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July 30 2010
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The Rust Belt is Turning Green
Detroit has a bad reputation when it comes to environment. But now the Detroit River is the only International Wildlife Refuge and International Heritage River system in North America because of its world-class water, wildlife, heritage, and recreational opportunities. And it is becoming a model of public-private partnerships for conservation, sustainability, and close-to-home recreation that help businesses achieve competitive advantage. This story is not well known and needs to be told to help retain and attract young people to the region. ..continue..

Achieving Sustainability of Government Operations: State of Sustainability Reporting Among Federal Agencies
In 2004, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicated that 500 companies (including 49 of the 100 largest multinational corporations reported progress against economic, environmental, and social indicators [also known as sustainability performance] or triple- bottom-line [TBL] indicators). In recent years, U.S. government agencies have faced increasing pressure to report their results against an integrated set of performance indicators. These efforts are in an early stage of adoption. ..continue..

What dynamic local leaders can teach us about environmental stewardship
Courageous mayors of major cities around the world are tackling seemingly intractable problems - traffic gridlock, air pollution and climate change - and they are winning. They have made environmental responsibility a key component of their political agendas because they recognize that "livability" is a critical factor in obtaining economic growth and voter satisfaction. ..continue..

The rise and rise of CSR

"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today. " Evan Esar

What has happened to CSR since I started working on the subject over ten years ago?

My involvement with CSR was stimulated by the feeling that the public agencies with which we had worked – ILO, UNDP, World Bank etc. – had done many wonderful things in the area of development (and better publicised, some well known failures) but their efforts have not been more than a drop in the ocean. After leaving a meeting at UN HQ in New York, I felt that the UN was getting nowhere fast and that, as the new millennium was five years away, it was clear that the next millennium would be handed to the private sector. Not without challenge nor doubt, but the private sector had, and continues to, show a robustness and vibrancy that, unfortunately, our public sector agencies both nationally and internationally have failed to show.

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Water-for-food and sanitation solutions
Sanitation, health, water, food and ecosystems are closely interrelated. According to the Water and Sanitation Task Force, 42% of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – defecate in the open. A lack of basic sanitation services - defined by the WHO as the connection to a public sewer or septic system or access to a pour-flush latrine, simple pit latrine or ventilated improved pit latrine – undermines the health of men, women and, particularly, children. ..continue..

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