2. Aims and Objectives
1. Sustainability and Sustainable Development – definition vs a
matter of perspective
2. Why do we need to think and act in a more sustainable way
3. How to apply Sustainability in business
4. An example of a Sustainable Strategy
7. Definition
beginnings in the 1970s with the “Club of Rome”
• 1960s-1970s corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management
– Philanthropy, community engagement, supply chain standards
• 1987 – Bruntland Report: “Our Common Future”
– "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs"
• 1994 John Elkington, Sustainability
– “Triple Bottom Line”
• People – social dimension, social responsibility
• Planet – environmental dimension
• Profits – business
– Joins up sustainable development & CSR
8. Sustainability
Sustainability is a journey - a process; new criteria will
expand and evolve over time as the new techniques
and technologies become available.
For the business enterprise, sustainable development
means adopting business strategies and activities that
meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders
today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the
human and natural resources that will be needed in
the future. (Source: World Commission on Environment and Development)
9. Rising consumption of natural resources
means that humans began "eating the
planet“
'Eyes bigger than planet'
The economic system, like all systems, is
subject to the laws of thermodynamics,
which define the limit at which the Earth
can successfully process energy and
wastes. (W. Edward Stead)
Currently it takes the biosphere about 18
months to produce what humanity
consumes in just 12 months. (NEF)
13. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements
such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to “survive” or
“perish”.
The world is
not made of
lifeless stuff
but matter in
motion!
14. Foundation of economic thinking
“The end justifies the means” vs. “the means & process justify the end”
vs. “the means & process justify the continuation of the process”
15. Neoclassical economics is focused on
economic growth (GDP) and rests on the
following set of assumptions: (by E. Roy Weintraub)
- People have rational preferences
among outcomes that can be identified
and associated with a value;
- Individuals maximize utility and firms
maximize profits.
- People act independently on the basis
of full and relevant information.
Criticism of Neoclassical Economics:
"Given, a certain population, with
various needs and powers of
production, in possession of certain
lands and other sources of material:
required, the mode of employing
their labour which will maximize the
utility of their produce.” (by W.S. Jevons)
16. What is systems thinking?
• Ability to see things as a whole;
• Process of understanding how things, regarded as systems,
influence one another within a whole;
• An approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as
parts of an overall system, rather than isolating its parts,
reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially
contributing to further development of unintended
consequences;
• All parts of the system are interdependent – they cannot be
independent;
• It focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect;
• It proposes to view systems in a holistic manner.
......Sustainability_Course_VideosSystems_Thinking.mp4
17. Global Warming ???
Deforestation
Loss of Natural
Resources
Food Insecurity
Loss of
Biodiversity
**Human encroachment and
logging destroys forests
**Forests are home to over
70% of animals, plants and other
organisms
**Billions of
pollinator bees
have lost their
habitat
**30 million acres lost
every year
**20% of global CO2 emissions are
caused by deforestation
**Trees cool the atmosphere
and store greenhouse gases
**Flooding and soil
erosion result from
deforestation
**1.6 billion people living
in poverty depend on
forest for their food, fuel and
livelihood
18. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes
that work together to make an organization "healthy" or "unhealthy“.
⁺
⁻
19. 20th Century
* Problem solving
* Analysis
* Reductionism
* Individual learning
* Emphasis on teacher transmitting
predetermined knowledge to the student
* Being competitive
* Closed and immediate cause and effect
* Rooted in subjects or disciplines
21st Century
* Problem appreciation and reframing
* Synthesis
* Whole system emphasis
* Team or group learning
* Learning through enquiry
* Competitive and collaborative
* Multiple influences through time and
space
* Meta-learning
164* Meta learning was originally described by Donald B. Maudsley (1979) as ‘the process by which learners become aware of and
increasingly in control of habits of perception, inquiry, learning, and growth that they have internalized’. ‘A theory of meta-learning
and principles of facilitation an organismic perspective’, Donald B. Maudsley, 1979
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy
20. ENERGY RETURN ON ENERGY INVESTED = Energy Produced / Energy Used
ENERGY EROEI COMMENTS
OIL What are the indirect costs?
- Finding 5 : 1 1200 : 1 in 1919 to 5:1 in 2007
- Extraction 11 – 18 : 1 100:1 in 1930s; 25:1 in 1990s ; 1:1 in next 20y
TAR SANDS 2 - 5 : 1 1:1 if full life cycle is taken into consideration
GAS 5 - 15 : 1 Similar to oil
COAL 5 - 12 : 1 CCS costs (carob capture sequestration)?
