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VALUE BLOGSeditors deskEye on The Markets
The fourth sector: FT soapbox pieceSocial enterprise - the fledgling fourth sectorBy Chip Feiss function floatContent(){var paraNum = "3" paraNum = paraNum - 1;var tb = document.getElementById(\\'floating-con\\');var nl = document.getElementById(\\'floating-target\\');if(tb.getElementsByTagName("div").length> 0){if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length>= paraNum){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[paraNum]);}else {if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length == 3){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[2]);}else {nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[0]);}}}}Is it possible that a whole new, distinct fourth sector is developing right before our eyes? The modern business world has up to [...] Activist Shareowners Tally Victories in 2009 Proxy SeasonFollowing the “The catastrophic collapse in governance” in 2008; the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the As You Sow Foundation report successful shareowner efforts on resolutions addressing corporate governance, the environment, and human rights. See Social Funds’ coverage here:http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/article2724.html YMCA brand ranked most valuable among nonprofitsA new survey says YMCA has the most valuable nonprofit brand, followed by Salvation Army and United Way of America and American Red Cross, The New York Times reported June 23 (see charity brand story). Serious doubts about the new Chairman of GMBy Scott McKain, co-founder of The Value Added InstituteIf my very future depended upon selecting a single person to sink just one basketball shot, I’m picking Michael Jordan. If my life hung in the balance, and one individual from our history had to present an oration that would determine my survival, I would beg Martin [...] The Resilience of the Co-op Business ModelOverlooked by the mainstream media and only rarely discussed in the management journals is the resilience of the Co-operative business model. The reason for this may well be the lack of management scandals, which have plagued the corporate and the nonprofit sectors over the past 20 years.Co-operatives have also maintained a low profile in the [...] Capital For Good (Xigi.net)
Online Conference on Understanding and Accessing Social InvestmentJoin July 6 -10 to discuss the emerging world of “social investment:” a range of capital targeted to entrepreneurial approaches to social and environmental problems. Goals for this conference:• Explore the goals of social investment as it exists today, from “venture philanthropy”-style grants through to investments made with the goal of commercial returns; • Discuss how [...] Value Networks Discussion GroupA Value Network is any web of relationships that generates tangible and intangible value through complex dynamic exchanges between two or more individuals, groups, or organizations. VIDEO
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Off The Wires
Debt is capitalism's dirty little secret
Just why is there so much debt in the Anglo-Saxon world? Bankers and regulators know well that it is in nobody's long-term interests to have allowed borrowing to escalate to a position where the US now owes far more, as a multiple of the economy, than at the start of the Great Depression. The answer is capitalism's dirty little secret: excessive lending was the only way to maintain the living standards of the vast bulk of the population at a time when wealth was being concentrated in the hands of an elite. FT 6/30/09
Obama Rockets to Top of Poll on Global Leaders
US President Barack Obama has the confidence of many publics around the world - inspiring far more confidence than any other world political leader according to a new poll of 20 nations by WorldPublicOpinion.org.
A year ago, President Bush was one of the least trusted leaders in the world.
Putin and Ahmadinejad Receive Lowest Marks
Country-by-Country Summaries (PDF)
FT points out that: Two of the biggest bourses in Asia and Latin America have for the first time overtaken rivals in New York and London by market capitalization in a sign of how the economic crisis and tough competition in mature markets is reshaping the global exchange landscape. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) and Brazil's BM&F Bovespa have vaulted ahead of NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX and the London Stock Exchange in the value of shares in the exchange companies themselves. The Brazilian exchange will open a London office HKEx is now the world's second-largest exchange by market value, behind CME Group, the largest US futures exchange. BM&F Bovespa is in fourth place, after Deutsche Börse, the German exchange. The London Stock Exchange has slipped to 11th place
The current composition of the index is shown in this table:
Sources: http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/index.cfm?section=mvindex
UNICEF awarded $438,000 by Not On Our Watch Not On Our Watch was founded by George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Jerry Weintraub, and David Pressman to focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities. Drawing upon the voices of cultural leaders, its mission is to protect and assist the vulnerable, marginalized, and displaced. See the video of Matt Damon on the ground at the Zimbabwe border here: http://www.notonourwatchproject.org/ Beyond Profit – a new Social Enterprise Magazine "Despite the fact that the world economy and its media hierarchy seem to be crumbling, against all odds we'd like to welcome you to the launch of a new magazine, the start of a new social business! Why, you ask? Why start a new business-a new publication, no less-now? We believe that our world could use more good news: Companies doing right. People who put community above self. Investors that look beyond a quick financial return. We believe that people and businesses that are looking beyond profit-at their impact on society, and their ability to change systems, processes and communities-are worth knowing about." Says Managing Editor, Lindsay Clinton in her introductory letter. We agree whole heartedly and wish this new magazine and web site all success. Free subscriptions offered to all who sign up before June 1st, so hurry over to: Is the Fate of the American Newspaper Industry in the Hands of the Government? The news about the newspaper business is bad. Circulation is sliding. Revenue is plummeting. Papers are closing. Layoffs abound. Amid the chaos, far too many in the industry are paralyzed by fear. Their idea of innovation is a token, tentative project here or there. Or a foolhardy call to charge for content nobody will pay for. Mostly, they're cutting to—and past—the bone, chasing harebrained schemes, and generally praying that some miracle will happen, that the hundred-year-floodwaters will recede, the skies will brighten, and somehow the newspaper industry will be saved. What's Next for the Big Financial Brands? Some of the great financial brands such as Merrill Lynch built trust with customers over decades-but lost it in a matter of months. Harvard Business School marketing professor John Quelch explains where they went wrong, and what comes next. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6174.html Attached at the Wallet: The Delicate Financial Relationship between the U.S. and China. The financial relationship between China and the U.S. is beginning to look like an unhealthy co-dependency. China holds so much of its foreign reserves in dollar-based assets that it is now vulnerable to shifts in the U.S. economy. And the U.S. has allowed China to purchase so much of its debt that it is now beholden to Chinese interests. Experts disagree, however, about the real motives for China's continuing investments, and whether it would ever sell them off. -- a comprehensive online resource for the latest news, reports, and congressional hearings related to the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The site is constantly updated with the never-ending stream of information about TARP and its troubles, including:
All postings have been categorized and are searchable by corporation, oversight body, or congressional committee.TARPtales.org also features descriptions of and links to the myriad TARP oversight bodies and independent watchdogs that are monitoring the government's spending of bailout funds, as well as a detailed timeline of TARP-related events and developments Twitter: a new weapon in the fight against malaria? Indeed it is and the U.N. Foundation is in the thick of it right now with their Nothing But Nets campaign and their Chairman, Ted Turner, all in 140 characters or less! Last week, actor Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN and Ted Turner to see who could be the first to reach one million Twitter followers and Ashton won. He has already come through on his promise to donate 10,000 anti-malaria bed nets and now Ted has come through with a challenge of his own. Watch the video! Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home, Forever Brazilian-Japanese workers who have lost their jobs are being offered money to return to their home countries. In the NYT: Get outta here….. Slide Show: A Cash Offer to Leave Japan Misgovernance at the World Bank Board members may be inclined to advance their own interests at voting time. This appears true for the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors, too. The problem? Many countries are being shut out of development funding. New research by Harvard Law School student Ashwin Kaja and HBS professor Eric Werker tells why misgovernance at the World Bank should be corrected. Q&A with Eric Werker: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6151.html The Americas and Washington: an era ends , Ivan Briscoe Excellent article from Open Democracy; now that American exceptionalism is in serious doubt, it looks like the Monroe Doctrine may be history: Two leading insiders - Thomas A Shannon, the highest serving state-department authority on Latin America, and Jeffrey Davidow, a White House adviser - have spoken of the summit as a therapeutic exercise in listening and learning; while vice-president Joe Biden has declared the "era in which we gave orders" to be over (see Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, "Washington and Latin America: farewell, Monroe") Redefining Value in a New Economy Green is up. Trust is down. BBMG’s new Conscious Consumer Report offers marketers a robust look at the issues, attributes and certifications driving awareness and intent to purchase among shoppers looking to purchase with a purpose. The BBMG study includes data on more than 100 attitudinal and behavioral dimensions, video clips from in-depth ethnographic interviews, a detailed consumer segmentation analysis and concrete takeaways on how marketers can use the insights in the report to drive innovation, growth and success. For highlights see their News and Insights page. In his new book, Viral Spiral, David Bollier, whose work centers on ways to reclaim common assets for public benefit, documents the rise of a "free culture" movement dedicated to creating a digital republic committed to freedom and innovation. The term "viral spiral" describes the process by which members of the Internet community - techies, lawyers, artists, musicians, scientists, businesspeople, and innovators - come together to build open-source software and other freely available common tools, to the despair of media conglomerates. Solar-powered cooker wins climate contest A solar-powered cardboard cooker has been announced the winner of a $75,000 competition to tackle climate change. The Kyoto Box uses the sun's rays to cook food and boil water. It is targeted at the 3bn people who use firewood. The box costs just $5 to make and will be given away free. Jon Bohmer, the cooker's inventor, said: "It's a great feeling. The prize is just what's needed to get this project off the ground. There's only so much I can do on my own." The Economist to cover the other half of the world’s people! Check out their rationale for under the Banyan tree: Introducing our new Asia column Clean tech Investment Drops in First Quarter Worldwide investment in clean technology suffered a steep decline in the first quarter of 2009 hitting record lows in some sectors. Going Green: Why Germany Has the Inside Track to Lead a New Industrial Revolution Already a leading player in so-called clean technology -- the mix of environmentally benign power generation and environmentally friendly technologies -- Germany may become the epicenter of the world's next industrial revolution: the triumph of clean, cheap, sustainable electricity. Why mainstreaming corporate social responsibility still makes good business sense With the recession