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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$11.5 million boost for Victoria’s recycling and resource recovery infrastructure

The Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan Smith is continuing to drive improvement in Victoria’s recycling efforts announcing an $11.5 million funding package to improve recycling infrastructure across the state. It follows $13.8 million of infrastructure funding already announced this year as part of the Victorian Coalition Government’s Conserve Invest and Save strategy. This latest funding package includes: • $5 million for Round 2 of the Driving Investment in New Recycling (DINR) fund through grants and; • $6.5 million for Resource Recovery Infrastructure (RRI) at landfills, which will target large scale projects. “We are continuing our reinvestment of the …

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ACSI ready to name and shame Half of listed companies provide no ESG disclosure

By Tony Featherstone: The Investor Daily More than half of Australia’s largest listed companies do not provide meaningful sustainability disclosure around environmental, social and governance risks. The sustainability reporting debate has gone up several notches, with the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) warning it might publicly name listed companies that ignore calls from the investment community for better disclosure in this area. ACSI, which represents about 40 industry funds with a total of more than $300 billion in funds under management, this month released its fifth annual analysis of sustainability reporting practices and disclosure of companies in the S&P/ASX …

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Sustainability Business to hold 2013 event in conjunction with the Australian Making Cities Liveable Conference

The ‘Taking Care of Business: Sustainable Transformation’ Conference in 2013 will be held in Melbourne,  in Conjunction with the Australian Making Cities Liveable Conference. Our event will bring together ‘green economy’ leaders and sustainabilty practitioners from Australia and New Zealand along with the opportunity to network with others who are building profitable and sustainable business models, services and products. The conference will update delegates on a range of effective sustainable business practises including energy saving and carbon pricing. We will examine Governments’ sustainability plans  while finding business opportunities and trends in the sector. The Conference will include presentations on: Green …

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The 2012 Sustainability Business Association – Conference Special Interest Group (SIG)

This year’s conference will see the formation of a Special Interest Group (SIG) to identify issues of importance to members and delegates for further examination and debate in 2012/13. All delegates can register for this open discussion on the conference website. “Taking Care of Business: Sustainable   Transformation” 21 – 22 May 2012, Radisson Resort,  Gold Coast, Australia The conference will update delegates on a range of issues including; Climbing the mountain: issues for business and society in the “Necessary Transition” Redefining CSR Post-GFC It’s all about me! Personalising Corporate Sustainability The Sustainable Australian CEO: transformation of Australia’s business leadership in …

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The 2012 Association Conference – Taking Care of Business: Sustainable Transformation will be held on the Gold Coast in May.

The Association for Sustainability in Business Inc. is a Non Government, Not-For-Profit Organisation (IA 38885). The Association is not a lobby group, we aim to educate, and keep our members up to date with the latest trends, information, training and B2B opportunities while encouraging profitability and competitiveness. The conference program is available on the website and will feature over fifty (50) presenters. Ian Berry, Sparkenator will open the Conference A sparkenation is a spark that ignites passion that leads to action that changes what’s normal. The author of Changing What’s Normal, Ian will ignite this conference before, during, and after …

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