Background of the IPCC's Latest Climate Report

On Friday, September 27, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s foremost authority on climate change released the first part of AR5, its first big report in six years. The AR5 is a scientific inventory of the state of our knowledge on climate science.

AR5 will take more than a year to be fully released. It will be unveiled in four different parts. The first part is being released represents a summary of the work done by what is known as Working Group I, which is why it is called WGl AR5. It covers the physical science of climate change and gives the big picture including things like temperature changes, sea-level rise and ocean acidification. The full WG1 AR5 report will be released on Friday October 4, 2013.

GRI G4 and Other Sustainability Reporting Guidelines Briefing

For all those for whom CR reporting or sustainability communications are important, the Ethical Corporation has compiled an excellent complimentary analysis. The 5 page report addresses the pro's and con's of the GRI G4 Guidelines. It also offers a thorough overview of other sustainability reporting guidelines (IIRC, SASB etc) which can help you choose the most material and relevant CR disclosure model, in line with your business.

This newly published analysis contains a detailed critique of recent Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines. In addition to a review of GRI G4 advantages and disadvantages you will also get an understanding how GRI stacks up against other institutions.

Radiative Forcing: Carbon Dioxide and Methane

Radiative forcing is the warming effect on our climate due to carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs). In climate science radiative forcing is the change in net irradiance between different layers of the atmosphere. Typically, radiative forcing is quantified at the tropopause in units of watts per square meter. A positive forcing (more incoming energy) tends to warm the system, while a negative forcing (more outgoing energy) tends to cool it. Sources of radiative forcing include changes in insolation (incident solar radiation) and in concentrations of radiatively active gases and aerosols.

Sustainable Production Defined

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production offers the following definition: "Sustainable Production is the creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are: non-polluting conserving of energy and natural resources; economically efficient safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers socially and creatively rewarding for all working people."

Sustainable Business as Defined by Paul Hawken

In business sustainability involves living within certain limits, understanding interconnections (economy, society, and environment) and an equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. Perhaps the best definition for sustainability as it applies to business comes from Paul Hawken. According to Hawken*, sustainable businesses is defined as follows:

Sustainable Development Defined

Sustainable development is concerned with the reasonable and equitably distributed level of economic well being that can be perpetuated continually for many human generations. It also implies using renewable natural resources in a manner that does not eliminate or degrade them, or otherwise diminish their usefulness for future generations.

Sustainability (Sustainable) Defined

Although businesses have different ways of defining sustainability, in its simplest essence the word implies the ability to maintain a certain status or process in existing systems. The most frequent use of the term “sustainability” is connected to ecological systems. In this definition it refers to an ecosystems ability to function and maintain productivity for prolonged periods. Practically, sustainability refers to the coordination of economic, social and environmental, issues in support of the long term viability people and the planet.