NUCLEAR 7 - 15 : 1 Waste disposal, decommissioning costs? Risks?
HYDROGEN 0.5 : 1 Very low
HYDRO 20 – 40 : 1 Difference in flow
ETHANOL 2 – 1 : 1 Wood, Corn
BIODIESEL 2 : 1 “Cars eating - people starving.” Food vs. Fuel
WIND 25 - 70 : 1 Many dependencies, technology in development
SOLAR 10 – 75 : 1 Many dependencies, technology in development
Multiple sources have been used to collet the above approximation of the EROEI
21. Observation: According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), cumulative worldwide investment in
new fossil-fuel extraction and processing will total an estimated $22,87 trillion between 2012 and 2035.
Investment in renewables, hydropower, and nuclear energy will amount to only $7.32 trillion.
In these years, investment in oil alone, at an estimated $10.32 trillion, is expected to exceed spending
on wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels, hydro, nuclear, and every other form of renewable energy
combined. (Source: prof. Michael Klare)
22.
23. Consumerism
Examples of unhealthy economy:
- Increasing dependence on overseas energy;
- Declining self-sufficiency in food;
- Proliferation of "boomerang trade" — sending goods to foreign markets and
receiving almost identical items back;
- Story of stuff (when consumption becomes wasteful, debt fuelled and
unsatisfying and when it takes the biosphere about 18 months to produce
what humanity consumes in just 12 months);
- Between 1970 and 2009 the number of consumer electronic gadgets in a
typical UK household increased by eleven times (source: The Elephant in the Living Room);
- Debt based economy (by September 2008, debt averaged £9,740 per UK
household excluding mortgages);
- Material wealth vs. scarcity of time.
......Sustainability_Course_VideosWolfgang_Sachs_MaterialWealth.wmv
24. Potato exports 2004
UK to Germany: 1.5M tonnes
Germany to UK: 1.5M tonnes
“Boomerang trade" examples
Source: NEF, UK interdependent report 2006
Gingerbread exports 2004
UK to Germany: 465 tonnes
Germany to UK: 460 tonnes
Dairy goods exports 2004
UK to France: 10,200 tonnes of milk and cream
France to UK: 9,900tonnes of dairy goods
25. How to define planetary boundaries – a fence, within we can
have a safe operating space?
Staying within 9 planetary boundaries under an active stewardship!
Planet Earth is a complex,
self-regulating system
26. 4. Understanding Sustainability from Company’s
Perspective; guidance towards developing a Sustainable
Strategy.
What is Triple Bottom Line
Sustainable Lifecycle Management
Importance and Benefits of Circular Economy
How to integrate Sustainable Strategy
Introduction to Quantitative Measurements
Case Study and Exercise
27. In short – TWO aspects
Philosophical, ethical, values,
mission your intention
• Right livelihood
• Triple bottom line
• Natural Capitalism
• Five Capitals
• LOHAS – lifestyles of
health and Sustainability
• Ethical enterprise, ethical
products
Performance, technical,
measurement, certifications
your competence, trustworthiness
Performance, Reporting:
• Full cost accounting & Triple bottom line
• CSR – GRI standard reporting
• Carbon Trust/Carbon Disclosure Project
• Balanced Scorecards
Programs, Methodology:
• ISO 14001
• Biomimicry
• Cradle to Cradle
Certification - general:
• Earth Right
• Green Certificate
• Green Mark
• GreenSeal
• Green Tourism
29. * Shared knowledge
*Cooperative networks of
people committed to
achieve common goals
(schools, hospitals,
government, etc)
*Sense of community
*Quality of life
*Safety
*Housing , transportation
*Education, energy
*Social justice
*Environmental resources
*Health of ecosystems
*Biodiversity
*Public lands open space
*Clean air
*Clean water
*Zero waste, releases and
spills
*Income
*Local, regional, global
commerce
*Trading partners
*Customers
*Community economic affairs
*Innovation
*Capital Efficiency
*Risk Management
*Growth
*Shareholder’s return
Triple Bottom Line
Social Equity
Environmental
Integrity
Economic Capital
30.
