Event - Green Port South Asia

The 2nd GreenPort South Asia Conference will take place on February 26 and 27, 2014 at the The President Hotel in Mumbai, India. The conference will again focus on the sustainable development of ports and terminals but will also look at the need for the infrastructure to keep pace with the development of ports together with investment and finance options and initiatives. This conference will include environmental policy framework and legislation; infrastructure: green initiatives for development and construction; investment for port development: financing green projects as well as the practical issues of pollution control; improving efficiency and increasing profitability in ports and terminal.

Sustainable Development Goals to Follow Millennium Development Goals

Under the auspices of the UN, a new global sustainability initiative is taking shape. With the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) having wrapped up its work on September 20th and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set to expire in 2015, political leaders and policy makers are crafting a new development framework based on sustainability.

Studying Sustainable Development Best Practices

Soon to be released research is working on identifying the best practices in sustainable development. The Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum) is about to release a research study conducted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (Switzerland), Earth Council Asia-Pacific (Philippines) and Public Strategy for Sustainable Development (Belgium). This research was conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES – Japan). The research team also worked closely with ASEF, through the ENVforum.

Infographic - Arab Wealth Building a Sustainable Future

Sacred Economics: Exploring the Myth of Separation (Video)

Top 10 Green Employers in Canada (2012)

Here is a list of the top ten green employers in Canada. The list is from Miratel's "55 Greenest Canadian Employers 2012" In the past Miratel has featured the Top 50 Canadian CSR Business List, Top Diversity Employers in Canada 2012 and even the Top 500 Global Green Rankings which included 19 Canadian Companies. This list of Canada’s Greenest Employers has been compiled by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and published through its editorial partner, The Globe and Mail.

Hopeful Statistics for Green Job Growth

Backed by one of the more environmentally-friendly presidents in recent memory, the United States has seen huge funding for alternative energy sources, a drive for better fuel economy, and a massive movement by colleges and other groups to live cleaner, greener, and more efficiently. Here are some encouraging statistics about the growth of jobs for work that benefits the environment:

Green Jobs Growth First Quarter 2012

According to a recent Green Job Bank press release, there has been a big increase in the number of US-based green job postings in the first quarter (Q1) of 2012. The green job search engine indexed 36,500 green job postings during the quarter, more than double the 16,300 green jobs it indexed in Q1 2011.

Green Job Bank

With well over 10,000 current green job postings, The Green Job Bank is the leading search engine for green jobs. The Green Job Bank indexes green jobs from many sources on the web, including the websites of green employers, green recruiters, green non-profit organizations, green trade associations, and green job boards.

Video: The UK's Green Deal

A short film explaining the importance of the UK's Green Deal. This innovative program from will help homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. The Green Deal will radically reduce their home heating bills while substantially reducing the UK's emissions profile. It will also create jobs and regenerate the national economy.

Arizona's Republican Governor Knows that Solar is Green and this is the Color of Money

Arizona governor Jan Brewer is of two minds on the green economy. During her reign as governor she has both repealed and expanded the clean energy policies of her Democratic predecessor, Janet Napolitano. She campaigned on a platform that promised to pull Arizona out of any effort to cap its pollution. Once elected she made good on her promise by signing an executive order that withdrew her state from cap-and-trade as well as California's clean car program. However, she could not ignore the value of solar power to provide jobs and grow the state's economy.

President Obama's 2013 Budget Seeks to Increase EV Tax Credits

President Obama's proposed budget seeks to increase tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs). According to the President's proposed budget, EV incentives would increase from $7,500 to $10,000 beginning in fiscal 2013.

Video: The Inherent Design Flaws In The "Resource Based Economy" Model

This video is Peter Joseph's reply to Zeitgeist's support for a resource based economy. In this video Jospeh reviews the numerous, very real, and legitimate problems. Those problems are not minor details that can be glossed over or fixed at a later date, they are in fact inherent design flaws which render it unworkable.

Video: The Zeitgeist Movement Explains a Resource Based Economic Model

In this video from the Zeitgeist Vancouver Lecture Series, a Resource Based Economic model is explained by Matt Berkowitz. The Zeitgeist Movement was founded in 2008, it is a Sustainability Advocacy Organization which conducts community based activism and awareness actions. The Zeitgeist Movement recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, collapse, homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be "Symptoms" born out of an outdated social structure. Their defining goal is the installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically responsible Resource Management, Allocation and Distribution through what would be considered The Scientific Method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions.

Video: A Resource-Based Economy

This 18 minute video is a recording of the TEDx [Portugal] Talk by Peter Joseph. Its focus is a resource based economy which describes a post-scarcity world economy. A resource based economy supports the removal of monetary exchange and is advocated by groups like The Venus Project.

Slash Energy Cost & Reduce Budget Uncertainty

Here is a white paper on energy for big retailers sponsored by Verisae and published by Environmental Leader. In this special report you can discover energy management ideas tailored to the business of big retailers. New-store design, refurbs and retrofits may present the biggest and most obvious opportunities to make dramatic, long-lasting improvements in energy efficiency and budget certainty. But the weak economy has caused most retailers to cut way back on such projects. Energy-cost reductions can make a big difference for your company’s financial performance. After payroll, energy is among the largest operating costs for any grocery retailer. In fact, energy cost may amount to roughly half or more of net profit. A 10% reduction of energy cost can increase net profit by 5% to 10%. To download the white paper see below.

What can be Done to Manage the Green Business Slowdown in 2012?

The 2012 State of Green Business Report anticipates a slowdown in 2012, but there are strategies to best manage the hard times ahead. Innovation is the key and this can be achieved through collaboration and cross-fertilization. Collaboration within industries and between industries is crucial to unlock the real potential of sustainable innovation. Cross-fertilization requires more synchronization of activity and adaptation planning, and a common paradigm to work towards.

A Slowdown for Green Business in 2012?

There are indications that as government money dries up, it will auger hard times for green business in 2012. The financial crisis saw a capital infusion into the green economy of around 2.400 billion USD. In 2012 we are seeing widespread spending cuts and funding has slowed dramatically.

Investing in Education is the Key to Developing the Green Economy

In President Obama's State of the Union Address, he spoke about how America can win the future by out-educating, out-innovating and out-building the rest of the world. The challenge of building the green economy is dependent on well educated students and this depends on government investment.