in full swing and no reprieve in sight, one might expect interest in corporate social responsibility to wane, or perhaps even die a natural death. Not so, according to Craig Smith, INSEAD Chaired Professor of Ethics and Social Responsibility. He believes that corporate responsibility has never been more prominent on the corporate agenda. The video is well worth viewing in terms of what the Business Schools have and have not contributed to the current financial engineering mess.... http://knowledge.insead.edu/MainstreamingCRmakesgoodsense090119.cfm?vid=174 Innovest bought by RiskMetrics A Responsible Investor scoop Sustainable Corporations Outperform During Economic Crisis Study finds that companies with commitment to sustainability have outperformed others by an average of $650 million in market capitalization. Source SocialFunds.com. Billions in Nonprofit projects held up by credit crisis Johns Hopkins researchers estimate $166 billion in infrastructure projects delayed nationwide. Nonprofits always struggle to generate investment capital due to their nonprofit status and their inability to access the equity markets, but the survey results show that the recession has compounded their woes: The 1,837 organizations surveyed identified 1,065 shovel-ready projects stalled by the inability to secure financing. A state-by-state listing of these projects is at http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/news “Thanks to this eye-opening data, we now know about existing significant opportunities not just to stimulate employment but also to improve the social infrastructure of our communities,” said Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits. “Let’s make sure nonprofit infrastructure projects are given as much consideration as roads, public buildings, and businesses in the uses made of economic recovery and bank bail-out funds.” The full text of the report “’Shovel-Ready’ but Stalled: Nonprofit Infrastructure Projects Ready for Economic Recovery Support,” complete with state-by-state estimates, is available online at http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/news AT&T Text Messaging Campaign to Benefit Hungry Kids Barack Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015 during his presidential campaign. He also called for a national day of service on January 19, Martin Luther King Day. In response, AT&T has introduced Operation No Kid Hungry, a campaign to raise funds to help end childhood hunger and encourage Americans to hold food drives. Read more. Source: Boston College Wal-Mart Canada Opens First Environmental Demonstration Store New high-efficiency model to test innovative geothermal and daylight harvesting technology among other sustainable features. More... Globe.net Wal-Mart Stores spends over $40 million in digital-advertising And now the world's largest retailer plans a significant push into social media. See the full story in Ad Age: US Army issues its first Sustainability Report: Sustainability Report 2007: Sustain the Mission, Secure the Future The New York Times is on the verge of going out of business. This is a business with a great and beloved product. And while the economy is indeed tanking, failure of newspapers is not about macroeconomic issues. The Times' issues are specific to the newspaper industry. The problem is that while The New York Times still has a healthy readership, their readers are moving to the web version of the paper, where newspapers currently can't make money. From blogger Hank Wiliams of http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com/ Bail-outs are not new and there are plenty of examples of successful and unsuccessful bail-outs, both inside and outside the financial sector. Many offer parallels with the current situation. This view from the BBC for some reason does not include Chrysler but there are interesting historical examples. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions could profoundly affect the valuations of many companies, but executives don’t seem to be paying attention. From the McKinsey Quarterly-Log-in required Achieving a Sustainable Global Economy Mindy Luber, President of Ceres - Advancing Sustainable Prosperity recommends these very clear and concrete actions to the new Obama administration:
The New President and Philanthropy The election of Barack Obama could bring about changes for nonprofit organizations and the people they serve. Learn what President-elect Obama thinks on issues of importance to the nonprofit world - The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Campaign 2008 Website ‘Once in a lifetime' opportunity to buy green stocks A shift towards an economy based on renewable energy could be one of the only ways to stimulate growth and avoid a prolonged global economic downturn, according to Adam Seitchik, chief investment officer at Trillium Asset Management, the Boston-based SRI fund manager. Also see Responsible Investor's SRI in the Rockies: round-up Starbucks Joins (RED)TM to Help Save Lives in Africa "(RED) is coming to a corner near you thanks to Starbucks. I'm very excited to be able to say that," said Bono, co-founder of (RED). "The business of Starbucks with roots in Africa and branches all over the world is an ideal fit for (RED). It's pretty mind-blowing to think that millions of people can buy (RED) going about their daily lives and in doing so raise millions of dollars to fight AIDS in Africa. That's not a bad hit from your caffeine." But it is just a nickel--for some reason--Starbucks can't spare a dime Starting on November 27, 2008 and continuing through January 2, 2009, Starbucks will contribute five cents from the sale of any (STARBUCKS) RED EXCLUSIVE beverage* at all company-owned and licensed stores in the United States and Canada to the Global Fund to invest in AIDS programs in Africa. Wall Street ‘made rod for own back' FT: New bankruptcy rules seen spurring bank failures. Wall Street unwittingly created one of the catalysts for the collapse of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and American International Group by backing new bankruptcy rules that were aimed at insulating banks from the failure of a big client, lawyers and bankers say.The 2005 changes made clear that certain derivatives and financial transactions were exempt from provisions in the bankruptcy code that freeze a failed company's assets until a court decides how to apportion them among creditors.The new rules were intended