The Sustainability Learning Forum

The Trouble with the Congo

The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars. Drawing from more than 330 interviews and a year and a half of field research, it develops a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of the Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003–2006). Grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, a dominant peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international efforts to end the deadliest conflict since World War II. Most international actors interpreted continued fighting as the consequence of national and regional tensions alone. UN staff and diplomats viewed intervention at the macro levels as their only legitimate responsibility. The dominant culture constructed local peacebuilding as such an unimportant, unfamiliar, and unmanageable task that neither shocking events nor resistance from select individuals could convince international actors to reevaluate their understanding of violence and intervention. more[...]

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Conflict Minerals

Resource conflict is one of several destabilizing phenomena commonly cited as defining many of the extractive economies of the global south. Our Tutorial discusses all aspects of the issue with a special focus on US laws, SEC and Dodd-Frank Act regulations. more[...]

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Consumer demand for climate solutions leads to expansion of WindMade label

WindMade asbl

The WindMade organisation announced today the development of a new consumer label for companies and products made using renewable energy. This will be backed by the UN Global Compact, WWF, Vestas Wind Systems, and the Global Wind Energy Council, the partners behind the WindMade eco-label. This move was declared at a press conference during the COP18 climate negotiations in Doha. more[...]

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Conflict minerals: What you need to know about the new disclosure and reporting requirements and how Ernst & Young can help

Ernst & Young

This Studie discusses Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act requiring disclosures about "conflict minerals" emanating from select countries. Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act is intended to make transparent the financial interests that support armed groups in the DRC area. By requiring companies using conflict minerals in their products to disclose the source of such minerals, the law is aimed at dissuading companies from continuing to engage in trade that supports regional conflicts. more[...] login_required

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Conflict minerals: What you need to know about the new disclosure and reporting requirements and how Ernst & Young can help

Ernst & Young

This Studie discusses Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act requiring disclosures about "conflict minerals" emanating from select countries. Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act is intended to make transparent the financial interests that support armed groups in the DRC area. By requiring companies using conflict minerals in their products to disclose the source of such minerals, the law is aimed at dissuading companies from continuing to engage in trade that supports regional conflicts. more[...] login_required

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Approximated EU GHG inventory: early estimates for 2011

European Environment Agency (EEA)

The objective of this report is to provide an early estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU-15 and EU-27 for the year 2011. The official submission of 2011 data to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will occur in 2013. more[...] login_required

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Greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2012

European Environment Agency (EEA)

This report presents an assessment of the progress projected or achieved by the European Union (EU), its Member States and other EEA member countries towards achieving their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets for the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and for 2020 under EU unilateral commitments. The report supports and complements the annual report of the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress of the EU and its Member States towards set targets, as required by Article 5 of the EU Monitoring Mechanism Decision (MMD) (EU, 2004). more[...] login_required

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International Peer Review to focus on Germany’s Sustainable Development Policy – Initial Decisions now taken

German Council for Sustainable Development

The Federal Government has officially requested the drawing up of a second international peer review of its sustainable development policy. In keeping with the 2012 progress report on the National Sustainable Development Strategy, the respective invitations have been issued to internationally recognized experts. more[...]

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Evidence-based Standards for Reporting on Materiality

Elaine Cohen, Beyond Business Ltd

Materiality assessment concerning corporate sustainability disclosures is still difficult. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) offers evidence-based standards for reporting on materiality. “The SASB aims to become the future of both financial and sustainability disclosure, providing guidance for the missing link through a set of material indicators by sector and voluntary disclosure, which no self-respecting voluntary corporate reporter will be able to avoid referencing and which no 'reasonable investor' will be willing to overlook," writes Elaine Cohen in CSRWire. more[...]

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Evidence-based Standards for Reporting on Materiality

Elaine Cohen, Beyond Business Ltd

Materiality assessment concerning corporate sustainability disclosures is still difficult. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) offers evidence-based standards for reporting on materiality. “The SASB aims to become the future of both financial and sustainability disclosure, providing guidance for the missing link through a set of material indicators by sector and voluntary disclosure, which no self-respecting voluntary corporate reporter will be able to avoid referencing and which no 'reasonable investor' will be willing to overlook," writes Elaine Cohen in CSRWire. more[...]

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Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets - Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012

Enough Project

Leading electronics companies are making progress in eliminating conflict minerals from their supply chains, but still cannot label their products as being conflict free. Since Enough’s last corporate rankings report on conflict Minerals in December 2010, a majority of leading consumer electronics companies have moved ahead in addressing conflict minerals in their supply chains—spurred by the conflict minerals provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and growing consumer activism, particularly on college Campuses. Most firms have improved their scores from the 2010 rankings, but some laggards still remain. more[...] login_required

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Green technologies produce the future

Lisbet Bræmer-Jensen, Grundfos & ‘Act NOW‘

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Haque, Syed Tousif

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Green Delta Reaches the 26th Year of Its Journey in the Insurance Sector

Syed Tousif Haque, Green Delta Insurance
Green Delta Insurance Co. Ltd.

In January 2012, Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd. (GDIC) celebrated its 26th anniversary after being incorporated on December 14, 1985, as a public limited company. The actual operation of the company began on January 1, 1986. At that time, the company only had capital of Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 30 million. Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd. now holds about BDT 510.3 million more[...] login_required

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Changing the Way Corporations Source Energy

Rasmus M. Schophuus , Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Vestas Wind Systems A/S
WindMade asbl

WindMade™, the first consumer label for wind energy, is moving the discussion from how much energy a product uses during its lifetime to the embodied energy of the product. Created to drive the global adoption of wind energy, WindMade™ is designed to inform consumers about the source of the energy used to make the products they buy and thus encourage corporations to source renewable energy to run their operations and production. Launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2011, WindMade™ is backed by the UN Global Compact, Vestas Wind Systems, WWF, Global Wind Energy Council, Bloomberg, the LEGO Group, and PwC. more[...] login_required

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