The Green Economy Outpaces the Conventional Economy: Small Businesses Need to Get On-Board

There are growing opportunities for sustainable businesses. During the period from 2008 to 2011, the green economy in the US has outpaced the conventional economy by a considerable margin. This is particularly true of the the food, personal goods, and construction markets.

The rate of growth for green business products and services are rising faster than conventional goods in the US. This figure is even more remarkable given the fact that this steady growth occurred throughout the depths of the recession.

Webinar - Green Business Success

Green Business Success is a free webinar for green business owners & entrepreneurs who want to increase sales and grow their profits in 2014. This webinar will take place on Tuesday February 18th, at 12PM Pacific/3PM Eastern. Join Jamie Clem, from the Green Business Bureau and Ted Ning, founder of the LOHAS Expo, for a FREE invitation-only webinar that teaches you how to grow your green business in 2014. This informational-packed and empowering webinar is taught by business experts and it gives you a 3 Step business formula, while managing your time and resources. Grow your business to financial security with purpose, training, and empowerment!

Sustainability Leadership Award Goes to The Kendeda Fund for 2013

Southface, a nonprofit leader in the promotion of sustainable homes, workplaces and communities, presented their 2013 Argon Award for unique achievement and leadership in sustainability to The Kendeda Fund.

The Kendeda Fund widely promotes sustainable and efficient practices, through a number of channels including pulpit-based messaging, community involvement and higher education arenas. The Fund has contributed over $400 million to organizations that promote sustainability, social equity, human achievement.

CDP Global 500 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index 2013

Sector Company Disclosure score Performance Consecutive years in the CDLI Consumer Discretionary BMW 100 A 3 Daimler 100 A 2 Royal Philips 100 A- 3 General Motors 100 A- 1 Honda Motor 99 A 2 Volkswagen 99 A 1 Home Depot 99 A- 2 Nissan Motor 99 A 1 Las Vegas Sands 98 A- 1 TJX Companies 98 B 2 News Corporation 97 A- 4 Consumer Staples Nestlé 100 A 4   Colgate Palmolive 99 B 1   Reckitt Benckiser 99 B 1   Diageo 98 A 2   Philip Morris International 97 B 1 Energy Spectra Energy 98 A 2 Repsol 98 B 2 Chevron 97 A- 1 Hess 97 B 5 Financials BNY Mellon 100 A 1   Bank of America 98 A 1   Goldman Sachs 98 A 2   Marsh & McLennan 98 B 1   Simon Property Group 98 B 1   HSBC 97 A 1 HCP 97 A- 1   Allianz 97 B 3 Healthcare Bayer 99 A- 6 GlaxoSmithKline 98 A 1 Johnson & Johnson 98 A- 1 United Health Group 98 B 1 Sanofi 97 A- 1 Industrials Eaton 100 A- 1   UPS 99 A- 3   Raytheon 98 A 1   Deutsche Post 98 B 4   Union Pacific 98 B 1   Schneider Electric 97 A 1   EADS 97 B 1 Information Technology Cisco Systems 100 A 5 Hewlett-Packard 99 A 1 Samsung 99 A 1 SAP 98 A 1 Adobe Systems 97 A 1 EMC 97 A 1 Materials BASF 100 A- 6   Air Prodcuts & Chemicals 99 B 3   Ecolab 98 A 1   Kumba Iron Ore 98 B 1   Praxair 98 6 1   Vale 98 B 1   POSCO 97 B 2 Telecommunication Services Swisscom 97 A 1 Utilities Gas Natural SDG 100 A 2   Iberdrola 99 B 2   Exelon 98 A 2   Endesa 98 B 1   National Grid 98 B 1   Centrica 97 B 6

Source: CDP

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CDP Global 500 Climate Performance Leadership Index 2013

Sector Company Performance Disclosure score Consecutive years in the CPLI Consumer Discretionary BMW A 100 4 Daimler A 100 1 Royal Philips A 100 1 Honda Motor A 99 1 Nissan Motor A 99 1 Volkswagen A 99 1 British Sky Broadcasting A 95 1 H&M Hennes & Mauritz A 83 1 Consumer Staples Nestlé A 100 2   Diageo A 98 2   L'Oreal A 93 1   Anheuser Busch InBev A 85 1   Unilever A 82 2 Energy Spectra Energy A 98 1 BG Group A 89 1 Financials BNY Mellon A 100 1   Bank of America A 98 4   Goldman Sachs A 98 1   HSBC A 97 1   Firstrand Limited A 96 1   Morgan Stanley A 96 1   Wells Fargo A 96 2 AXA Group A 94 3   TD Bank A 94 1   Ace A 93 2   BNP Paribas A 93 1   Barclays A 92 1   Swiss Re A 92 1   Deutsche Bank A 91 2   Munich Re A 91 1   National Australia Bank A 91 4   Westpac Banking A 91 4   Assicurazioni Generali A 87 1 Healthcare GlaxoSmithKline A 98 1 Industrials Raytheon A 98 1   Schneider Electric A 97 3   CSX A 95 1   Komatsu A 95 1   Lockheed Martin A 91 3 Information Technology Cisco Systems A 100 1 Hewlett-Packard A 99 1 Samsung A 99 1 SAP A 98 1 Adobe Systems A 97 1 EMC A 97 1 Microsoft A 96 1 Infosys A 92 1 Tata Consultancy Services A 89 1 Materials Ecolab A 98 1   Anglo American A 96 2   E.I. du Pont de Nemours A 96 1 Telecommunication Services Swisscom A 97 1 Telenor Group A 95 1 BT Group A 93 1 Utilities Gas Natural SDG A 100 2   Exelon A 98 2

