The Sustainability Agenda

William McDonough is a globally recognised leader in sustainable development. His books Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way we Make Things, co-authored with chemist Michael Braungart and followed up in 2013 by The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability – Designing for Abundance, are seminal texts in the circular economy movement. Originally trained as an architect, McDonough firmly believes that design signals human intentions and is thus crucial to shaping a sustainable and inclusive future. Through biomimicry, McDonough believes we can design products as services and emulate closed loop material cycles, so that materials, buildings, companies and communities continuously improve over time. McDonough brings his vision of a sustainable future characterised by abundance to commercial and government leaders worldwide through his consultancy McDonough Innovation. He remains active with his architectural practice William McDonough + Partners, as well as MBDC, the Cradle to Cradle consulting firm. He also co-founded two not-for-profit organizations to allow public accessibility to Cradle to Cradle thinking: GreenBlue and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. He has previously served as the Inaugural Chair of the World Economic Forum’s MetaCouncil on the Circular Economy and currently serves on the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security.In this inspiring interview, McDonough discusses the concept of Cradle-to-Cradle, notably how reusable and durable cycles benefit the biosphere and future generations. Successful examples of circular economies already exist and McDonough outlines how Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, generates 85 percent of their revenue from by cradle-to-cradle products. The benefits in savings coupled with new forms of customer engagement demonstrate that such circular economies are financially viable and of interest to companies around the world. McDonough also outlines the certification schemes that underpin Cradle-to-Cradle and the importance of expanding consumer awareness. We see flashes of his creative brilliance, such as his views on the ocean plastic crisis and vision of restorative solar farms. He also touches on the path ahead by discussing how finance is limited by its dependence on destructive industries, such as fossil fuels, and the role of government in driving change by benchmarking best practice. He finishes by sharing his optimism for the future, stating he primarily designs for eight year olds, as children have a natural grasp of the wonder of nature and desirability of sustainable design.The post Episode 41: Interview with William McDonough on the Cradle to Cradle economy appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Jay Coen Gilbert is co-founder of B Lab, the non-profit organisation that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab certifies B Corporations, companies that meet the highest standards of verified, overall social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.Since its inception in 2006, the B Corp movement has grown so that there are currently over 2,300 certified corporations operating within 150 industries in 50 countries. Jay also serves on the board of Investors’ Circle, an organisation dedicated to the acceleration of patient capital markets towards a sustainable future. Prior to founding B Lab, Jay enjoyed a successful career in the private sector, notably through AND 1, a 250 million dollar basketball footwear and apparel company which he co-founded and later sold.In this encouraging interview, Jay provides some fascinating insights into an exciting global movement that aims to re-define success in business. He describes how institutions are typically slow to react to social change and how there is ample opportunity to cater to millennials’ greater concern for social and environmental issues, both as consumers and as a workforce. He outlines how B Corps unlock the full potential of business by harnessing the power of competition so that businesses not only compete to be the best in the world but “the best for the world.” He also describes the “B Impact Assessment,” the comprehensive accreditation system which accounts for supply chains, workers’ rights, the environment, community engagement and governance, thereby providing a holistic and genuine picture of a company’s impact. This assessment is fully transparent and is regularly updated through solicited public engagement. Joel also touches on B Corps’ relationship with finance by describing how larges investors can use B Corps as a blueprint for managing systemic risk. Joel is optimistic about the prospects for expansion of the movement, pointing to Danone as the first Fortune 500 Company with aspirations to join, but stresses how the ultimate goal is to change attitudes in the business community. Finally, he outlines the need for a more inclusive and distributive form of capitalism, stressing how the rise of populism is symptomatic of a growing disenchantment with an economic system that rewards an ever shrinking portion of the population.The post Episode 40: Interview with Jay Coen Gilbert on the growth and success of B Corps and how the movement aims to re-define success in business appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

David Blood is co-founder and Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management. Previously, he spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs including serving as co-CEO and CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management from 1999-2003. David received a B.A. from Hamilton College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. He is on the board of Dialight, New Forests, Motivate International, On the Edge Productions, SHINE, Social Finance UK and WRI. David is also a life trustee of Hamilton College.In this insightgul interview, David gives his views on the extraordinary economic moment we are in. He stresses the importance of finance as the issues of today cannot be solved by government or civil society alone. With reference to considerable changes in the past decade, he outlines the present state of sustainability in finance and how it is starting to capture the interest of the business community. He questions the myth of trade-offs by asserting how sustainability is integral to sensible investment as it embeds the long-term interests of clients. David addresses the dichotomy surrounding economic growth and whilst emphasising the perils of consumerism and macroeconomic growth policies, stresses how sustainable investments allow for growth opportunities even within a no-growth environment.  