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March 16, 2012
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Climate Science is Useless (to Business): Time to send scientists to b-school & business leaders back to science class

Kyoto. Montreal. Durban. Rio.Venerable cities all, but, with the exception of Rio (only because it hasn’t happened yet), each is also synonymous with failure. Failure to get consensus on the future of the environment and sustainable development.
 
But why? When I speak with individual business and government leaders a broad consensus exists on the need for action. The barrier seems to be politics. So let’s by-pass the politics. To do that, though, we need a different kind of collective-action—one based on science and grounded in data.
 
The problem with science is that it’s mostly aimed at scientists. The “big science” coming out of scientific academies and institutions is aimed either at other scientists or at the big multi-national conferences. Let’s flip that on its head.
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Where CSR Fits On The Board's Agenda

According to the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) 2011 Public Company Governance Survey, when asked to name the top three issues for the board,only 1.5% of corporate directors picked “Corporate Social Responsibility” among the highest priorities for the board in 2011.

 
But what counts as corporate responsibility (CR) and when and how should boards and CEOs take an interest in it?  Read more...
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Do Corporate Responsibility “Best Practices” Really Exist?

In short, no. 
 
Although there are a growing number of examples of “successful practices”. More often than not, companies are still sorting out what CR really means for them. While companies have an important role to play in tackling some of our most pressing challenges, each company’s CR strategy has to make sense for their industry, their business model, and the identity of their individual organization. So rarely does CR look the same at different companies. Moreover, this remains a nascent field, making it a little early declare any practice “best”.
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Leveraging Deficits: How the Best Corporate Citizens drove more effective cross-sector collaboration during the Great Recession

In last week's blog post, I pointed to the emergence of a "renaissance" in how companies, NGOs, and governments are collaborating to tackle some of our toughest challenges. This week I'm going to look in-depth at the specific new models and practices we're seeing emerge. 
 
Throughout 2011 we looked for successful practices in cross-sector collaboration by examining commitments made as part of the annual COMMIT!Campaign and by talking with CR Magazines Best Corporate Citizens. There were stark differences in the way these organizations engage with NGOs and governments as compared with most companies and donors. The best:
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Is Sustainability Analogous to Economics?

At Green Gov 2011 this morning I facilitated a lively panel that included discussion of what is  sustainability and what is the role of the sustainability profession. Ira Feldman (Greentrack Strategies), Terry Yosie (World Environment Center) and Valerie Patrick (Bayer Corporation) were our panelists and came with a rich set of views and experience.

The discussion of what is sustainability was broad and philosophical using terms like ‘systems thinking’ and ‘form of art’. But many people in the room (myself included) had sustainability jobs, with specific job descriptions and objectives.  So what can we compare that to?

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WANTED a jobs & growth agenda

In his address tonight to a Joint Session of Congress, President Obama will lay out his plans for kick-starting employment and growth. America needs a plan for good-paying jobs combined with sustained and sustainable growth. Here’s our jobs and growth agenda at the COMMIT!Forum Sept 26-27 in NYC:

 
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Is your kid’s school good enough for Dora?

This year Dora, the famed preschool explorer, will do something cartoons rarely do:  age.  Since 2000, Dora and her backpack have helped the world’s preschoolers get ready for school and now she’s getting ready for bold new adventures as a full-blown tween-aged middle schooler.

Few people have done as much to advance the cause of sustainability as Dora and her cousin Diego.  They’ve raised the consciousness of a whole generation to the point that every parent I know has had some version of a “Dora moment” – your kid calls you out for not recycling, using plastic bags, or committing some other sin of carelessness.

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This Easter God Calls You to Live Sustainably

 Posted April 23, 2011

Man as dominator.

Man as animal.

Man as parasite.

Man as steward.  


Four visions of humanity's relationship to nature. Which one you subscribe to has a lot to do with what you think God said to Adam in the Garden of Eden.  In Chapter One of the Book of Genesis, God says to Adam, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

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To change the world, change California or change Wal-Mart…or the US Federal Government

California and Wal-Mart are recognized as having far-reaching influence on our lives. California has one of the world’s largest economies. Wal-Mart’s supply chain spans huge swaths of the world economy. The US Federal government has even greater reach and impact. This is why the mission of ResponsibilityWorks is to foster and evolve corporate responsibility practices, measures, and disclosure in the government contractor community.  This will help to drive transparency and accountability across the board. 
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Ethical Dilemma #3: Painting Over Problems - A Truth vs. Loyalty Dilemma

Posted November 16, 2010

In this third installment of our Ethical Dilemmas Series, Kevin Moss puts forward a Truth vs. Loyalty dilemma.  As a Corporate Responsibility professional, do you have to act when your company behaves in an unethical manner?  Other professions have positive obligations.  Should CROs?

Help us test our draft Ethics Code by playing out this scenario in your own mind and giving us your feedback.  At CRO Summit we had some great live-fire exercises.  Share how you'd resolve this dilemma and how the Ethics Code helped (or didn't).

 

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