Source: CDP

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CDP Global Climate Change Leaders 2013: Top 12 Companies According to Both CPLI and CDLI

Top 12 companies according to both CPLI and CDLI
Sector	Company	Performance	Disclosure score	Consecutive years in the CPLI
Consumer Discretionary	BMW	A	100	4
Consumer Discretionary	Daimler	A	100	1
Consumer Discretionary	Philips Electronics	A	100	1
Consumer Utilities	Nestlé	A	100	2
Financials	BNY Mellon	A	100	1
Information Technology	Cisco Systems	A	100	1
Utilities	Gas Natural SDG	A	100	2
Consumer Discretionary	Honda Motor	A	99	1
Consumer Discretionary	Nissan Motor	A	99	1
Consumer Discretionary	Volkswagen	A	99	1
Information Technology	Hewlett-Packard	A	99	1
Information Technology	Samsung	A	99	1

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The CDP's 2013 Top Fourteen US Companies (Disclosure and Performance)

Company Name	Sector	Disclosure Score	Performance Band
BNY Mellon	Financial Services	100	A
Cisco Systems, Inc.	Information Technology	100	A
Entergy Corporation	Utilities	100	A
Autodesk, Inc.	Information Technology	99	A
Northrop Grumman Corp	Industrials	99	A
NYSE Euronext	Financial Services	99	A
Hewlett-Packard	Information Technology	99	A
Bank of America	Financial Services	98	A
Best Buy Co., Inc.	Consumer Discretionary	98	A
Ecolab Inc.	Materials	98	A
Exelon Corporation	Utilities	98	A
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.	Financial Services	98	A
Raytheon Company	Industrials	98	A
Spectra Energy Corp	Energy	98	A

Source: CDP 2013

CDP Studies: Growth of Sustainability and Profitability

The findings of two reports released on September 23rd, demonstrates more convincingly than ever before the increase in corporate environmental action and the bottom line benefits of such action. These reports were released by CDP, PwC and Sustainable Insight Capital Management, Inc. (SICM) in the wake of the CDP's annual analysis of S&P 500 companies’ efforts to reduce and respond to climate change. The two new studies demonstrate that CDP leaders who incorporate environmental factors into their business strategies are mitigating climate related risks, finding opportunities to strengthen their businesses and delivering higher profitability than their industry peers.

Small Businesses are Going Green in America

A new report from the nonprofit, Green America, shows that a record number of small businesses are going green. The report is titled, "The Big Green Opportunity for Small Business in the U.S."

The findings in this report are welcome news as the small business community has been understandably slower then corporate America in adopting more sustainable business practices.

Here are some of the survey's key findings:

Webinar - NWF Emerging Leaders Professional Development

The NWF Emerging Leaders Professional Development Webinar Series: Finding Meaning, Money and Community in a Changing Word - A Discussion with Billy Parish, co-author of "MAKING GOOD" will take place on March 26, 2013 from 2:00pm - 3:00pm EST. The National Wildlife Federation’s Emerging Leaders Initiative (ELI) will host its second webinar of their Professional Development Webinar Series:

The webinar is free, but registration is required, please click here.

Will Obama's Actions Match his Words?

There are those who do not believe that President Barack Obama is serious about tackling climate change. Although President Obama made strong statements indicating his willingness to engage climate issues at the beginning of his first term, he ended up doing less than some had hoped. Similarly, during his inaugural address at the beginning of his second term he reiterated his commitment to reduce America's contributions to climate change.

During the 2012 election very little was said on environmental issues. This all changed on inauguration day when the President stated that he intends to act on climate issues. The President's position is supported by the science on climate change, which goes well beyond the fact that 2012 was the warmest year in US history or extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy.

Top Companies in the 2012 Climate Leadership Awards

A total of twenty companies were named the winners of the inaugural Climate Leadership Awards by the EPA, the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change), and The Climate Registry (TCR). The awards were presented at the Climate Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. These awards recognize corporate, organizational, and individual leaders for their efforts to address climate change and reduce carbon pollution.

The Most Sustainable Companies in the World

We are seeing an ever growing number of companies address the issue of sustainability with sincerity and depth that go far beyond the public relations ploys of yesteryear. This preoccupation with efficiency is an important bottom line issue. As water, land, minerals, and fossil fuels get more scarce and costly, sustainability is an unavoidable imperitive. Here are some examples of companies that are leading the way towards this resource constrained future.

Winners of the EPA's 2012 Energy Star Awards

Energy Star is a United States government program created in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Originally it was conceived as an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission by power plants. What began as a voluntary labelling program has grown in to one of the largest efforts worldwide to promote energy efficient consumer products.

Energy Star labels are found on over 40 product categories and in the year 2005 alone is responsible for saving consumers over 12 billion dollars. On March 26th 2012, the EPA and DOE honored businesses and organizations for their outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency at the 2012 ENERGY STAR Awards ceremony.