The Sustainability Agenda

Georg Kell is the founder and former Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact. the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with over 9,000 corporate signatories in more than 160 countries. As its founding Executive Director, Georg helped to establish the United Nations Global Compact as the foremost platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible and sustainable corporate policies and practices. In a career of more than 25 years at the United Nations, he also oversaw the conception and launch of the Global Compact’s sister initiatives on investment, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and on education, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), together with the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative. Georg is currently Vice Chairman of Arabesque Partners, an Anglo-German asset management firm that integrates environmental, social, and governance data with quantitative investment strategies. The firm was named as SRI Manager of the Year at the Investment Excellence Awards 2015, organised by Global Investor.In this revealing interview, Georg Kell reflects on three decades of sustainability, and highlights some of the most important changes he has seen over this time. He shares his views on the key role of corporates in dealing with the global environmental challenges we are now facing—while recognizing their role in creating these problems. In this interview, Georg focusses on three key forces reshaping markets: technology and automation, the issue of natural boundaries and, finally, changes in governance–and he explores the implications for markets, corporations and sustainability. Georg also discusses the role of finance– which he believes is now overtaking and giving direction to the corporate sustainability agenda. This is an essential interview—a fascinating perspective from a key figure at the heart of the development of today’s sustainability agenda.The post Episode 51: Interview with Georg Kell, the founder and former Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, currently Chairman of Anglo-German asset manager, Arabesque Partners. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this interview, jointly with the Drawdown Agenda, Paul Hawken, the co-founder and Executive Director of Project Drawdown, discusses the inception and mission of Drawdown– and explains the research, modelling and analysis underpinning the project. He emphasises how this project is the first of its kind, as previously many, even within the science community, had a scant understanding of the wide range of different possible solutions–and their effectiveness. In particular, Paul emphasises the need to move beyond the pervasive “silver bullet” mentality that venerates a single overarching solution towards a broader positive solutions-based approach to systemic change. This is now essential, he argues, as an overtly negative focus in climate communication has largely prompted disempowerment and disengagement. Instead, Drawdown presents a positive action-oriented framework to reverse global warming — and also to create a fairer, more egalitarian, and regenerative world. This is a profoundly inspiring, world-changing vision of the future, highlighting the critical importance of collective action to reverse global warming. (This is an edited version of an earlier interview Paul for the Drawdown Agenda).Paul Hawken is the co-founder and Executive Director of Project Drawdown, a global non-profit that describes when and how global warming can be reversed. Paul is also an author and activist and has written seven books including; The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest and Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, co-authored with Amory Lovins. Paul has also founded successful, ecologically-conscious businesses, and consulted with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He has served on the board of many environmental organizations including Centre for Plant Conservation, Shelburne Farms, Trust for Public Land, Conservation International, and National Audubon Society. a global non-profit that describes when and how global warming can be reversed. Paul is also an author and activist and has written seven books including: The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest and Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, co-authored with Amory Lovins. Paul has also founded successful, ecologically-conscious businesses, and consulted with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He has served on the board of many environmental organizations including Centre for Plant Conservation, Shelburne Farms, Trust for Public Land, Conservation International, and National Audubon Society.The post Episode 50: Interview with Paul Hawken, co-founder and Executive Director of Project Drawdown appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this rich and broad discussion, Dr. Daniel Wahl makes the case for biomimicry and regenerative cultures, particularly by stressing the importance of creating biomaterials-based circular economies that are conducive to life. He highlights the innately destructive nature of our economic system whereby environmental and social costs are not adequately priced and regenerative activity is not incentivised. A firm believer in regionalisation, Wahl discusses regional based economies and the importance of valuing the health of local ecosystems, citing the Loess plateau in China as a successful example of regeneration at the bioregional scale. He explains how the concept of regenerative cultures differs from sustainability discourses as it asks how economies can be designed to meet humanity’s needs centuries from now. Doing so necessitates an understanding of “inter-being,” a deeper consciousness that stipulates we are