal assurance and testing, along with tips on educating management of the value of using external frameworks, guidelines, or standards, such as the GRI G3, AccountAbility’s AA1000, and even ISO 9000.

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Posted By | in Auditing & Metrics, Emerging Issues, Management Systems, Sustainability | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

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