Download or read book Return on Sustainability written by Kevin Wilhelm and published by FT Press. This book was released on 2013-04-24 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights the risk of inaction for businesses when it comes to climate change, but also contains best practices to allow them to capitalize on the numerous business opportunities that climate change presents, including increased profitability, enhanced brand value, and improved shareholder relations. The first section contains practical actions and real-world case studies of companies, such as Yakima, Sun Microsystems, and Lockheed Martin, that have successfully improved their climate performances, enhanced brand value, and increased profitability at the same time. The second and third sections of this book focus on the various risks that companies face from potential carbon regulation and the market factors forcing businesses to take action, whether they want to or not. This book provides the steps and strategies necessary to take leadership actions to help business "future-proof" society.
Download or read book Return on Sustainability written by Kevin Wilhelm and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2013 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights the risk of inaction for businesses when it comes to climate change, but also contains best practices to allow them to capitalize on the numerous business opportunities that climate change presents, including increased profitability, enhanced brand value, and improved shareholder relations. The first section contains practical actions and real-world case studies of companies, such as Yakima, Sun Microsystems, and Lockheed Martin, that have successfully improved their climate performances, enhanced brand value, and increased profitability at the same time. The second and third sections of this book focus on the various risks that companies face from potential carbon regulation and the market factors forcing businesses to take action, whether they want to or not. This book provides the steps and strategies necessary to take leadership actions to help business "future-proof" society.
Download or read book The Return of Nature written by Preston Cohen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-09 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Return of Nature asks you to critique your conception of nature and your approach to architectural sustainability and green design. What do the terms mean? Are they de facto design requirements? Or are they unintended design replacements? The book is divided into five parts giving you multiple viewpoints on the role of the relations between architecture, nature, technology, and culture. A detailed case study of a built project concludes each part to help you translate theory into practice. This holistic approach will allow you to formulate your own theory and to adjust your practice based on your findings. Will you provoke change, design architecture that responds to change, or both? Coedited by an architect and a historian, the book features new essays by Robert Levit, Catherine Ingraham, Sylvia Lavin, Barry Bergdoll, K. Michael Hays, Diane Lewis, Andrew Payne, Mark Jarzombek, Jean-Francois Chevrier, Elizabeth Diller, Antoine Picon, and Jorge Silvetti. Five case studies document the work of MOS Architects, Michael Bell Architecture, Steven Holl Architects, George L. Legendre, and Preston Scott Cohen.
Download or read book Green Scorecard written by Patricia Pulliam Philips and published by Nicholas Brealey. This book was released on 2010-11-26 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is sustainability sustainable? Too many organizations are currently caught in a "green slump," struggling to engage in sustainability projects and making far less progress than they should be. Some businesses are striving to lead the way by equipping their facilities with new, energy-saving technologies or creating projects that contain post-consumer materials, whereas others may be just now implementing company-wide recycling programs. No matter which green initiative you choose, in order to succeed companies must adopt a results-based, return on investment (ROI) focus that helps them to identify, develop and implement green projects that add value - from an economic, environmental and societal perspective. In The Green Scorecard, business leaders - from CEOs and CFOs to project managers and engineers - receive a reliable measurement and evaluation system that delivers credible data for decision makers. The valuable book, based on the ROI Institute's internationally renowned methodology, gives you clear steps for determining the overall worth of green projects - for both the environment and the bottom line.
Download or read book Climate Change written by Mojib Latif and published by Haus Publishing. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no doubt: climate change is happening, and mankind is increasingly to blame. Climate Change: The Point of No Return provides a solid basis for the current discussion about climate change, by addressing the arguments from both sides of the debate and offering an objective evaluation of the facts. Using the latest scientific information about the causes of the global climate change, Professor Latif presents the likely scenario that will face us if we don't dedicate ourselves to a course of sustainable development, and offers concrete options for action.
Download or read book Energy Return on Investment written by Charles A.S. Hall and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-11-29 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This authoritative but highly accessible book presents the reader with a powerful framework for understanding the critical role of the energy return on investment (EROI) in the survival and well-being of individuals, ecosystems, businesses, economies and nations. Growth and development are fundamental and ubiquitous processes at all scales, from individuals to food crops to national economies. While we are all familiar with the concepts of economic growth and living standards as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), we often take for granted the energy use that underpins GDP and our expectations for year-on-year growth. In this book, you will learn how these measures of “progress” are completely dependent on the balance that can be achieved between energy costs (inputs) and gains. Nothing is made or moved without an energy surplus, and it is the EROI of available energy sources more than any other single factor that determines the shape of civilization. Nearly all politics and economics assume that policy and market forces are the levers upon which future outcomes will hinge. However, this book presents many examples of historical and current events that can be explained much more clearly from an energetic perspective. In addition, a future scenario is developed that gives a central place to EROI in assessing the potential of governmental and private initiatives to substitute so-called renewable energy sources for diminishing stocks of fossil fuels. When cheap fossil fuels are no longer available in the abundance needed to mask economic problems and power business as usual, it will be EROI more than the plethora of “green” technologies that creates the boundary conditions for a sustainable future.