not separate from the world or one another. Wahl’s passion for education is also evident as he stresses that humanity’s most underused resource is the frontal lobes of the five billion poor without access to privileged education. He warns that conventional education systems based on competition are anachronistic vestiges of the 20th Century and that it is skills of collaboration that must instead be nurtured to deliver regenerative economies that benefit all.Dr Wahl is an international consultant, educator and activist specialising in biologically inspired whole systems design and transformative innovation. He originally trained as a biologist and zoologist before choosing to focus on sustainability and sustainable communities. He holds an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College and a PhD in Natural Design from the University of Dundee. Daniel has worked with local and national governments, as well as, the  Commonwealth Secretariat. He delivers capacity building workshops on a range of sustainability issues and as a consultant on sustainable innovation has worked with a number of companies including Camper, Ecover, and Lush. He is a member of the International Futures Forum, a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA) and the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, co-founder of Biomimicry Iberia and brought Bioneers to Europe in 2010. As an educator, he has co-authored and taught sustainability training courses for Gaia Education, LEAD International and various universities and design schools. His first book Designing Regenerative Cultures https://www.triarchypress.net/drc.html was published in 2016The post Episode 49: interview with consultant and educator Daniel Wahl on regenerative design appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr Lovejoy is a tropical biologist and conservation biologist. He a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and University Professor in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University. Dr Lovejoy was the World Bank’s Chief Biodiversity Advisor and the Lead Specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation.  In 2008, he also was the first Biodiversity Chair of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment to 2013. Dr Lovejoy introduced the term biological diversity to the scientific community in 1980. He also developed the debt-for-nature swaps, in which environmental groups purchase shaky foreign debt on the secondary market at the market rate, which is considerably discounted, and then convert this debt at its face value into the local currency to purchase biologically sensitive tracts of land in the debtor nation for purposes of environmental protection.In this important interview, Dr Lovejoy explains the meaning of biodiversity and its importance as the foundation for human civilization. He outlines the impact warming temperatures are having to ecosystems, such as tropical coral reefs and the coniferous forests of North America. He also addresses the idea of tipping points in natural systems, notably in the Amazon rainforest where scientists now understand an eighty percent forest cover is needed to maintain the hydrological cycle and prevent the rainforest from turning into grassland. Lovejoy discusses positive initiatives in biodiversity protection but cites concerns that the pace of change is far too slow: what happens in the next twenty years is crucial. Dr Lovejoy highlights the vital importance of ecosystem restoration in reversing global warming, notably through reforestation and protection of wetlands. A proponent of valuing ecosystem services he stresses that what is not valued cannot be protected. Dr Lovejoy also demonstrates how ecosystem health can be linked to human prosperity, pointing to the example of the restoration of the New York watershed forest which provided New York with clean drinking water for a fraction of the cost of building a new water treatment plant. Finally, on a positive note, he emphasizes how societies, like ecosystems, can have their own “tipping points” which are reached once enough people are persuaded of the need for change to demand decisive action.The post Episode 48: Interview with Dr Thomas Lovejoy, “the Godfather of Biodiversity.” appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Jeff Goodell is a leading environmental journalist and author. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times magazine and serves as serves contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine. He is the author of six books including How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Quest to Fix Earth’s Climate (2010) and Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future (2006). His latest book The Water will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World was published in 2017 to critical acclaim. He also serves as a fellow at the New America think-tank.In this sobering interview devoted to his latest book, Goodell outlines the very real dangers posed by sea-level rise. Historically sea-level has been susceptible to rapid variations and Goddell notes that this century’s sea-level rise will be dependent on how rapidly glaciers on the mainland of Greenland and Antarctica melt into the ocean. He discusses how established vulnerable coastal infrastructure exacerbates the issue and outlines the economic impacts sea-level rise will have, particularly in cities economically dependent on prime coastal real-estate. Primarily, however, sea-level rise is an existential threat and humanitarian emergency, illustrated by the fact that over 145 million people live within three feet of coastal water lines. Indeed, he predicts this century will be characterised by a huge displacement of people from coastal regions, particularly those in poorer countries, which will dwarf the world’s current refugee crisis. Having