The Sustainability Learning Forum

Getting to the Bottom Line of Environmental Impacts

Camilla Crone Jensen, Novo Nordisk
Scott Dille, Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk

Companies depend on services provided by nature, such as fresh water, clean air, healthy biodiversity, and productive land, and their impact on the environment stretches far beyond what goes in and out of a production site. However, the total environmental cost of doing business is not fully accounted for in today’s financial disclosures. Novo Nordisk has looked beyond its own business operations to track the true cost of its environmental impacts. more[...]

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Anti-Corruption & Transparency

Anti-Corruption & Transparency more[...]

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MAN Lives Its Commitment to Climate Protection

Yvonne Benkert, MAN SE
MAN SE

As a global player in the transportation and energy sectors, MAN has a special responsibility to contribute to the reduction of the global carbon footprint. MAN lives up to this responsibility – in its Climate Strategy, it has set a clear objective: a 25 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from the company’s production sites by 2020 (baseline: 2008). The MAN Group has already cut CO2 emissions by 77,000 tons since 2008 – primarily due to the dedication and creativity of its employees, who initiate and carry out climate-protection projects at its sites. Resource scarcity, climate change, globalization, and urbanization are global challenges. MAN actively addresses these issues through its comprehensive corporate responsibility (CR) strategy. At MAN, CR finds concrete expression in four fields of action: integration, economy, environment, and people. Integrating economic, environmental, and social responsibility into its business practices is central to MAN’s success. MAN’s employees are essential to this process – they are its CR ambassadors. Only with their participation can MAN find fitting answers to the most urgent questions of our time. more[...]

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Water and Energy: An Important Issue for GDF SUEZ

Engie

By 2030, the world will face a water shortage in the amount of 40 percent of its needs. The energy sector, which is the second major user of water behind agriculture, will have to face this challenge. Hence, it is important for GDF SUEZ to be prepared for potential impacts on its business and identify risks and opportunities related to the problem of lack of water. more[...]

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Working Together for Animal Welfare

Aiko Bode, Fenix Outdoor
Kerstin Wolf
Fjällräven

As part of the Fenix Outdoor group, Fjällräven became a participant to the UN Global Compact Principles in 2012. As an outdoor company, we strive to focus in particular on the environmental principles of the Global Compact and to address our current impacts as well as look for innovative solutions to certain issues. The precautionary principle is a guiding principle in our environmental strategy because our products are often made with materials derived from natural sources. We have been making down products for more than 40 years. An important question that arises in this endeavor is how to make high-quality down products with respect to animal welfare? We continuously ask ourselves this question in our business conduct and are in the process of finding an answer. We have managed to establish a production chain with consistent and strict controls and believe we have come close to achieving sustainability in this respect. Fruitful partnerships are part of our approach. We are convinced that a holistic approach and being a pioneer – leaving the beaten path – are key to coping with today’s challenges and finding working solutions. This is what we are striving for at Fjällräven. more[...]

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Coop Naturaplan – 20 Years of Commitment to Organic Agriculture

Conradin Bolliger, COOP
Alexandra Sauer, COOP
Coop
Christian Waffenschmidt, COOP

The cultivation of agricultural crops and the production of food are resource-intensive activities that negatively impact the environment and society. About one-third of the Swiss population’s ecological footprint is due to food consumption. Coop is the second-largest retailer in Switzerland. The cooperative has lived up to its responsibility by promoting organic and fair agriculture for more than 20 years. more[...]

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Operationalizing Sustainability Targets: An Introduction to the Sustainable Value Approach

Prof. Dr. Frank Figge

Over the last decades, sustainability has been accepted by policy makers and corporate managers alike as a relevant and legitimate goal. In this context, the current UN-level efforts to formulate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be expected to further consolidate the sustainability agenda and to help relevant actors to address today’s key global sustainability challenges. more[...] login_required

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Figge, Frank

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Ten Lessons from Innovation Studies for a Sustainable Paradigm

Prof. Dr. Paul Dewick

Sustainability goals, such as those associated with the the post-2015 development agenda of the United Nations, have to be translated into new commercial products and services as well as different ways of making and delivering them that replace less-sustainable alternatives. This is the role for firms intending to profit from innovation while meeting sustainable goals. Sometimes these innovators are small entrepreneurial firms that see sustainable products as an ideal niche in which to start a new business venture. Sometimes these innovators are large firms that have identified opportunities where customers and/or technologies are new. Successful innovation at the firm level contributes cumulatively to industrial structural change in a process known as “creative destruction.” Through this process, a new paradigm can emerge, within which sustainable economic growth flourishes in an inclusive manner consistent with the goals of the United Nations post-2015 agenda. more[...] login_required

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Dewick, Paul

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A Big Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

Robert Kirkpatrick, UN Global Pulse

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s High Level Panel has called for a “data revolution” for sustainable development; such a revolution has already arrived in the private sector. But forward-thinking companies can now lead a revolution in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to help us address some of the world’s most pressing issues. more[...]

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Kirkpatrick, Robert

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MDGs and SDGs: Are the Concepts Compatible?

Dr. Markus Loewe, German Development Institute

For the last 20 years, the international development debate has been dominated by two trends that seem, at first, to be heading in a similar direction. However, under closer scrutiny, they differ with respect to their focus and underlying philosophies. On the one hand, there is the agenda of reducing poverty in developing countries in its various dimensions, which found its expression in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). On the other hand, there is the idea of sustainability that became popular at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and that, at the Rio+20 summit in 2012, generated a parallel concept to the MDGs: the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). more[...]

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CCC’s Solar Power Adventures

Tony Awad, Consolidated Contractors Company
Consolidated Contractors Company

As a pioneer in the construction industry, and with a vision to lead in promoting green awareness, CCC believes in providing future generations with a healthy and safe environment as well as social and economic prosperity. As a result, CCC started examining the implementation of solar energy applications on construction camps in the Middle East early on. At the moment, solar technology is put to successful use in various CCC units and projects. The rationale behind these schemes is to reduce the electrical energy consumed by camps by utilizing environmentally-friendly technologies. more[...]

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Exploring Sustainable Biofuels for Aviation

Pauline Lacroix, Air France and Jacqueline Houweling, KLM
AIR FRANCE KLM

Air France - KLM considers the transition from fossil fuels to renewables as a priority to ensure the future of commercial aviation. The Group’s strategy is to explore the entire value chain, from research to commercialization, and to set an example for the rest of the industry. Partnerships are important to accelerate the development of a market for sustainable biofuels. more[...]

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