Download or read book Corporate Sustainability written by Ann Brockett and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invaluable guidance for complete integration of sustainability into reporting and performance management systems Global businesses are under close scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and their diverse stakeholders to focus on sustainability and accept responsibility for their multiple bottom line performance. Business Sustainability and Accountability examines business sustainability and accountability reporting and their integration into strategy, governance, risk assessment, performance management and the reporting process. This book also highlights how people, business and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model. Looks at business sustainability and accountability reporting and assurance and their incorporation into the reporting process Focuses on how the business sustainability and accountability model are impacted by the collaboration of people, business, and resources Presents laws, rules, regulations, standards and best practices relevant to business sustainability performance, reporting and assurance Organizations worldwide recognize the importance of all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and accountability reporting. However, how to actually assess sustainability risk, implement sustainability reporting, and obtain sustainability assurance remain a major challenge and best practices are evolving. Straightforward and comprehensive Business Sustainability and Accountability hits on all of the hottest topics around sustainability including multiple bottom line (EGSEE) performance and reporting, related financial and non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs), business social responsibility and environmental reporting.
Download or read book Practical Sustainability Strategies written by Nikos Avlonas and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-12-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strategies that enable organizations to succeed as businesses and as responsible corporate citizens Based on the authors' many years of research and hands-on experience, this book provides tested and proven practical strategies that make it possible for organizations to develop, maintain, or extend their competitive advantage without causing harm to the environment and society. Moreover, it explains how to set goals and objectives and then monitor, measure, and report on progress towards achieving corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Most importantly, readers will discover that this can all be accomplished while, at the same time, improving bottom-line profitability. Practical Sustainability Strategies: How to Gain a Competitive Advantage is divided into four parts: Part 1, Introduction to Sustainability, underscores the urgency for organizations to adopt and develop sustainable practices Part 2, Sustainable Strategies, details numerous strategies that have been proven to work, including environmental innovation through biomimicry, green buildings, and green chemistry Part 3, Tools and Metrics, offers practical information on implementing strategies and measuring sustainability and reporting, including global standards and guidelines for managing sustainability, life-cycle analysis, carbon and water footprints such as GRI, GHG Protocol, UN Global Compact Part 4, Conclusion, provides an expert forecast of the future of sustainability Case studies based on the authors' research and fieldwork illustrate how leading companies have implemented each of the sustainability strategies discussed in the book. There's also an appendix with additional case studies exploring various aspects of business practices and sustainability. Practical Sustainability Strategies is ideal as a graduate textbook as well as a reference for business managers. All readers will not only gain a greater appreciation for sustainable development, but also the skills needed to integrate sustainability into all aspects of their organization's business practices.
Download or read book Financing Sustainability written by Marco Kerste and published by VU Uitgeverij. This book was released on 2011 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainability thinking is rapidly gaining traction. It offers an inspiring vision for the future of the world and provides significant business and investment opportunities. Based on insights from over 300 empirical studies, this book explores the possibilities in the field of renewable energy finance, carbon trading, and sustainable investing. In addition, it describes innovative finance mechanisms – such as green bonds and peer-to-peer lending – that may further spur environmental and social sustainability. By taking an empirical, fact-based approach, this book aims to provide investors, business executives, and policymakers with a more thorough understanding of how sustainable finance can create value for business and society. Key words: Sustainable finance, renewable energy finance, cleantech, green investing, sustainable investments, responsible investments, carbon trading, carbon finance, ESG, impact investing.
Download or read book The Financial Ecosystem written by Satyajit Bose and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-16 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long term asset owners and managers, while seeking high risk-adjusted returns and efficiently allocating scarce financial capital to the highest value economic activities, have the essential and formidable role of ensuring the sustainability of return. But generally accepted financial accounting methods are ill-equipped to provide clear signals of the risks and opportunities created by scarce natural and human capital. Hence many investment managers in global financial markets, while performing due diligence on portfolio companies, examine metrics of non-financial performance, especially environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators. Broken into three sections, this book outlines the rationale for and methods used in six areas where financial acumen has been harnessed to the goal of combining monetary return with long run sustainability. The first section offers an introduction to the role of finance in achieving sustainability, and includes an overview of the six areas—sustainable investing, impact investing, decentralized finance, conservation finance, and cleantech finance. The methods section of the book illustrates analytical tools and specialized data sources essential to those interested in increasing the level of social responsibility embedded in economic activity. The applications section describes and differentiates each of the six areas and their roles in advancing specific measures of sustainability.