travelled extensively in researching the book, Goddell discusses insights from around the world, such as the effectiveness of rudimentary flexible infrastructure and the dangers posed by exclusive development projects, such as Eko-Atlantic in Lagos, which could create a stark divide between the saved and doomed. He expresses scepticism about technological solutions citing how technological-optimism risks fostering complacency. Finally, as a published authority on geoengineering he briefly outlines developments in the space and what role it might play in the coming decades.The post Episode 47: Interview with Jeff Goodell on the risks posed by climate induced sea level rises appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Cameron Hepburn is Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science, and he is Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School He has published widely on energy, resources and environmental challenges across a range of disciplines, and is a policy advisor on energy and climate policy to governments and international institutions around the world including the OECD, and UN organisations. He is on the editorial board of Environmental Research Letters and is the managing editor of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy.In this wide ranging interview, Professor Hepburn discusses his work as an academic and policy advisor on expanding markets to help spur the transition to a sustainable future. Recognising that price mechanisms, like ecosystem pricing, are not a panacea to deal with environmental challenges, he nonetheless believes that they can be effective and ethical. He describes some of the challenges in constructing these markets and what lessons have been learnt from both successes and failures. Professor Hepburn also notes how corporations and governments, rather than being in opposition to each other, can work constructively together. Indeed, given that some of the most challenging environmental issues are global in nature, Professor Hepburn believes that multinational corporations can play a positive role, particularly in protecting the natural capital which ultimately their businesses depend on. At the same time, he acknowledges the limits of such markets, stressing that regulations are vital to prevent fundamental planetary thresholds from being transgressed. While optimistic about the direction of travel, Professor Hepburn acknowledges the need to speed up the energy transition and stresses how socio-political self-reinforcing mechanisms, such as the falling cost of renewables and consumer behaviour, will help the energy transition. Finally, he discusses some of his latest work on expanding the concept of stranded assets to stranded labour and communities in order to demonstrate how the post-carbon economy must be inclusive by design so that it can expand at the necessary speed and scale.The post Episode 46: Interview with Cameron Hepburn, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In episode 45 of the Sustainability Agenda, Professor Bill Laurance reveals the enormous, and neglected, environmental impact of road building in the global south and highlights the massive environmental risks associated with China’s dizzyingly ambitious Belt and Road initiative—a vast series of infrastructure projects across 70 countries with an estimated budget of $8 trillion. Laurance explains the traditional cycle of road development and its detrimental environmental impact–which has to date mostly been neglected: deforestation from road development can amount to 12 times the impact of any specific infrastructure related project. He also discusses the approach of overseas Chinese companies: after many decades working on the ground as a researcher in the tropics, he has seen first-hand some of the adverse environmental impact of large-scale infrastructure investment in countries with less developed regulatory systems, and the impact of huge bribes to local politicians. Finally, he looks to the future: as this issue is getting increasing attention via The Convention on Biological Diversity and leading environmental organisations, more needs to be done to get the message out.Bill Laurance is a Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, and also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands. His research over the past 35 years spans the tropical world, including the Amazon, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions, and his research focuses on the impacts of intensive land-uses, such as habitat fragmentation, logging, hunting and wildfires, on tropical forests and their biodiversity.  He is also interested in protected areas, climatic change, the impacts of roads and other infrastructure on biodiversity, and conservation policy.  To date, he has published eight books and over 600 scientific and popular articles. Professor Laurance has received many scientific honors including the BBVA Frontiers in Ecology and Conservation Biology Award, a Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology, the Heineken Environment Prize, and the Royal Zoological Society of London’s Conservation Scientist of the Year Award.  