to insulate financial companies from the collapse of a large counterparty, such as a hedge fund, by making it easier for them to unwind trades and retrieve collateral. Founded by inventor Dr. Arjen Hoekstra, Professor in Multidisciplinary Water Management, University of Twente in the Netherlands says: "It's interesting to see the growing interest from businesses in proper water management in their supply chain I really see forward to corporations recognizing that reduction of the corporation's water footprint should be part of its corporate social responsibility." Dr. Hoekstra will be presenting the keynote at the Corporate Water Footprinting conference on December 2-3 in San Francisco. Calvert Foundation Wins Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University honored Calvert Foundation Tuesday for exemplifying innovation in their many products and services. Calvert Foundation, the third-place winner, shares this honor with two other organizations striving to alleviate poverty. KickStart International, an organization that helps African entrepreneurs get their businesses started, received the first-place award. Second place was awarded to Hidden Harvest, an organization that employs low-income farm workers to salvage produce left behind by commercial buyers. This model provides fresh fruits and vegetables to distribution agencies in Coachella, CA. > Read the article from Market Watch The Aspen Center for Business Education has just made available online the highly acclaimed and widely used Giving Voice to Values (GVV) Curriculum Initiative. Doing Well - Very Well - by Doing Good
Despite growing concerns about the global economic downturn, GE has affirmed that there is good money to be made in doing right by the environment. The company expects that revenues from its range of energy efficient and environmentally advantageous products and services will surge by 21% to over $17 billion in 2008. GE also predicts its annual investments in clean technology research and development will soon pass the $1.4 billion mark. Source:GLOBE-Net (October 24, 2008) - FTSE signs sustainability index venture with US provider KLD FTSE, the London-based index provider, has signed a deal with KLD Research & Analytics, the Boston-based US sustainability index group, under which the two groups will co-brand KLD's suite of ESG benchmarks. Investors suffer as US ethanol boom dries up The likes of Microsoft's Bill Gates are sitting on billions of dollars in losses after buying into the corn-based ethanol industry that George W.Bush embraced as the answer to US energy woes. See the Financial Times article. UN launches Green New Deal for sustainable investment The United Nations is backing a global Green New Deal, which it says could be a ‘historical' opportunity to rebuild economies debilitated by the credit crisis and target future investment for environmentally friendly markets. The initiative, launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is to receive $4m (€3.1m) in funding from the European Commission, Germany and Norway. But its impact could be felt far wider as it becomes a political catalyst at European and global talks for government and market-based investment into areas such as clean technology and renewable energy. Source: Responsible Investor. The national debt has surpassed $10 trillion, thereby exceeding the 13 digits on the National Debt Clock Some of the key facts and figures behind the turmoil in the global financial markets from the BBC. Wanted: a fairer capitalism, Will Hutton I never imagined I would live through events like those of the past three weeks. The western banking system faces disintegration. Economists and policy-makers are at loggerheads over how to intervene to stop the panic that is sweeping the world and inspire sufficient trust for the key money and credit markets to reopen.This is a crisis that has been thirty years in the making - a Gordian knot of libertarian free-market fundamentalism, unregulated globalisation, the collapse of social and... more » CECP Honors Co-Founder Paul Newman Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy-- September 29, 2008 - Paul Newman passed away on Friday, September 26, 2008. Nearly 10 years ago, Mr. Newman helped to found the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, a consortium of global CEOs in support of corporate giving. CONTACT: Lindsay Siegel US 'War on Terror' Has Not Weakened al Qaeda, Says Global Poll This indicates that the war may turn out to be an even worse investment than the ‘rescue package' for Wall Street.Source: http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/ What the Financial Sector Meltdown Really Means for Nonprofits and Philanthropy. Rick Cohen of the Cohen Report addresses the tough times facing the nonprofit sector: "As the always-sharp Melissa Berman of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors noted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, nonprofits face a dual crisis -- the collapse of some major corporate givers and the timing of the collapse just before many nonprofits' core fundraising time at the end of the calendar year. The Economist in covering the Clinton Global Initiative this week described the impending problem succinctly: "the financial crisis means that there will be a greater need for philanthropy than ever -- both because existing foundations will see their assets fall, and because the huge cost of bailing out the financial system will mean that government has far less to spend on everything else." Poor prep for low carbon economy could slash sector values by 65 per cent Carbon Trust/McKinsey report says investors must now start discriminating against climate change laggards. Companies in the aluminium and automobile sectors could see up to 65% of their value wiped out in the coming years if they do not prepare for the transition to a low carbon economy, according to a report published today (Sept 22) by the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by the UK government in response to the threat of climate change.>>>See full story by Hugh Wheelan of Responsible Investor What are The Eco-Patent Commons? The objectives of the Eco-Patent Commons are to facilitate the use of existing technologies to protect the environment, and encourage collaboration between businesses that foster new innovations. The initiative was launched by IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes and Sony in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in January 2008, to provide a unique opportunity for global business to make a difference - sharing innovation in support of sustainable development. Today, September 8, 2008, Xerox, DuPont and Bosch joined the Eco-Patent Commons. The newly-pledged patents include:
