2Sustain

Earlier this month, Sprint announced it is joining the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Climate Savers program.

As one of only 28 companies in the Climate Savers program, Sprint joins IBM, The Coca-Cola Company and Johnson & Johnson and others that have agreed to take aggressive measures to scale up climate protection efforts.

Even among these sustainability leaders, however, Sprint’s commitment is particularly noteworthy. It is now one of only two companies in the Climate Savers program to address all scopes of GHG emissions through the WWF agreement. Sprint is the only US company to do so, and it joins KPN, a Dutch telecommunications company, as the only other partner in the Climate Savers program to commit to such a multifaceted GHG emissions reduction strategy for its own operations, suppliers and consumers.

Sprint’s commitments include: (more…)

Forming a partnership that illustrates the current trend towards non-profit/for-profit sustainability alliances, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has teamed up with The Coca-Cola Company to improve the water quality of the Yangtze River in China.

In many ways, the Yangtze has taken the brunt of China’s colossal economic growth, and even though the river provides China with 35 percent of its fresh water, it now ranks number one on WWF’s list of the ten most-threatened rivers in the world. For Coca-Cola, which operates 39 bottling plants in China, the partnership with WWF represents an opportunity to strengthen its commitment to water stewardship while mitigating its water risks.

A recent post at Knowledge@Wharton explains how non-profit/for-profit partnerships such as this one can be mutually beneficial: (more…)

A new report from Lloyd’s and WWF offers a straightforward directive that I believe can no longer be ignored:

Businesses around the world must act now if they are to fend off the threat of a growing water shortage.

After all, all goods require water at some point in their production –but water is a finite resource. According to the report, Global Water Scarcity: Risks and challenges for business,  only 3 percent of water in the world is fresh water, and only 1 percent is readily usable to humans. What’s more, this limited supply is threatened by the increased demand for food and water resulting from population growth,  climate change and higher per capita water requirements resulting from increased living standards.

Unfortunately, though, as I have pointed out before, even companies in water-intensive industries are still struggling with weak management and disclosure of water-related risks and opportunities.

“Water scarcity is already a reality for some businesses and as this trend increases all risk managers will need to consider their organization’s exposure,” says Lloyd’s CEO, Richard Ward. “The most simple risk management response is to reduce your own water use or that of your suppliers. However, businesses cannot manage this risk alone and will need to work with the wider community to improve water management and protect this critical resource.”

Specifically, the report identifies two strategies for companies to manage water risk: (more…)

I’m truly inspired by the outpouring of support for this year’s Earth Hour, slated for tomorrow night, March 28, from 8:30pm-9:30pm.

Just in case you haven’t heard about it already, let me explain. Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative proposed by the World Wildlife Fund. It’s an effort that encourages individuals, businesses, and governments to turn our their lights for one hour in support of action on climate change.

Two years ago, the first Earth Hour event occurred in Sydney, Australia.  That year, over 2 million people and 2,000 businesses across the city turned off their lights and appliances for one hour. In 2008, 50 million people across 35 countries participated. This year, organizers are aiming for Earth Hour 2009 to include 1 billion people in 1,000 cities worldwide.

They may easily exceed that goal.

(more…)