He is also founder and director of ALERT—the Alliance of Leading Environmental Researchers & Thinkers, a group that advocates for environmental sustainability.The post Episode 45: The shocking detrimental environmental impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative: interview with Professor Bill Laurance,Distinguished Research Professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In episode 44 of the Sustainability Agenda, China Dialogue founder Isabel Hilton gives an overview of China’s emergence as a key environmental actor on the world stage and assesses China’s recent environmental engagement (and motivations). Isabel talks about how the Chinese government exercises control in matters environmental – and some of the particular challenges the government faces- and situates its growing environmental commitment against a background of changing industrial strategy, and movement into more value-added technologies. She distinguishes between China’s domestic and international environmental commitments, in particular, with respect to global warming. Looking to the future, Isabel draws lessons from China’s environmental policies, in particular for the current US administration, and identifies some tell-tale signs we should look for to assess China’s evolving environmental commitments.Isabel Hilton is a London-based international journalist and broadcaster. She is founder and editor of chinadialogue.net, a non-profit, fully bilingual online publication based in London, Beijing, and Delhi that focuses on the environment and climate change. She is the author and co-author of several books and was awarded the OBE for her work in raising environmental awareness in China. As a journalist, Isabel has worked for The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Guardian, and the New Yorker. In 1992 she became a presenter of the BBC’s flagship news program, “The World Tonight,” then BBC Radio Three’s cultural program “Night Waves.” She is a columnist for The Guardian and her work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Granta, the New Statesman, El Pais, Index on Censorship, and many other publications.The post Episode 44: China as an environmental leader? Interview with Isabel Hilton, founder and editor of chinadialogue.net appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr. Charly Kleissner is a pioneer in the field of impact investment. He believes that the deeper meaning of wealth is to make a positive contribution to humanity and the planet. Dr. Kleissner co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation (www.klfelicitasfoundation.org), and Social-Impact International (www.social-impact.org), which help social entrepreneurs worldwide to accelerate and increase their impact.  Dr. Kleissner co-founded Toniic and the 100% Impact Network, global networks for impact investors. Dr. Kleissner serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Global Hub Company (www.the-hub.net), and as Board Director and Chairman of the Investment Committee of ImpactAssets.In this extended and wide-ranging interview, Charly paints an exciting picture of the state of impact investment today, talks about the importance of “deep impact investing”-and shares his abiding belief in the potential of changing the financial system to build a better world. Charly talks about his experience at TONIIC and the 100% impact network and highlights the results that have been achieved at the KL Felicitas Foundation (that impact investors can construct a 100% impact portfolio and achieve competitive financial returns in all asset classes while making a big impact). Charly highlights some of the important work the Foundation is doing supporting the impact investment ecosystem. Finally, he discusses how modern portfolio theory should be re-conceptualized to integrate positive impact. (This is edited version of an interview posted on the Financing Social Entrepreneurs podcast.)The post Episode 43: Dr. Charly Kleissner, co-founder KL Felicitas Foundation, discusses the power of “deep impact” investing and the importance of developing a new post-modern portfolio theory that includes impact appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

George Serafeim is the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He has a wide range of research interests including international business, corporate governance and corporate reporting, with a special focus on sustainability. George has presented his research in over 60 countries and is one of the most popular business authors, according to rankings of the Social Science Research Network. Serafeim also has extensive experience as a senior adviser of investment managers and corporations around the world and as a board member in both the non-profit and private sectors. He served as a member of the Standards Council of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and sits on the board of the High Meadows Institute. In 2013 he co-founded KKS Advisors, a consultancy firm that applies robust academic research to support organizations to develop effective strategies for sustainability. His work has been published in numerous academic and practitioner journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of Finance and the Harvard Business Review, and has appeared in media outlets including the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.In this interview, Serafeim discusses how sustainability factors can be embedded within the corporate sector. He differentiates between two different forms of sustainability; one that seeks competitive advantage versus one that advocates a new standard of doing business. He argues that while the free market is a very powerful idea, it is clear that strong institutions and effective integrated reporting on ESG are needed in order to deliver sustainable prosperity. He makes the case for corporate leadership on sustainability issues by arguing that corporations are best positioned to implement long-term strategies. He argues that the critique of inherent short-termism often levelled at markets actually reflects a failure of organisational management and vision. Moreover, Serafeim argues that the fiduciary responsibility to maximise returns to shareholders can be overcome at the board level. He finishes by briefly discussing the role of investment in embedding ESG factors and the role of new business models such as the benefit corporations.The post Episode 42: Sustainability: a new way of doing business. How Interview with George Serafeim, the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.