Sustainable business practices

In my last post, I talked about the ways you can use green data — footprinting information on your products and services up and down the value chain — to create enormous value for your company. As they say, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. And those with the best information can cut costs, […]

I have a colleague who cares passionately about the environment. She worries about global warming, supports policy to reduce carbon emissions, and is...

Fresh from an erudite defense of "Just War" in his Nobel Lecture, President Obama will cap off a parade of American officials speaking at the Copenhagen...

Would it surprise you to learn that Starbucks is a leading advocate for action on climate change? Think about it. Starbucks’ success hinges on a robust coffee crop, which needs certain growing conditions. But the company is seeing the imprint of climate change on coffee growing regions around the world. Global rainfall and harvest patterns […]

The conversation at the Copenhagen climate conference is all about policy. But regulation won’t stop global warming by itself. Nor will simply spending money on clean technologies. In the US, President Obama has earmarked a half billion dollars of initial funding for a breathtaking array of renewable technologies. This looks like bold action, but it […]

If your firm is debating whether to hire a chief sustainability officer (CSO), you may be like fictional electronic components manufacturer Narinex. After...

It's hard to call yourself a green company if your cash assets are underwriting global warming.

There are plenty of reasons to be disappointed with the Copenhagen climate talks that start today: the meeting will not result in a binding agreement,...

Managers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks.

I've been spending some time lately in two very different countries - Denmark and Brazil. The contrasts between the serious, careful, and ever-prompt...

It’s a victory of making stuff over making markets.

There’s a vast opportunity for the private sector in making cities efficient and competitive.

Firms with large facilities need more control over their power.

It'll take more than subsidizing mass transit or encouraging ride-sharing, according to new research.

Changes in tools, teams, regulations, and markets are putting sustainability in the hands of the finance department.

It’s about ambition, action, advocacy, and accountability.

A survey shows mixed results.

Useful and/or intriguing ideas we’ve come across this week, plus the occasional worthwhile distraction. The enormous costs of joblessness The Atlantic‘s Don Peck lays out the likely consequences of sustained unemployment on the prospects of the generation currently entering (or failing to enter) the workforce, inner city neighborhoods, politics, marriages and child-rearing arrangements — in […]

By anticipating bottlenecks in the raw materials necessary to produce environmentally conscious products, companies can effectively evolve their business...