Cost Effective Sustainability Through The Value Chain

By Lindsey Nelson, Published August 27, 2012 Being a green enterprise is not a cheap undertaking, but lots of companies and NGOs are looking for ways to make their value chain (supply chain, distributors, partner org’s, etc.) more sustainable. And according to a recent Forbes article, the businesses supply chain is where the ROI on sustainability shows its benefits in triple digits. In an effort to understand in-depth what makes a value chain sustainable, Forbes.com partnered with ASQ, The Institute for Supply Management, and Deloitte on a multi-year research study aimed at identifying demonstrated management practices and cost saving approaches. …

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New sustainability assessment system recognised by AILA

LESS (Local-area Envisioning and Sustainability-scoring System), developed by HASSELL, has been recognised in the 2012 Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture (AILA) national awards for its excellence in research and communication. LESS is a design decision-making framework developed to generate sustainable design solutions that lessen emissions, use of resources, and social disparity. It enables integrated mapping, measuring and monitoring of sustainability in urban areas across the four domains: social, infrastructure, governance and environmental. This allows for a triple bottom-line assessment in both the built environment and society, along with diagnosis of problems, and identification of strengths, weaknesses and successes in policy …

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Does the Chinese emissions ‘error’ matter?

By John ED Barker, Murdoch University Recent analyses that China’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions might be 1.2 gigatonnes or 20% higher than previously estimated have generated something of a feeding frenzy in the media; and not just the daily tabloids. Even The Scientific American has jumped on the bandwagon, adding a few more factoids to increase the alarm. It is understandable that we could be alarmed by a figure of 1.2 gigatonnes; that’s a mighty big figure. It’s equivalent to the total of Japan’s annual emissions, the SMH repeated, without providing the more useful fact for its readers that it …

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What’s the British music scene got to do with selecting the right environmental software?

I’ve just finished watching another brilliant episode of the series “Legendary Music Cities of the World” – this time spotlighting the extraordinary music successes of London. Beatles, Stones, The Who, the rock of Led Zeppelin evolving into the Punk phenomenon, Glamrock of Bowie & Queen, the Brit Pop gems of Blue, Happy Mondays and Oasis sandwiched between the Hit Factories of Stock, Aitken & Waterman and the Spice Girls, which in turn inspired the blossoming of modern feminine songstresses of Adele, Lily Allen and Florence & the Machine. The truly exceptional artists were able to evolve their music as the …

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Cities need strong, transparent leadership

Iman Mahditama, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Experts gathering at the third biennial World Cities Summit in Singapore have urged city administrations all over the world to develop strong, transparent leadership as cities are deemed critical in the establishment of a sustainable future. “Many of the world’s cities are actually bigger than countries so city sustainability is critical. It should be the main drive in the attempt to create a sustainable world,” United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Helen Clark said. The former New Zealand prime minister then went on to say, “In light of this, city leadership is critical, as …

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Sustainability Conference Australia – Melbourne, June 2013

The Association’s annual conference Sustainanability Conference “Sustainable Transformation” will be held in conjunction with the “Making Cities Liveable” conference in Melbourne. The new three day format will see: > Day one consisting of four Sustainability streams totalling 44 presenters > Day two will have 6 key note presentations and 90 minute moderated “Q&A” > Day three will consist of four Liveable Cities streams totalling 44 presenters Delegates will be able to purchase one, two or three day registrations. Call for papers will open on the 14th August 2012 and close at the end of February 2013. The podcast of the …

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GlobalData Forecasts Increasingly Volatile Carbon Market

The price of carbon credits traded in regional and national emissions markets worldwide will become increasingly volatile and difficult to accurately forecast through 2015, according to a report by GlobalData. GlobalData said the prolonged European sovereign debt crisis, a glut of carbon credits and uncertainties under the Kyoto Protocol are expected to keep prices low through 2012. The recession in the European Union, which operates the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, will cause emissions to grow less than expected through this year. Economic conditions in the eurozone and outcomes of the Kyoto Protocol will determine the global carbon prices between 2013 …

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Spreadsheets don’t cut it for tracking and reporting environmental data

What is it telling us when Microsoft, creator of the Excel spreadsheet, invests in a software solution to manage its environmental reporting requirements? According to Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist, the solution “will enable us to efficiently collect, analyse and share environmental data, delivering new levels of understanding about the resources we use”. This is not a vote of no-confidence in the spreadsheet, but rather a good business decision to invest in fit for purpose solutions. Environmental management has, for most businesses, been a sideline issue that has attracted only passing interest from management. As a consequence, investment in tools to …

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