The Best and the Worst of Sustainability and Climate in 2015

Last year was a momentous year for both climate action and environmental destruction. Perhaps most importantly, 2015 will be remembered as the moment in history when the world finally woke up to the threat of climate change.

Here is a review of the ten best and the ten worst sustainability and climate stories of 2015.

Six Types of Sustainability

Sustainability is an expansive concept that applies widely. The definition of sustainability is commonly narrowly defined particularly by entrepreneurs and some members of the business community.  The Brundtland commission definition from 1987 definition defines sustainability as follows, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet its needs".

Many focus exclusively on profitability, at the expense of the other dimensions of sustainability. However, profitability is only one of the three pillars of the so called three legged stool of sustainability (people, planet and profits).  While no one can deny the importance of profitability, some fail to recognize how the other 5 elements of sustainability can also contribute to or detract from the bottom line.

Carbon Trust Sustainability Certification

Carbon Trust offers certification for organizations in sustainability. This includes energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste management. Carbon Trust independently validates and certifies organizational achievements in adopting more sustainable business models.

The certification process acts to identify inefficiencies in resource use and provides a framework for improving management processes. The Carbon Trust Standard helps organizations to measure, manage and reduce their environmental impact, whilst improving their resource management and operational sustainability.

Best Practice in Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Communications

Ethical Corporation has recently published its complimentary Annual Review on CR Reporting and Sustainability Communications. Ethical Corporation helps thousands of businesses all around the globe to be more responsible. They work with NGO's, think-tanks, academia, governments and consultancies. Their work not only benefits the wider world, it also makes good business sense for the organizations that they serve. Their efforts include work in CSR, compliance, risk and governance communities.

New GRI Sustainability Reporting Tools and Resources

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a leader in sustainability reporting and they continue to provide resources to help companies to track their performance. GRI's latest contribution is another helpful installment in this rapidly growing field. This fast moving and increasingly complex realm has seen the proliferation of a number of tools and resources to help companies rise to the challenge.

Comprehensive Summary of Sustainability Reporting Guidance

This summary is designed to provide guidance for businesses seeking to navigate the complicated landscape of sustainability reporting. There are a number of different ways to approach sustainability reporting and this has led to considerable confusion.

While it is generally accepting that sustainability reporting has a number of benefits, businesses can have a difficult time understanding the differences between approaches and deciding which system is best for their organization. One of the most important trends involves integrated reporting and specifically the 4D approach.

The Future of Integrated Sustainability Reporting

Integrated reporting helps to cut through the complicated morass of sustainability metrics. This effort helps tor provide greater consensus regarding the understanding of issues like materiality, transparency and comparability. In 2014 and into 2015 we have seen the proliferation of sustainability reporting that incorporates both environmental, financial and other elements.

While the benefits of sustainability reporting have been widely document there is a need for more comprehensive and integrated sustainability reporting. This is revealed in a number of surveys which show that there is a lack of shared understanding. As reported in Responsible Investor Magazine, a 2013 survey indicated that CEO's see many barriers to implementing ESG issues.

Sustainability Reporting: New GRI G4 Guidelines, SASB, AECOM's Engagement Efforts (Video replay of 3BL Media Webinar)

Here is a recap of a 3BL Media webinar on sustainability reporting. This video features the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and AECOM. It includes a discussion of the new G4 guidelines, an exam for sustainability accounting certification and tricks of the trade for corporate communicators.

Click here to read about some of the benefits of sustainability reporting.

Sustainability Reporting to Minimize Negative Impacts and Increase Positive Benefits

Sustainability reporting is an all encompassing tool to help create value. Reporting is an integral part of being accountable for the broad range of social, environmental and economic impacts that permeate business activities.

Sustainability reporting not only reviews progress it also identifies opportunities for improvement. Being truly accountable cannot be achieved in the absence of honest reporting. Whether this is about reducing carbon emissions or water usage, reporting is a critical part of assessing progress. Such reporting is also a crucial part of laying out and refining strategies.

Allstate is a Leader in Environmental Social and Governance Disclosures

When it comes to environmental and social disclosures in the insurance industry Allstate is a leader. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures (sometimes called goodwill or reputation), include everything from climate change to gender diversity. ESG disclosures are commonly part of corporate sustainability reporting.

A growing number of investors focus on key corporate ESG metrics to make more informed investment and business decisions. Stakeholders are increasingly demanding ESG metrics in 2015.