31. Considering the Full Life Cycle – LCM
Raw material
acquisition and
processing
Manufacturing
and distribution
Product use and
packaging
After use / disposal
Conservation of natural resources
Use of renewable resources; sustainable
use of resources
Use of recycled and recyclable materials
Protection of natural habitats and
endangered species
Water conservation
Energy conservation
Waste minimization and pollution
prevention, especially the use of toxics
and release of toxics to air, water , land
Transportation
Minimal use of materials
Waste minimization and pollution
prevention, especially the use of
toxics and release of toxics to air,
water and land
By-product management
Energy conservation
Water conservation
Conservation of natural
resources
Energy efficiency
Water efficiency
Consumer health and
environmental safety
Packaging efficiency
Packaging recycled content
Packaging recycle rates
Recyclability; ease of reuse,
remanufacture, and repair
Waste management
Durability
Biodegradability/ compostability
Safety when incinerated or
landfilled
32. Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy
......Sustainability_Course_VideosCircular_economy_client_to_customer.mp4
33. Sweden
Applying innovative WASTE TO ENERGY program and highly efficient recycling
habits, the Scandinavian nation faces an interesting dilemma. They are running
out of trash.
Highly efficient waste management and recycling programs - only 4% of the
nation’s waste ends up in landfills. (in the U.S. over 50% of the waste produced by
the households ends up in landfills)
Waste to energy factories provide electricity to a ¼ million homes and 20% of the
entire country’s district heating.
Sweden is importing trash from the landfills of other EU countries. In fact, those
countries are paying Sweden to do so.
Economic benefit
Environmental benefit
......Sustainability_Course_VideosDon t Waste Your Waste (HD).mp4
34. Manufacturing
Procurement
Product
Development Maintenance
Sales
Delivery/
Distribution Customer
Services
Engineering
Requirement for integrating sustainability into every area of value chain
Implementation of
sustainability metrics
REACH or RoHS
compliance
incorporated
into product data
Implementation of
energy management
system
OSHA increase and
environmental compliance
Tracking of co2 emission
Increased
awareness
of sustainability
among end
consumers
Increased complexity in
regulations, standards,
policies
Increased scrutiny of
resource management
Reporting of
sustainability
performance
Penalties for
adverse effects
Increased
demand of
sustainable
production and
products
Collaboration
Info – sharing
35. Developing a sustainability strategy
• Business as usual is no longer an option;
• Re-evaluation of strategy, considering the real business case by focusing on what
the business needs to survive and genuinely prosper;
• Setting up a multi-year, organization-wide goals - sustainable development requires
long-term thinking;
• Multi-year goals coupled with annual targets and milestones that most effectively
drive performance;
• Designated and dedicated goal leaders, who are supported by multi-disciplinary
teams and manage each corporate sustainability goal.
Long-term
Goals
Measurement,
Monitoring
and Reporting
Stakeholder’s
Involvement
Competitive
Advantage/
Improved
Performance
36. Developing a sustainability strategy
• Using methods to measure and report corporate sustainability performance.
• Robust, business-focused progress monitoring processes are critical.
• Sustainability leaders that employ robust processes to help set, monitor and track
progress, with regular reporting to executive leadership, were more successful in
making sustainability a top agenda item for their boards;
• An increasing number of companies tie executive compensation to sustainability
goals.
Long-term
Goals
Measurement,
Monitoring
and Reporting
Stakeholder’s
Involvement
Competitive
Advantage/
Improved
Performance
37. Actual Impact On a Vital Capital
What the Impact on the
Same Vital Capital Must Be
In Order to Be Sustainable
Sustainability Performance =
Source: http://www.sustainableorganizations.org/sustainability-quotient.html
38. Sample metrics
• Greenhouse gas
emissions
• Water consumption
• Solid waste emissions
• Compostable waste
emissions
Environmental bottom line Social bottom line Economic bottom line
• Child labour use
• Product or service
safety
• Workplace safety
conditions
• Employee
compensation levels
• Fair trade practices
• Sustainable
procurement levels
39. An ecological illustration:
A geographical region produces
10 million gallons of freshwater
per year, an ecological limit
(denominator)
Sustainability norms suggest
that such limits not be exceeded
still, humans in the region use 15
million gallons per year
(numerator)
Actual Impact On a Vital Capital
What the Impact on the
Same Vital Capital Must Be
In Order to Be Sustainable
Sustainability Performance =
– 15/10 = 1.50 → anything greater than 1.0 is unsustainable
40. • Stakeholders should be involved in goal setting – goal setting brings most business
value when it involves a broad group of stakeholders;
• Making the board and senior managers more aware and supporting them in
developing resilient business strategies;
• Internal stakeholders will be responsible for achieving the goals and will be more
aligned with them if involved in the process;
• Fully engaged external stakeholders help calibrate goals, may be more aware of
socio-economic trends and can help improve corporate reputation;
• Analyses of legal or contractual considerations.
Long-term
Goals
Measurement,
Monitoring
and Reporting
Stakeholder’s
Involvement
Competitive
Advantage/
Improved
Performance
Developing a sustainability strategy
´
41. • PricewaterhouseCoopers release (July 2013): firms are putting greater emphasis on
efforts to drive financial savings and build a competitive advantage in the market by
being more ecologically efficient and reducing their environmental impact.