Finally, he suggests some of the key areas of sustainability that he believes must be addressed going forward, notably a global price on carbon.The post Episode 39: The future of finance and sustainable capitalism: Interview with David Blood, Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Sam Fankhauser is Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. He has been at the institute since its inception a decade ago, where he initially joined as a Principal Research Fellow. He also holds positions as Deputy Director of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, Non-Executive Director the CDC Group and a member of the editorial board for the journals Global Environmental Change, Climate Policy and Global Sustainability. Prior to joining the Grantham Institute, Sam served as Deputy Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He has also worked at the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and in the private sector. His research interests include the economics of adaptation to climate change, climate finance and the functioning of carbon markets and climate change policy in the UK.In this episode, Sam provides an excellent overview of the state of carbon pricing today and outlines its two principal forms; carbon taxation and carbon trading. He discusses the merits and disadvantages of each, stressing that all carbon pricing is ultimately results based. Noting that current carbon prices are far too low to meet the objectives of the Paris agreement, he provides words of cautious optimism looking at successful schemes in Sweden and British Colombia in Canada which show the effectiveness and viability of carbon trading. Sam also discusses significant barriers around issues of political economy and voters’ suspicion of government taxation, and how this renders carbon trading easier to implement practically. He also addresses “shadow pricing” and how the private sector’s growing enthusiasm seems to reflect an understanding that the economic growth of this century will arise from low-carbon opportunities. Finally, he stresses the need for collaboration around carbon pricing to avoid “carbon leakage.” He also points to how empirical evidence suggests that successful schemes can be imported as regulators in different jurisdictions learn from one another.The post Episode 38: Sam Fankhauser, Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE, discusses carbon pricing appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr Sabina Alkire is the director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development. She is a professor in International Affairs at the George Washington University and is a fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association. With fellow economist James Foster, she developed the Alkire-Foster Method, which measures multidimensional poverty by considering a range of deprivations associated with poverty which are aggregated to reflect societal poverty. In the seven years since its adaptation the multidimensional poverty indicator (MPI) has been adopted the United Nations Development Programme and several national governments, notably that of Bhutan.In this lucid interview, Sabina outlines the MPI and stresses that effective measurements are crucial to the eradication of poverty. She describes the benefits of using a multidimensional approach which considers deprivations associated with poverty, such as lack of access to adequate education, healthcare and employment. While the MPI compliments conventional measures, Sabina emphasises how it is more sensitive to immediate gains, such as improvements in education enrolment rates, which monetary measures are slow to account for. Furthermore, the MPI demonstrates that solving poverty requires multifaceted strategies and collaboration; a growing global trend that is perhaps epitomised by the SDGs. Sabina also discusses the practical implementation of the MPI and provides some positive insights into the Gross National Happiness index of Bhutan. Finally, she finishes by describing the future of the MPI, particularly efforts around child poverty measures.The post Episode 37: Interview with Sabina Alkire, director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI: how to effectively measure poverty using the  multidimensional poverty indicator (MPI) appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Leo Hickman is director and editor of Carbon Brief, a leading UK based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy, and energy policy. Carbon Brief specialises in clear data-driven articles and graphics to communicate complex and fast-moving developments in climate science to improve the understanding of climate change both in terms of the science and policy response. Leo previously worked for 16 years as journalist, editor and author at the Guardian newspaper and prior to joining Carbon Brief worked as WWF-UK’s chief advisor on climate change. His books include A Life Stripped Bare,The Final Call and most recently Will Jellyfish Rule the World?In this special episode devoted to COP23, Leo gives us a succinct summary of events in Bonn. He reminds us that since Paris, the annual COP meetings have focused on creating a rulebook to implement the Paris Accords. He stresses that current pledges fall short of meeting the goals set out in Paris, something highlighted by UNEP’s annual “Emissions Gap Report.” He discusses how disagreements around financing have reignited tensions between developed and developing countries, particularly over action before the Paris agreement formally begins in 2020. Leo also addresses the two American delegations that stole the spotlight and emphasises how Trump’s withdrawal from Paris has acted as a catalyst for American action on climate change. He also addresses how China is filling the void left by American leadership and briefly discusses the British presence at Bonn, notably through the Powering Past Coal alliance. Finally, he gives us an overview of key events to look for over the next year, including the Californian Global Climate Action Summit in September 2018, as well as telling us of Carbon Brief’s upcoming projects.The post Episode 36: Carbon Brief’s Leo Hickman reviews COP23 appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr. Andy Price is head of politics at Sheffield Hallam University. His primary research area lies in political theory; particularly in ecology, environmentalism and new social movements, such as the Occupy movement. He has taught and researched in higher education for over fifteen years and previously held positions at Saint Louis University in Madrid, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Metropolitan. Andy is a regular commentator on British politics and contributes to BBC radio, the Huffington Post, the Conversation, The Independent and Brazil’s O Globo.  