The pledged portfolio is available on a dedicated, public Web site hosted by the WBCSD (http://www.wbcsd.org/web/epc). The Value of Environmental Activists With decidedly non-profit goals leading them on, how do environmental protection groups such as Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund create value? Can it be measured? A Q&A with Harvard Business School professor Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and case writer Jordan Mitchell. 33 companies identified as new global Sustainability Leaders SAM, Dow Jones Indexes and STOXX Ltd. have just announced the results of Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes Review 2008 A webcast and further information about the new index constituents and the 19 super sector leaders is available at www.sustainability-indexes.com. For the complete press releases click here. The politics of sand, What constitutes sustainability? It'S official: extracting oil from Canada's vast deposits of bitumenous sand is unsustainable. So, at any rate, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) implicitly concluded when it ruled that Royal Dutch Shell was misleading the public by describing its tar-sands operation as "sustainable". WWF, the environmental NGO that lodged the complaint with the ASA, dislikes the tar sands (or oil sands, as Shell prefers to call them) because turning them into fuel consumes much more energy than refining crude oil does. If that energy is made by burning natural gas-as it is in all tar-sands projects at the moment-and so involves extra emissions of greenhouse gases, then the resulting fuel is two or three times as bad for the atmosphere as normal petrol or diesel. That is no good for the world's climate, and so, in WWF's view, unsustainable. Full article at Economist.com Environmentalism Sprouts Up on Corporate Boards Amid rising investor worries over global warming and shrinking natural resources, directors are keeping a closer watch on environmental issues. About 25% of Fortune 500 companies now have a board committee overseeing the environment, compared with fewer than 10% five years ago, estimates Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a national coalition of activists, investors and others concerned with the environment. Google.org invests in geothermal energy Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the search giant, has announced a $10.25 million investment in geothermal energy technology. The money will back two start-up companies that specialize in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), the process of pumping water underground to crack hot rocks and use the resulting steam to power a turbine and create electricity. The good people at Grist point to these resources:sources: Reuters, CNET News, Forbes, Google Inc., Earth2Tech Gilberto Gil: open minister, by Jose Murilo The resignation of Gilberto Gil as Brazil's minister of culture was announced on 30 July 2008. The great and influential musician says that music - and family matters - have after more than five years in the post called him back from his political responsibilities: "I feel like I have come full circle and I want to remove myself. I felt a big pressure on my artistic work that was accumulating." Some of openDemocracy's collection on Gilberto Gil and open culture is here... more» Rising Energy Costs May be Good News for 'Clean Tech' Firms -- and Their Investors The amount of venture capital invested in "clean tech" -- the raft of technologies that would create a greener economy -- nearly doubled from 2005 to 2006, reaching about $3 billion, according to a study conducted at the University of California at Berkeley. Figures like these have some analysts warning that clean tech is in the throes of a bubble, which could end just like the Internet and real estate booms did -- badly. Published: August 06, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton More financial advisors hiring psychologists Wachovia just hired a full-time associate director of family dynamics for one of its wealth management units. Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Commonwealth Financial Network of Waltham, Mass., and Wells Fargo & Co. also use psychologists and therapists. In many cases, the psychologist get directly involved with client issues. This is a great idea-says Jim Kim at FierceFinance.com-because it is a way to help tether clients to the firm, boosting wallet share. It may be hard to quantify the ROI, but it can't hurt. "Lost There, Felt Here" Harrison Ford lets the world see a square of hair ripped from his chest in a Public Service Announcement for Conservation International. CI explains: "That small pain suggested that tropical deforestation happening in other parts of the world effects not only those nearby but people all over the planet. The video is estimated to have reached more than 45 million people worldwide." What do you think? Watch Harrison Ford Lose An "Acre" in his PSA for CI's Lost There, Felt Here campaign Map of Future Forces Affecting Sustainability The Institute for the Future has published the Map of Future Forces Affecting Sustainability, prepared for the Global Environmental Management Initiative. According to the "GEMI website, "The Map has been designed to help GEMI member companies develop their own perspective of a future being shaped increasingly by external forces linked to the concept of sustainable development. The Map includes elements that some may view as controversial, but recognizes the objective of this effort is to provoke thoughtful discussions that will help companies shape their business strategies in light of a more sustainability-driven future." The site also provides a 45-minute video ‘walk through' of the six columns of The Map Kenya energy goes green to meet electricity boom NAIVASHA, Kenya (AFP) - Facing soaring electricity demands, Kenya is opting to go full steam ahead with geothermal energy to boost its production while preserving its rich environmental heritage. The 37-million-strong nation's electricity supply capacity is dangerously close to its limit at 1,080 megawatts when peak hour