• The survey results coincide with a PwC report that offers ideas for companies
considering eco-efficiency strategies.
Long-term
Goals
Measurement,
Monitoring
and Reporting
Stakeholder’s
Involvement
Competitive
Advantage/
Improved
Performance
Developing a sustainability strategy
´
The concept of “Developing a sustainable strategy” has been adopted and modified, using Sustainability
Goals that Make an Impact Report as an indicator, from July 2013
42. Key criteria for successfully implementing
sustainability
• It has to be integrated within the fabric of organization;
• It has to address the "triple bottom line" of
sustainability: economic, social, and environmental
performance;
• It includes performance metrics that can be clearly
understood and communicated;
• It must add value and be integrated into the main
value-adding systems of the organization;
• It has to be extensively supported by existing
management tools and resources.
´
43. REALITY: You can not justify the sustainability business case, within the
conventional expectations of a business-as-usual mindset.
GENERAL OBSERVATION
Sustainability is either desired or tolerated;
It mostly depends on how it supports the conventional aims of the business:
• enhancing reputation,
• supporting growth or
• improving the bottom line.
Usual focus:
• eco-efficiency (short-term) savings;
• modest levels of investment have to meet the usual criteria for return-
on-investment and payback.
Where do You stand?
Finite
- ......Sustainability_Course_VideosRayAnderson.mp4
44. 5. Introduction to Low Carbon, Resource efficient “Green
Economy”
Making Economy Green-er
The role of Local Economy
The concept of “Leaky Bucket”
GDP Dilemma of Unlimited Economic Growth
46. Importance of
Local Economy
• Making the most of every peso
that enters your local economy
• 'The problem is not necessarily
that too little money flows into
a neighbourhood. Rather it is
what consumers, public
services and businesses do
with that money. Too often it
is spent on services with no
local presence, and so
immediately leaves the area.'
“The Government's National Strategy for
Neighbourhood “
Source: NEF
47. Day-care outside of the area
Salaries to people outside of the area
Catering companies
Far away takeaways
Taxes
Utilities
Furniture sourced from outside
Little recycling carries out – compost,
white goods
Professional services – accountants,
lawyers
School meals, meals on wheels from
outside the area.
Money flows into an
area in various forms:
- inward investment,
- grants,
- welfare benefits,
- salaries,
- export earning
- tourism
- business investment
- consumption
´
48. Irrigation
If money coming in
goes right out, then the
economy doesn’t
benefit.
To keep money
circulating in the local
economy, you must
create linkages that
enable people to spend
locally.
´
49. Meanwhile Ian receives £1000. To
celebrate his birthday, he orders
locally produced food and drinks
for £350. He then asks the local
plumber to un-block his drains (at a
cost of £450). The remaining £200
goes towards his telephone bill and
so leaves the local area. In total Ian
has re-spent £800 in the localarea.
Nicola receives £1000 and £800
immediately leaves her housing
estate: swallowed up by gas and
electricity bills; mortgage
repayments; food from a
supermarket; and a new dress from
a boutique in the city. The
remaining £200 stays in the local
area because: £150 pays her
cleaner; £5 buys an apple from the
farm next door; £15 goes into her
credit union savings scheme; and
£30 buys some groceries in the
corner shop.
THE LOCAL MULTIPLIER EFFECT
20% of money stays locally
Enters Remains
100 20
20 4
4 1
1 ….
Total 125
80% of money stays locally
Enters Remains
100 80
80 64
64 51
51 41
41 33
33 ….
Total 500
'Money is round, and it rolls away.‘ Confucius
Let's go up in the world and follow £1000 on its journey
around an area to see where it goes and what impact it makes.
The local multiplier effect
50. ´
How to decouple environmental impacts and resource use
from economic growth?
Exercise: Investigating Exponential Growth with a Piece of Paper
WHY
Scarcity of valuable resources
Environmental risks
(including aggregation of impacts)
Threats to humans and ecosystem
33 Doublings of 1
Number of doublings
Billions
51. -Rethink growth; (GNH vs GDP)
-Paradigm shift – process of overcoming
the linear/control/ command way of
thinking in consumer’s goods industry;
-Dematerialisation of resources
circular economy, doing more with less
(less water, less fossil fuels, less stuff);
-Material efficiency (reuse, recycling,
substitution),
-Increased energy efficiency;
-Sustainable consumption and
production, including green public
procurement;
-Increase in redundancy & resilience
to deal with global changes;
-Concept of sharing – co-operatives;
-AND required changes in our habits
and lifestyles (bottom up vs top down
solution).