He is the author of “Recovering Bookchin.”In this podcast, Andy discusses the ideas of the neglected American political theorist Murray Bookchin-a key political thinker and pioneer of the ecology movement of the 1960s. Bookchin was one of the first theorists to tie the green agenda to radical politics and predict that the primary threat to capitalism would come from environmental pressures. Bookchin saw ecological destruction not as a human failing per se, but rather a result of centralised neoliberal capitalism’s inherent endeavour to dominate nature. Andy discusses how Bookchin, through the ideas of social ecology, provided a blueprint for integrating ideas of rational stewardship over nature together with direct, localised democratic participation. Andy discusses the important role that grassroots movements play: in particular, he describes why we need to connect ecological issues to the lived experiences of ordinary people — in a manner that organisations such as the UN and EU often struggle to achieve. Essential listeningThe post Episode 35: Dr Andy Price, head of politics at Sheffield Hallam University, discusses the ideas of the neglected American political theorist and pioneering ecologist, Murray Bookchin appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Annemieke Tsike-Sossah de Jong is Head of Portfolio at the IKEA Foundation, the independent charitable foundation that overseas IKEA’s global philanthropy. First established in 1982 with the main goal of preventing child labour, the foundation’s operations expanded considerably in 2009 so that today it administers an annual budget of 140 million euros. Its efforts are primarily aimed at addressing children’s fundamental needs of home, health, education and sustainable family incomes, through funding holistic, long-term programmes in some of the world’s poorest communities. In this interview, Annemieke talks at length about the foundation’s operations and commitment to children. She discusses the need for humanitarian aid to be more effective, by promoting sustainable employment and economic self-sufficiency, particularly among people living in long-term displacement. Annemieke also addresses the widening field of private sector humanitarian investment and its relationship with traditional actors, such as large NGOs and governments. As an independent charity, Annemieke stresses how the foundation can operate in countries outside of the IKEA business’ sphere of influence, such as Uganda and Jordan, whilst sharing the multinationals core values. In addition, the foundation compliments the business’ attempts at implementing sustainability through its supply chain by focusing on similar themes of water scarcity, renewable energy and through infrastructural and educational investment, climate mitigation and adaptation.The post Episode 34 Interview with Annemieke Tsike-Sossah de Jong, Head of Portfolio at the IKEA Foundation appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Scott Tew is the executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability (CEES) at Ingersoll Rand, a global diversified industrial company with over 40,000 employees and annual revenues of over 13 billion dollars. Ingersoll Rand is involved in numerous operations including connected heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions, air compression technologies, electrical vehicles and transport refrigeration.  The CEES is responsible for supporting all of the company’s strategic brands – Club Car, Ingersoll Rand, Thermo King and Trane – and for driving sustainability initiatives within the company’s operations.In this inspiring interview, Scott discusses practical sustainability measures across Ingersoll Rand’s operations. He outlines the bottom line business impact of sustainable practice and describes how embedding sustainability into the business strategy at Ingersoll Rand is more enduring than compliance with regulation. Scott outlines the SDGs’ influence on Ingersoll Rand’s internal targets and discusses the role of large corporates in ingraining sustainable practices across supply chains, through partnerships based on common values. Additionally, Scott touches on Ingersoll Rand’s growing role in an urbanising world and discusses the importance of effective design in building energy efficient buildings.The post Episode 33: Interview with Scott Tew, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability (CEES) at Ingersoll Rand. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr. Per Espen Stoknes is a distinguished psychologist and economist and chair of the Centre for Green Growth at the Norwegian Business School.  He is a pioneer in the field of climate change psychology, which he has studied for twenty years–and the author of numerous books including the acclaimed What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming (2015). Per is also a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of the clean tech company GasPlas. In this revealing interview, Per unpacks the psychology of climate change communications –and why increased scientific certainty on this issue has only entrenched apathy among much of the general public. He outlines the five key psychological barriers impeding climate change action, explains why gloomy narratives about climate change are ineffective, and counsels communication that takes into account people’s psychology—for example, stressing the wider societal benefits of climate action through “positive framing”. Stoknes also highlights the dangers assuming the general public reach decisions on a rational basis, highlighting the influence of the mass media’s powerful distortions of climate issues, such as the “ClimateGate” debacle of 2009.The post Episode 32: UN Climate Week Special: Dr. Per Espen Stoknes: The psychology behind climate change denial appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.