demand almost reaches 1,000 megawatts.With a fast-growing economy and demography, demand is climbing by eight percent each year and the country's hydro-electric capacity is peaking and being strained by chronic droughts and the impact of deforestation on rivers. Kenya's geothermal energy plan is being supported with donations and preferential loans from France's AFP, the World Bank and German cooperation. Measuring Impact Framework launched by WBCSD Geneva, 28 July 2008 - Business knows that "what gets measured gets done." In this spirit, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launches the Measuring Impact Framework to help companies measure and assess the impact of their business activities on economic and broader development goals wherever they operate. Business case brief - Why measure? (PDF 4.7 MB) PowerPoint Presentation (3.4 MB) Big Agriculture defends ethanol. CHICAGO (Reuters) July 25th- A new group is adding its voice to the debate on using crops to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol amid rising food prices and shortages in some countries. The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy in Washington D.C. was created by Archer Daniels Midland Co, DuPont Co, Deere & Co, Monsanto Co and the Renewable Fuels Association http://www.foodandenergy.org/ World food prices rose by 40 percent last year, causing food riots, hoarding and bread lines in many countries. But this group believes that agricultural innovation -- such as genetically modified crops -- is the best way to address global hunger, not reducing biofuel production. ADM is one of the world's largest producers of biofuels, and Monsanto is a leading producer of GMO seeds. So they would say that, wouldn't they? Accenture Report Finds Data Centers Can Drop Energy Use by Half OAKLAND, Calif. -- In partnership with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, the Department of Energy and others, the new report shows how adopting energy efficiency policies and hardware management practices can lead to significant cuts in power consumption for any data center. The full Data Center Energy Forecast Report is available for download from GreenerComputing.com. Source: GreenerComputing Staff Published July 17, 2008 Environmental risk still neglected - survey -Environmental Finance, 10 July 2008 - Around two out of five senior executives admit to neglecting environmental risks, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Out of 320 senior global executives, 43% said they managed environmental risks in an ‘ad hoc' manner, or not at all. http://www.wbcsd.org/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?ObjectId=MzA2ODU The Future of Social Enterprise This working paper from HBS considers the confluence of forces that is shaping the field of social enterprise, changing the way that funders, practitioners, scholars, and organizations measure performance. The authors, HBS professors V. Kasturi Rangan and Herman B. Leonard, and research associate Susan McDonald, trace a growing pool of potential funding sources to solve social problems, much of it stemming from an intergenerational transfer of wealth and new wealth from financial and high-tech entrepreneurs. They further examine how these organizations can best access the untapped resources by demonstrating mission performance, and then propose three potential scenarios for how this sector might evolve. Download the working paper [PDF]. Patenting the "Climate Genes" in plants The world's largest seed and agrochemical corporations are stockpiling hundreds of monopoly patents on genes in plants that the companies will market as crops genetically engineered to withstand environmental stresses such as drought, heat, cold, floods, saline soils, and more. BASF, Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont and biotech partners have filed 532 patent documents (a total of 55 patent families) on so-called "climate ready" genes at patent offices around the world. In the face of climate chaos and a deepening world food crisis, the Gene Giants are gearing up for a PR offensive to re-brand themselves as climate saviours. The focus on so-called climate-ready genes is a golden opportunity to push genetically engineered crops as a silver bullet solution to climate change. But patented techno-fix seeds will not provide the adaptation strategies that small farmers need to cope with climate change. These proprietary technologies will ultimately concentrate corporate power, drive up costs, inhibit independent research, and further undermine the rights of farmers to save and exchange seeds. Nonprofit ‘IPO' raises $700,000 A California nonprofit used a staple fundraising technique from the for-profit sector to generate $700,000 to combat homelessness. Massive investor coalition petitions US govt on greenhouse gas cuts Ceres and INCR signatory letter outlines three climate change policy recommendations ahead of Senate debate next month. Investors managing hundreds of billions of dollars have warned that US politicians must radically overhaul the country's climate change policies or risk losing the potential for business to find solutions to global warming. A joint letter issued today by 52 of the world's largest investors urges the Senate to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 90% below 1990 levels before 2050. Africa's farms reap rewards .....as the prices of raw materials soar - from the barley used to make beer or the cocoa used to make chocolate - leading brewers and food manufacturers from Cadbury Schweppes to Diageo are increasingly recognising their businesses will benefit from investment in African agriculture.Mark Lundy, senior research fellow at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which was created by the World Bank in the early 1970s to find ways of producing more food, claims food producers can no longer afford to ignore farmers. "It used to be very much a buyers' market ... now companies have to position themselves as good partners." By Jenny Wiggins in the FT: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f6fe902-1bc4-11dd-9e58-0000779fd2ac.html IBM's Answer to the Food Crisis While the world food crisis demands both quick fixes and long-range solutions, time is of the essence. With food costs soaring, more than one billion people could find themselves at risk of starvation or severe malnutrition in the coming years. So a project announced May 15 by University of