How to start the process of decoupling?
52. Measuring progress with “HPI” - Happy Planet Index
The numbers within the diagram relate to the following headline indicators:
1. Measure of environmental pressure per capita ,
2. Measure of the percentage of the population flourishing ,
3. Measure of economic performance – how well the economy is doing in terms of
delivering sustainability and well-being for all (for economic half of the human systems sphere),
4. Measure or set the measures of the other (“non-economic”) policy amenable drivers of
well being for all (for the remaining human system),
5. Measure of well being per unit of environmental pressure (the HPI).
Economic development is not strongly linked with the general
happiness of its people, as long as they can meet their basic needs
Use of
Limited
ecological
Resources (1)
Performance of
other systems(4)
Economic
performance(3)
Resources
Well-being
for all (2)
Goals
Sustainable well-being (5)
Human Systems
Framework for measuring
societal progress by NEF
53.
54. 20th Century
1. Problem solving
2. Analysis
3. Reductionism
4. Individual learning
5. Emphasis on teacher transmitting
predetermined knowledge to the student
6. Being competitive
7. Closed and immediate cause and effect
8. Rooted in subjects or disciplines
21st Century
a. Learning through enquiry
b. Meta-learning
c. Problem appreciation and reframing
d. Competitive and collaborative
e. Whole system emphasis
f. Multiple influences through time and space
g. Synthesis
h. Team or group learning
Exercise; understanding the paradigm shift: make the connection
Adopted, based on: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy
58. Sources:
Books:
Donald B. Maudsley (1979) A theory of meta-learning and principles of facilitation an organismic
perspective
Tim Jackson, (2009), Prosperity without Growth
Thomas L. Wheelen, J. David Hunger, (2012), Strategic Management and Business Policy Toward
Global Sustainability
E. D. Beinhocker, (2006), The Origin of Wealth
J. Wible (2000) What is complexity
Rob Hopkins (2009) The Transition Handbook, Green Books
Michael Shuman (1998) Going Local, Free Press
Andrew Simms et al (2006) Clone Town Britain, New Economics Foundation
Donella H. Meadows, (2008), The Art of Systems Thinking
H. Daily, (2010), Ecological Economics
F. Capra (2008), Web of Life
E.F. Schumacher, (1976), Small is beautiful
M. Anielski, (2009), The economics of happiness
R. Heinberg, (2011), The end of growth
P. Hawkin, (1993), The Ecology of Commerce
59. Reports:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UN-Water –Report, 2012
WWDR, 2012
Global Environment Outlook: environment for development (GEO-4), 2012
Human Development Report 2006
World Business Council For Sustainable Development WBCSD, 2011
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy, 2012
Energy Savings Trust (2011), ‘The Elephant in the Living Room: How Our Appliances and
Gadgets Are Trampling the Green Dream – An Update to The Rise of the Machines’.
NEF, UK interdependent report 2006
Laura Carlsen, Mexico after 10 years of NAFTA: The price of going to market, 2004
Brundtland Report about Sustainability, 1987
Eco-efficiency Indicators, ESCAP, UN, 2009
Ruth Potts, Andrew Simms, (2012), New Materialism
The Energy Mix, (2011), WBCSD Energy and Climate
Natural Solutions, (2012), NEF
Business strategies for sustainable development, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment, (2012), UNEP
Sustainability Goals that Make an Impact, White Paper, (2013), CH2MHILL
Climate Change Starters Guidebook, (2011), UNEP
60. Websites:
Ellen Macarthur Foundation, http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
Transition network, www.transitionculture.org
New Economics Foundation, (NEF), www.pluggingtheleaks.org
Berkshares, www.berkshares.org
The Asset-Based Community Development Institute, (ABCD), www.abcdinstitute.org
Department of Economic and Social Affairs - UN, (ESA), http://esa.un.org/wpp/
The Blue Economy, www.theblueeconomy.org
Schumacher College, http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/
New economic foundation, (NEF), http://www.neweconomics.org/
Independent UK, www.independent.co.uk
Organization for economic cooperation and development, (OECD), www.oecd.org
The World Bank, (WB), www.worldbank.org
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), www.teebweb.org
International Monetary Fund, (IMF), www.imf.org
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), http://www.ipcc.ch
Sustainable Organizations, http://www.sustainableorganizations.org
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA), www.noaa.gov
Econosystemics, Reframing Economics for Sustainability, http://econosystemics.com/
The Club of Rome, http://www.clubofrome.org