Webinar - New Waste Management Reporting System

This new downloadable webinar from Enviance provides insights into some of the new realities associated with waste management.

Rebecca Roberts, Associate Environmental Specialist in the Environmental Affairs Dept. at Eversource, will discuss how Eversource (formerly NE Utilities) went from tracking oil spill and PCB data on many different spreadsheets to consolidating all of their environmental data into one ISO 14001 based compliance and sustainability reporting system.

Oftentimes it can be a challenge for users to adopt a new software system but that was not the case for this reporting system.

Online Course - Introduction to Sustainability Reporting

This course is an introduction for people who are thinking about getting into sustainability reporting and want to learn why it’s important. Participants will gain key tips for drafting their first sustainability report. This course is taught in 6 sections, each with its own video, notes, activities and list of follow-up resources. Intro to Reporting is designed to be an introduction for people who are thinking about getting into sustainability reporting, want to get a taste of why it’s an important practice, or hope to simply gain understanding of trends in the industry.

Webinar - Sustainability Reporting to GRI G4: Time to Make The Switch

This free webinar will take place on Tuesday March 10, 2015. Sustainability Reporting to GRI G4, is aimed at helping organizations to succeed in developing winning sustainability strategies. Key to an integrated and effective organizational strategy is a clear sustainability story – this is central to business in 2015.

Organizations are advised strongly that they have until December 2015 to make the switch to GRI G4. This webinar gives organizations the guidance on what GRI G4 is and how to apply it. It is a taster session to support organizations as they prepare to report. GRI G4 is a robust framework and this webinar will help you to get started.

Event - Wind Energy Summit

The 2nd annual Wind Energy Summit will take place on April 16th and 17th in Cape Town South Africa, one of the world’s most exciting new hubs for wind energy in the world. This is the number one commercially based wind energy summit in South Africa. Come and listen to 2015’s most qualified wind energy experts speak about how to implement the financial and legislative changes which will continue to drive industry success into the future.

UK's Renewable Energy (Wind) Records in 2014

In 2014, the UK continues to set records as it increases the power it generates from renewable sources of energy. In 2014, the electricity needs of more than a quarter of UK homes were powered by wind energy.

According to newly released data from National Grid, a record amount of clean electricity was generated by wind power in 2014. Wind power generated enough electricity to supply the needs of more than 6.7 million UK households last year. This represents a 15 percent increase over the amount generated in 2013 (up from 24.5 terawatt hours to 28.1TWh in 2014). Averaged over the course of the entire year, this amounts to just over 25 percent of all UK homes.

The combination of large scale wind farms and smaller sites connected to local networks, provided 9.3 percent of the UK’s total electricity supply in 2014, up from 7.8 percent the year before.

Event - Mexico WindPower 2015 Exhibition and Congress

Mexico WindPower 2015 will take place on February 25 - 26, 2015 at the Centro Banamex in Mexico City. This event will bring together key players of the wind power industry including representatives from three levels of government, companies, industry experts, academics and professionals. All will meet face to face to see how the supply chain can help achieve Mexico’s 35 percent renewable energy targets by 2024. The Mexican government’s new renewable energy targets mean that doors will be opening for the wind industry and its stakeholders, creating business opportunities.

2014 Year End Review: People Powered Environmental Movement

In 2014 collaborative relationships were formed that helped grow the environmental movement. More than any other single factor, growing calls for climate action from people around the world give us reason to hope that we will manifest the change we need to see. People are capable of driving change and forcing businesses and political leaderships to act. In addition to protesting, environmentalists are flexing their financial muscles. In 2014 this point was driven home by environmental groups who spent $85 million in support of climate-conscious politicians. While we still have a long way to go before we have responsive political leaderships and widespread adoption of truly sustainable business models, people powered movements are growing and they have the capacity to change both politics and business.

2014 Year End Review: Reasons for Hope

Here are some of the most inspiring and transformative climate stories of 2014. Although global temperatures continue to increase and levels of atmospheric carbon are around 400 ppm, we have seen some reasons to buoy our hope over the course of the last year. People, companies, cities, states, countries, and regions are beginning to wake up and face the challenge of climate change.

There are some technological innovations (like graphene) that may help us to transition to a low carbon. However, even without such game changing disruptive innovations, in 2014 it became apparent that we can still make the transition with existing technologies and at reasonable costs. In 2014, both the Risky Business report and a White House report, illustrated the cost of delaying action.

Infographic - Wind Energy in America

Video - Summary of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Synthesis Report