Washington researchers and IBM's (IBM) World Community Grid to speed development of better rice may be just what's needed. By Steve Hamm in Business Week Corporate-volunteering programs go global Some of the biggest corporate names are sending their employees around the globe on costly service trips in an effort to bolster company reputations, do "real good," and develop employee skill sets, The Boston Globe reported May 4. Companies like Ernst & Young, Pfizer, Timberland, and IBM have picked up on the trend. Battle of legends: Milken vs. Lipton Martin Lipton, the legendary lawyer, says the financial crisis stems from the invention of the junk bond so many years ago. As the New York Times notes, Michael Milken begs to differ. He tells the paper that junk bonds--as well as all the CDOs that invested in them--have precious little in common with subprime mortgages. And he has a point; one could argue that junk bonds in and of themselves are neither good, nor bad. It's what you do with them. Same goes for securitization. In both cases, there can be excesses. In general, Milken has a lot to say about the mess, including a bit about how more regulation will not help. I find it interesting that he has made himself a revered, somewhat nostalgic feature. Even Rudy Giuliani, the man who put him in jail, agrees.For more here's the Times article Billionaire Texas oil man makes big bets on wind Legendary Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens has gone green with a plan to spend $10 billion to build the world's biggest wind farm. But he's not doing it out of generosity - he expects to turn a buck. The Southern octogenarian's plans are as big as the Texas prairie, where he lives on a ranch with his horses, and entail fundamentally reworking how Americans use energy. Next month, Pickens' company, Mesa Power, will begin buying land and ordering 2,700 wind turbines that will eventually generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity - the equivalent of building two commercial scale nuclear power plants - enough power for about 1 million homes. Reuters, 17 April 2008 - U.S. maintains highest market-share of the world's prisoners International Herald Tribune Published: April 23, 2008 [filed under value destruction] The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population. But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes - from writing bad checks to using drugs - that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations. The future of philanthropy lies in joining the wave of open source peer-production that is enriching public assets, says Mark Surman on Open Democracy. Who are the top funders of Wikipedia? Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and Richard Branson's Virgin Unite. Who funds the creative commons? Sun, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Yahoo, Facebook as well as a number of foundations created with newly minted high-tech wealth. The commons is clearly on the philanthrocapitalist menu. More importantly: collaborative, non-market peer-production was born from a world that lives on the fuzzy edge between public and private benefit. Compensation Consultants and Conflicts of Interest Global Volunteering Gets Started in Boston Last weekend in Boston, several hundred people arrived at the Harvard School of Public Health to learn more about doing good around the globe, from the international service opportunities offered by over twenty volunteer-sending organizations to workshops on topics like the basics of global volunteering, linking service and study abroad, volunteering across borders independently, and translating international service experience into a dynamic career. The new philanthropy: power, inequality, democracy The sceptical scrutiny of "philanthrocapitalism" by Michael Edwards is welcome. But markets and social enterprise could help realize the potential of a new donor economy, says Geoff Mulgan on Open Democracy; one notable quote: "The majority of press coverage continues to be fawning; conferences celebrate; and most of the books that are published in this field are strings of uncritical anecdotes which wouldn't get past the mildest peer review (see for example Pamela Hartigan & John Elkington, The power of unreasonable people [Harvard Business School Press, 2008])." Assets under management at SAM doubled in 2007 Zurich-based SAM -Sustainable Asset Management- can look back on an exceptional year in 2007. The milestones included a doubling of assets under management, successful growth initiatives in Asia, and successful expansion into the US and Canada. In the past financial year, SAM's assets under management (AuM) increased by CHF 4.7bn or 125% to CHF 8.5bn. Including the assets managed indirectly (e.g. through mandates and licences), SAM's total AuM now amount to CHF 15.1bn. [Full disclosure: SAM powers the daily stock indexes featured on this site; for which we are most grateful.] Read media release For Art, For Charity, For Fun CowParade is the world's largest public art event in which life-sized cows are designed by artists and put on display throughout select cities around the world. Check out their new website: http://www.cowparade.com/ USA 2008: The Great Depression Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive - a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisisWe knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families. By David Usborne in New York for the UK's Independent newspaper Tuesday, 1 April 2008 Full story: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/usa-2008-the-great-depression-803095.html British online fundraiser generates over $500M At a time when most British nonprofits face falling donations, online fundraiser justgiving.com has channeled more than 250 million British pounds, over $500 million, into the sector since its 2001 launch, The Guardian reported March 25. The website has spread the appeal of charitable giving to younger generations with viral marketing techniques and sophisticated technology. Dow Jones launches Dharma Indexes Dow Jones Indexes in conjunction with Dharma InvestmentsTM has created a family of faith-based equity market indexes that screen companies for compliance with Dharmic religious traditions.The first of its kind, the Dow Jones Dharma IndexesSM are designed to integrate the value system of these religious traditions - especially Hinduism and Buddhism - into the component selection process. Thus, the