GRI Canada Conference 2012 (Event)

GRI’s first Canada Conference will take place on October 16 and 17, in Toronto, Ontario. The Conference is a result of the partnership between GRI Focal Point USA, Sustainalytics, the Toronto Stock Exchange and York University’s Schulich School of Business.

GRI & Sustainability Reporting Framework in Business School Curriculum

This paper by Allison C. Lai of the Dominican University in California addresses the rising trend of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and makes an argument for the GRI as the leading framework in the US. It further examines why students studying sustainable business should learn the GRI framework. Finally it explores how to integrate GRI concepts into Green curriculums and who benefits from having GRI in the curriculum.

Although the paper specifically addresses GRI projects at the Dominican University of California's Green MBA, similar or identical projects can be administered at any business school or sustainability program.

GRI Sustainability Reporting on Anti-Corruption and GHGs: Call for Public Comment

GRI invites you to help shape sustainability reporting on anti-corruption and greenhouse gas emissions, by providing feedback on proposed new reporting guidance before 12 November 2012. The full G4 Exposure Draft is still available for public comment until 25 September 2012. You can comment on the whole draft, and on the proposed new guidance on anti-corruption and greenhouse gas emissions separately, by following a simple process:

1. Download and read the G4 Exposure Draft (click here), or anti-corruption (click here) or greenhouse gas emissions guidance (click here).

GRI Training from BrownFlynn

BrownFlynn is a women-owned sustainability and corporate social responsibility consulting firm. They advise organizations on how to integrate responsible practices into their strategies, communicate these practices internally and externally for bottom-line impact, and provide training to build skills and engage associates. BrownFlynn believes that training is an integral part of their service offering, building skills within your organization and in the process, educating and engaging associates in sustainability. As the first United States-based certified training partner of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), our team is dedicated to educating clients on how to utilize GRI's framework for sustainability reporting and as a management process to achieve bottom-line impact.

Arctic Monitoring Stations Report CO2 Levels of 400 PPM

The Arctic region continues to serve as the global climate “canary in a coal” mine. Now, as with average temperature rise, the region is leading into a new troubling milestone as monitoring stations near a remote outpost near Barrow, Alaska are among several such stations to report that average concentrations of CO2 have reached an average of 400 parts per million (PPM) this spring.

Webinar: Identifying Hidden Energy and Sustainability Costs

On Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST (1:00 PM EST) Hara and Intuit will be conducting a complimentary webinar titled, “Identifying Hidden Energy and Sustainability Costs: How to Achieve Visibility and Transparency,” which will be hosted by Environmental Leader. This webinar will feature Tom Harrington, Senior Program Manager, Workplace Services at Intuit and Jason Smith, Manager, Sales Engineering at Hara.

Zerofootprint Challenge is Greening Schools

Zerofootprint is putting its monitoring system to work in schools so that they can identify issues are and address them. Toronto-based Zerofootprint is a cleantech software and services company which is leveraging competitive benchmarking between peers to help determine the “green” factor for any given building. Zerofootprint aims to focus on benchmarking buildings against other buildings within a community to achieve maximum community efficiency.

Best Practices for Sustainable Businesses

A sustainable best practices program involves a comprehensive and holistic approach that encompasses everything a business does that impacts the environment. A best practices program assists companies in making systematic changes in areas like emissions, energy, transportation, water and waste.

A sustainability initiative involves the development and implementation of green ideas and goals. Crucial to this process is the development of metrics that track and monitor performance. Also important is the identification and response to challenges, opportunities and threats.

Some well known evironmental guides and certification systems include the GRI G3 Guidelines , ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 . Most sustainable best practices programs address at least six key areas. Here is an alphebtical summary of the basic areas that are central to environmental sustainability.

Green Team

Assemble a company green team that will serve as the sustainability steering committee. This dedicated team is important to making and maintaining sustainable changes. The green team should have representatives from different departments. Policies should be written for the employee manual on energy, water, waste, transportation and pollution prevention. The green team is in charge of the development and implementation of these policies.

Emissions and Indoor Air Quality

Record and manage emissions, set targets for emissions reductions. Review physical infrasructure, building materials and furnishings. Source materials that have less impact on indoor air quality (Use carpets, furniture, paints, adhesives and cleaning products that are associated with less noxious outgassing).

Energy Efficiency

Monitor and manage energy consumption. Implement energy efficiency program including energy reduction targets for IT, manufacturing, lighting, heating and cooling.

Transportation Efficiency

Track the mileage of all company vehicles and work on finding more expedient travel routes. Employ more fuel efficient modes of transport including hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

Water Reduction Strategies

Monitor water consumption and develop strategies for water reduction. Effective strategies can begin with something as simple as retrofitted faucets with low-flow aerators.

Waste Reduction and Recycling

Log waste and develop a strategy for waste reduction and recycling. Summarize the waste stream and identify targets for waste reduction. Develop a recycling program with a good plan including logistics that detail how recycled materials will be collected and stored.
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