SustainabilityBlog.org » News and Resources

Introducing SustainabilityForum.com Blogs

Fabian — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:28:13 +0000

I wanted to let you know that there will not be regular posts from this blog in the next few months. I will from now on focus on my major website SustainabilityForum.com.

If you are interested in interesting blogs about Sustainability then you will find everything you need on the SustainabilityForum.com blog section here:

http://www.SustainabilityForum.com/Blog

Or visit my personal and professional blog where I blog about Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Social Media here:

http://www.FabianPattberg.com/

See you there.

Regards,

Fabian Pattberg, Editor of SustainabilityBlog.org

The UK sustainable economy is still viable

Fabian — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:52:43 +0000

The coalition Government’s emergency Budget began to stabilise the public finances and lay the foundations for economic recovery.

The next step is to ensure that what emerges from recession is a different kind of economy: rebalanced away from excessive reliance on household debt, property markets and banking, with prosperity spread more evenly across the country, supported by modernised and efficient infrastructure – all of which will support long-term, sustainable growth.

However, one of this Government’s crucial challenges is to ensure that this growth does not occur at the expense of the environment, but rather for its benefit. The balance must tip away from reliance on fossil fuels for power, heat and manufacturing.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.globe-net.com/articles/2010/july/5/the-green-economy-is-still-viable.aspx

The UAE demand for water grows but the reserves are depleting

Fabian — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:00:08 +0000

Water will be the gold of the future. This is something several people independely told me at an environmental event I was attending several months. This story on the water resources in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A very bleak picture is what the future seems to have in store for water reserves in the region. This is the beginning of the article.

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The Gulf Arab nation’s oil income has allowed it to subsidize extravagant water use for Emiratis, either those in gated communities sporting pristine pools and evergreen golf courses or for farmers clinging to ancient irrigation practices. Environmentalists warn the country, already reliant on costly desalination plants powered by its lucrative fossil fuels, must cut consumption by its 8.2 million people or risk depleting groundwater resources in 50 years.

“We need to convince them that water here isn’t a free resource. It’s not even a natural resource, it’s manmade. It is costly, and it has a big environmental impact,” said Mohamed Daoud of the state-run Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65K3MK20100621

On the BP Oil Spill: What Obama should have said!

Fabian — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:57:18 +0000

A very powerful video on what Barack Obama should have said about the BP Oil Spill.

Is one day enough? Lloyds Banking aims to train every employee in sustainability

Fabian — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:56:10 +0000

Lets hope that this announcement is not a window dressing exercise by Lloyds. If they really go through with this, this could be really beneficial for its employees and really accelerate Sustainability / CSR at the company. It will be interesting to see the state of this initiative in 12 months time and whether they followed-through or not. This is the beginning of the article.

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Lloyds Banking Group is beefing up sustainability training in its corporate and commercial divisions with a view to one day having local managers across the country supporting their business customers to ‘go green’.

Paul Turner, head of Sustainable Development at Lloyds Banking Group(Wholesale), told GreenWise the bank was training “a lot of managers” across the bank’s corporate and commercial divisions so they are better able to support customers to make the transition to a low carbon economy.

“We are a small team, but we want to build sustainability into the DNA of every manager right across the bank,” he said, adding that he wanted to see local managers getting involved too.

But he warned that it would be some time off before every Lloyds business customer would be able to pop into their local branch to get some advice from their relationship manager on how best to take their business forward in a low carbon economy.

Read the complete article here: http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/news/lloyds-looks-to-train-every-manager-in-sustainability-1424.aspx

Renewable energy innovation: Printed solar cells on paper

Fabian — Sat, 08 May 2010 09:01:31 +0000

Now this is what I call innovation in the renewable energy sector. A solar cell printed on paper. Wow. Here is the first part of the article:

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When most people think of solar cells they picture the rigid glass panels that dot rooftops around the world. But the solar cells of the future will be much more adaptable, with researchers already succeeding in creating highly absorbing flexible solar cells that can be printed on plastic. Now researchers at MIT have gone one step further with the development of the first solar cell printed on paper.

Printed solar cell

The solar cell coated paper was unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday held to celebrate the opening of the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center (SFC) that was built to promote research in advanced solar technologies. According to CNET, the new solar cells are created by coating paper with organic semiconductor material using a process similar to an inkjet printer.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.globe-net.com/articles/2010/may/6/mit-unveils-first-solar-cell-printed-on-paper

Worrying news: Overall emissions of US companies still on the rise

Fabian — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:05:33 +0000

This is worrying news indeed. Businesses in the US show no sign that their carbon emissions are falling. This is the article about this new report:

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In a report entitled S&P 100 Carbon Chasm, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) analyzed emissions data reported to it by the US companies in the S&P 100, and found alarming evidence that overall emissions are actually on the rise.

To discern the trend of emissions by S&P 100 companies, the CDP used the data of the 51 companies that have reported emissions data to it over the three-year period of 2007-2009. The report found that emissions increased over that period by a rate of 0.36% per year.

Furthermore, according to the report, emissions are expected to increase even more as the economy recovers. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the economic recession has led to a 6.1% decrease in emissions from fossil fuels in the past year.
Read the complete article here:
http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2936.html

Australia the first to postpone carbon trading launch to 2013

Fabian — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:25:09 +0000

Now the question is whether this is a good sign or not for carbon trading in general. Trading will lower the price but some critics say that the concept is flawed. In any case. This is the beginning of the article.

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Australia on Tuesday shelved plans for a carbon trading scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions until at least 2013, blaming the slow pace of global action and an obstructive opposition.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has described climate change as “the great moral challenge of our generation”, said plans for a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) were on hold after they failed to pass through parliament.

“The opposition decided to back-flip on its historical commitment to bring in a CPRS and there has been slow progress in the realisation of global action on climate change,” Rudd told reporters in Sydney.

Read the complete article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100427/wl_asia_afp/australiapoliticsclimate

An interesting article: Avoiding Greenwash and its Dangers

Fabian — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:47:21 +0000

Greenwashing is and has always been a very interesting topic in the sustainability field. This article here is a good addition to the recent articles on Greenwashing:

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This week is the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day. The hype is unbelievably high as companies step all over themselves to share their latest sustainability accomplishments. In general, this is a good thing and it’s wonderful to see companies competing on green.

But there is a high risk of saying something that isn’t quite true, or of overstating the truth. Because this is the time of year for somewhat self-important pronouncements of changing the world, it’s also a time for greenwash.

The incidence of actual, pure greenwash — outright, purposeful untruths about the environmental attributes or impacts of products — is probably not that high. But there’s an awful lot out there that gets close (for a truly excellent review of the key missteps that would qualify, see the Seven Sins of Greenwashing from Terrachoice).

Read the complete article here on Globe-Net: http://www.globe-net.com/articles/2010/april/21/avoiding-greenwash-and-its-dangers-.aspx

Video: Sustainability Recruiting – Interview with Ellen Weinreb

Fabian — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:57:53 +0000

Great information and insights on jobs in the Sustainability and CSR field. This is part of the 3blTV report series. Check it out. Some really useful videos there.