Indexes restrict companies whose operations are viewed as unacceptable according to the principles of Dharma. See: http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/?event=showDharmaOverView Toyota Joins Audubon in Latest Corporate-NGO Partnership In another high-profile partnership announced recently, Toyota gave the Audubon Society its largest grant ever -- $20 million -- to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders and boost volunteerism, the company said Wednesday. New Group to Help Muslim Charities Worldwide The Chronicle on Philanthropy blog reports on formation of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, an international effort to help Muslim donors and organizations make the public more aware of their work and to increase organizational capacity. After years of nonprofit work, including assisting victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, Mr. Cheema said he saw the need to bring together the world's Islamic donors....part of its work, the congress plans to create a Web site, SecureGiving, to rank charities in Muslim countries based on an as-yet-undecided criteria of governance and management standards. Mr. Cheema said the effort will help donors make sure their money is not supporting terrorists posing as Islamic charities, a concern that has grown since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Pumas, Planets and Pens: How Cues in the Environment Influence Consumer Choice Activists pressure Fidelity to drop Chinese stocks Author: Ross Kerber, Boston Globe That quietest of financial rituals, the mutual fund shareholder meeting, is becoming a forum for social activism. At a gathering that fund giant Fidelity Investments held Wednesday in Boston, shareholder proposals that would bar it from holding assets in...Sinopec and PetroChina [over their presence in Sudan]...were defeated...But while the vote went in Fidelity's favor, activists said their measures received an unusually high number of votes... Read full item here B Corporations: Verified Sustainability B Labs takes the guesswork out of which companies are actually working for the future. Companies that pride themselves on being sustainable have a new badge they can present to show their commitment to the environment, society, and corporate governance. B Labs, a non-profit based in Berwyn, PA, has created a third-party certification for "B Corporations." More than just supplying a sustainable product or service, B Corporations "create a public benefit" as an integral core of their business plan. Full story by Anne Moore Odell of SocialFunds.com http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2482.html Merrill Lynch, Carbon Disclosure Project Form Partnership to Expand Project's Reach Merrill Lynch & Co. and the Carbon Disclosure Project have created a three-year partnership to expand and improve the Project throughout the world. Wal-Mart Pushing Chinese Suppliers To Go Green Wal-Mart Stores Inc will meet with its thousands of Chinese suppliers this fall as part of a big push to reduce waste and emissions at factories that make its products, Chief Executive Lee Scott said on Thursday. "We started a very aggressive program in China that is not only going to deal with environmental sustainability, but is also going to deal more aggressively with the issues of sourcing in China," Scott said... The company's top priorities in China will be to address the appropriate disposal of waste as well as to make reductions in both waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Read full item here Global Leadership Network The United Nations Global Compact in association with the International Finance Corporation and the Global Leadership Network launched the GLN OpenAccess tool, an interactive self-assessment tool assisting companies to improve their understanding of how the management of social, environmental and governance issues impact their business and stakeholders. The tool is free of charge and available to all companies willing to use it. Top entrepreneurship papers named Over the past two years, 4,300 papers on entrepreneurship have been added to an online database, which has logged over 500,000 downloads. http://www.philanthropyjournal.org/ Can Online Investing End Poverty? Live Webcast at 4pm EDT on March 19. WHAT: A Panel Presentation featuring eBay company MicroPlace is presented by The Global Assets Project of the New America Foundation, along with Calvert Foundation and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), with the support of the International Gateway at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, cordially invite you and your colleagues for a special event discussing one of the newest innovations in asset building and poverty reduction. WHY: "Invest Wisely. End Poverty." This is the goal of eBay's new online microfinance investment marketplace, MicroPlace. While online microlending has been growing more popular with peer-to-peer offerings such as the nonprofit Kiva.org, MicroPlace is charting a whole new course in the microfinance industry, offering socially-minded Americans a new way to offer microloans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. As the only broker-dealer in the microfinance arena, MicroPlace is the first and only online service offering a way for investors to invest in the working poor, and earn both a social and financial return on the investment. WHEN: The event will be webcast live; to view and participate remotely, click here at 4pm EDT on March 19. Firms buying "illegal" ore are financing rebel arms purchases in DR Congo Many of the mines are either under the direct control of illegal armed groups or are illegally taxed by them. The two provinces produce the bulk of the country's cassiterite, the primary tin ore used by the electronics and computer industries. The report cited General Laurent Nkunda's Tutsi insurgency and the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as two groups using mineral revenues to buy arms used in violence that has resulted in 450,000 civilians fleeing their homes. According to the Financial Times, leading brands, including Hitachi, Microsoft, Pioneer and Samsung are reportedly investigating whether tin originating from Bisie could have entered their supply chain. For further analysis of this event, see Maplecroft's Global Risks Forecast at http://www.global-risks.com/. |
Tim Wirth on Creating The UN Foundation with Ted Turner