Download or read book Return on Investment on Sustainability SW written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Corporate Sustainability Management written by Mark W. McElroy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-05-23 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Businesses around the world are increasingly turning to an exciting new branch of management known as corporate sustainability management (CSM) to help them better understand and manage their non-financial performance. Indeed, what we are witnessing is nothing less than the birth of a new management function. The main pillar of CSM is the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), which has been successful as an organizing principle but a disappointment in practice. This is largely due to the absence of 'sustainability context' in related measurement, management and reporting efforts, when for example the monitoring of a company's use of freshwater resources fails to take into account the size of related supplies. This book is the first to introduce a systematic means of including context in sustainability management and doing effective CSM. After making the case for why context matters, the book explains how to do context-based CSM by providing a stepwise, cyclical blueprint for how to practice it in any organization. This includes a template for context-based metrics compatible with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), as well as specific examples of metrics for each of the triple bottom lines. Practical examples of best practices are presented throughout, while simultaneously addressing key issues, such as how organizations can measure performance against context-based standards when consensus for such standards does not yet exist. Appendices include tools for developing and applying context-based metrics, as well as case studies taken from the practice of context-based CSM at two companies in the United States. This guide is the essential tool for business and organizational leaders in all sectors committed to improving their sustainability performance, with a particular emphasis on measurement, management and reporting.
Download or read book ROI For Nonprofits written by Tom Ralser and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the methods and processes to help nonprofits raise money in an environment that increasingly demands accountability, transparency, and results. The realities of today's economic environment have required that nonprofits, and those that raise money for them, make their case for support as strongly as possible. Warm and fuzzy appeals that tug at the heart strings have met with limited success. Assuming that funding targets intuitively know the value of the good work being done is unrealistic. The Key to Nonprofit Sustainability offers an abundance of pragmatic tips, tools, case studies, and techniques to make the process easy to understand and implement.
Download or read book Making Sustainability Stick written by Kevin Wilhelm and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2014 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the blueprint for implementation, breaking down barriers, and the steps required to integrate sustainability successfully into any business. It is laid out in easily digestible chapters, with action steps backed up from interviews with sustainability thought leaders, case studies, and the real life experience of the author, as well as over 40 interviews with CSR and Sustainability Directors at various companies on how to "get things done" based on their successes and temporary setbacks. It provides the step-by-step roadmap for implementing sustainability successfully and focuses on "how" companies can realize the benefits of sustainability by engaging the head, heart, and hands of their employees. Also included is a checklist for implementation and tips on how to regain momentum or get "un-stuck" at the end of each chapter as well as additional helpful resources and exercises to overcome the most common barriers towards implementation.
Download or read book Investment for Health and Well being written by Dyakova M and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2017-09-27 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Governments across the WHO European Region need to take urgent action to address the growing public health inequality economic and environmental challenges in order to achieve sustainable development (meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs) and to ensure health and well-being for present and future generations. Based on a scoping review this report concludes that current investment policies and practices (doing business as usual) are unsustainable with high costs to individuals families communities societies the economy and the planet. Investment in public health policies that are based on values and evidence provides effective and efficient inclusive and innovative solutions that can drive social economic and environmental sustainability. Investing for health and well-being is a driver and an enabler of sustainable development and vice versa and it empowers people to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for all.
Download or read book Return on Sustainability written by Kevin Wilhelm and published by Dog Ear Pub Llc. This book was released on 2009 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is the challenge of our generation. Wilhelm offers hope, and his new Return on Sustainability is a groundbreaking process that demonstrates to businesses the qualitative and quantitative benefits of taking action today. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wilhelm provides a comprehensive full-systems perspective that enables executive, managers, and employees to understand how their job is tied to climate change - both from a risk and an opportunity perspective. Gifford Pinchot, Co-Founder, Bainbridge Graduate Institute Inspiring, practical, a must-read for any executive wondering how climate will impact their company. David Johnston, President of What's Working, and a co-founder of the Green Building movement in the United States A perfect balance between inspiration and instruction, this is a practical, how-to guide for any business leader looking to green their business. Laurie David, StopGlobalWarming.org Kevin Wilhelm is an expert and national thought leader in the field of business and climate change. He is the CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting, a Seattle-based firm focused on profit improvement through the use of sustainable business and climate reduction practices. Kevin brings 13+ years of bottom-line business experience to the field, having worked with clients ranging from Fortune 500 multinationals to next generation renewable energy start-ups. Wilhelm is a nationally recognized speaker on the business of climate change and is the Chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Committee. Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Denver, two Graduate Certificates from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship and a BA from Macalester College.
Download or read book Rethinking Corporate Sustainability in the Era of Climate Crisis written by Raz Godelnik and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-26 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a clear, critical, and timely analysis of the state of corporate sustainability within the context of the climate crisis. It offers not only a substantive critique of the current efforts but also clarity about the changes needed and how to implement them. The book goes beyond the more common debate on shareholder capitalism vs. stakeholder capitalism to explain the shortcomings of the current approach to sustainability in business, which the author describes as sustainability-as-usual. Using strategic design lenses, the author proposes a new model of awakened sustainability, which offers a transformational shift in corporate sustainability to ensure companies fairly and effectively address the climate crisis. The book presents the numerous changes needed in the environment in which companies operate to enable awakened sustainability and how these changes can be realized. Grounded in the scientific community’s calls for urgent action on climate change, this groundbreaking text provides scholars with an evaluation of current and future trends in corporate sustainability. It connects the dots between the progress made in the last five decades and the opportunities entailed in the work on a regenerative and just vision for companies in this decade and beyond.
