2Sustain

The vast majority of CEOs believe that sustainability issues will be critical to the future success of their business, and they want investors to more accurately value sustainability in their long-term investments, according to a new survey by Accenture and the UN Global Compact.

The survey involved 766 CEOs and top executives, including face-to-face interviews with over 50 of the world’s foremost business executives.

This new research found that: (more…)

In light of the BP oil spill disaster now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico, I can’t say that I’m surprised. But, even so, it’s still encouraging to hear that in a recent survey by Applied Materials, three-quarters of Americans feel that increasing renewable energy and decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil are the country’s top energy priorities.

The new survey, conducted by phone during the period June 10-13, 2010, polled a nationally representative sample of 1,000 American adults, and in addition to identifying widespread support for renewable energy initiatives, the study also revealed a growing willingness among consumers to help pay for alternatives to petroleum-based energy sources. (more…)

A diverse collection of some of the world’s leading companies have joined forces to create the Sustainability Innovators Working Group, an organization that will work to define and develop new approaches to environmental management and corporate sustainability.

Esty Environmental Partners (EEP), the organizer of the group, and IBM, a participant and supporting partner, announced the launch of the group last week.

The Sustainability Innovators Working Group –which includes global corporations such as Boeing, CH2M Hill, Coca-Cola, Delhaize Group, Disney, Diversey, Dow Chemical Company, FedEx, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Shaklee, Unilever, and Xerox — will define a new set of management systems and tools for achieving greater value from sustainability strategy.  Each company will be able to apply the best practices from this collaboration within their own organizations not only to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in their operations, but also to better identify and develop related opportunities for innovation and growth. (more…)

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will delay enforcing a new lead-paint regulation until October1,2010.

The new regulation, called the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (Lead RRP Rule), requires that contractors working in older homes become certified by a government-approved trainer and follow strict safety precautions. Although RRP has been effective since April of this year, the EPA says it is now responding to concerns by the regulated community regarding difficulties experienced in obtaining the required certification and renovation worker training. (more…)

The Port of Singapore was presented with the ‘Best Green Service Provider – Seaport’ award at the 24th Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards held earlier this month in Shanghai.

The award recognizes Singapore’s long-standing commitment to environmentally-friendly shipping and port activities. For instance, the country is compliant with environmental regulations set by national and global bodies  (such as all the Annexes of the International Maritime Organization’s MARPOL convention), and its consistent application of environmental standards is complemented by recent investments in green initiatives and technology. Specifically, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) driving maritime R&D in clean technologies in partnership with tertiary research institutions and the industry, supported by MPA’s S$100 million Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund. (more…)