The Sustainability Agenda

Barry Parkin is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars, Inc. The family run confectionary giant has over 33 billion dollars in annual sales and is ranked by Forbes as the 6th largest privately held company in the United States, with over 80,000 employees, 150 factories and a million small-scale suppliers around the world. As Chief Sustainability Officer, Barry is responsible for sustainability across the value chain, notably through shaping and articulating its key targets, policies, and practices. In particular, he has spearheaded the company’s ambitious $1billion Sustainable in a Generation plan. Furthermore, as Chairman of the World Cocoa Foundation, Barry leads the cocoa industry’s collaborative efforts to tackle sustainability issues in a pre-competitive way. In this revealing interview, Barry outlines the company’s historical commitment to its stakeholders through the concept of mutuality and traces continuities to the company’s current commitment to sustainability. He talks at length about the Sustainable in a Generation initiative’s core pillars of a healthy planet, thriving people and nourishing well-being—with a particular focus on the company’s commitment to fight climate change. Barry highlights the importance of Mars sustainability initiatives pointing out that Mars’ entire carbon footprint is equivalent to Panama’s. He describes some of the company’s recent successes, such as using good agricultural practices to boost yields at the supply level and improvements in energy use in manufacturing through largescale renewable energy infrastructure projects. Barry also stresses the company’s dependence on agriculture. In particular, he discusses how sustainability efforts must help small-scale farmers out of poverty and to guarantee the long-term supply of quality agriculture over the coming decades.The post Episode 31: UN Climate Week Special: Interview with Barry Parkin Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars, Inc. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Michael Mann is a distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Centre at Pennsylvania State University. A climatologist and geophysicist, he is a leading contributor to the IPCC and is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading climate scientists. His work has been pivotal in advancing our understanding of humanity’s influence on global temperatures, notably through the famous “hockey stick graph” outlining the earth’s temperature over the past millennium.  An outspoken defender of the scientific process and academic freedoms, his work also focuses on climate change denialism, reflected in his most recent book The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy (2016). He is a contributor to numerous publications including The Guardian and the Washington Post and documents the impact of climate change on current events in RealClimate.org.In this interview, Michael discusses the overwhelming scientific consensus on man-made climate change. He outlines some of the effects a warming planet could have in the future and through reference to recent extreme weather events — how climate change is already being felt in real time. Michael addresses climate change denialism, particularly the influence of “fake news,” and public disinformation campaigns that have helped turn climate science into a politically contentious topic. Michael also provides words of warning regarding geoengineering and stresses the primary need to reduce emissions whilst the carbon budget remains. He ends on a note of cautious optimism, stressing the success of the Paris Agreement, providing a blueprint to curb emissions, and how initiatives at the municipal and state level can help the United States’ commitment to the accord, regardless of the political administration in the US.The post Episode 30: UN Climate Week Special: Professor Michael Mann appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

Dr. Richard Norgaard is Professor Emeritus of Ecological Economics in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, environmental pioneer, and founding member and former president of the International Society for Ecological Economics. After receiving his PhD at the University of Chicago, where he studied with numerous economists who would later be awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, he became a critic of free market fundamentalism and went on to found the field of ecological economics which he continues to lead today. His recent research addresses how environmental problems challenge scientific understanding and the policy process, how ecologists and economists understand systems differently, and the impact of globalization on environmental governance.A philosophical and eclectic thinker, Dr Norgaard received the Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award in 2006 for recognition of advancements in research combining social theory and the natural sciences –and for more than 40 years he has been a strong voice calling for introduction of values of spirituality, beauty and ecological boundaries into mainstream economics. He is the author of Development Betrayed: The End of Progress and a Co-evolutionary Revisioning of the Future, co-author or editor of three additional books, and has over 100 other publications spanning the fields of environment and development, tropical forestry and agriculture, environmental epistemology, energy economics, and ecological economics. He serves on the Board of Directors of the New Economics Institute, on scientific advisory boards to Tsinghua and Beijing Normal University, and on the Board of EcoEquity.  In this interview, Richard discusses the dichotomy between ecology and economics, how a kind of faith thinking underpins the economic system (economism), and the failure of neo-classical economics to adequately grasp environmental limits. He also touches on the limits of conventional economic measures and the need for an approach system to environmental issues that allows for effective global governance while respecting agency at the local level. A proud Californian, Richard also discusses his work in water stewardship for the California Delta independent science board and the danger of conservation’s inherent bias towards the past in addressing the challenges posed by a changing climate.This is a rare opportunity to hear the latest views of a pioneering thinker who has had a major influence on how we think about ecological economics, raising profound questions about our understanding of economic progress and development.The post Episode 29: Interview with Dr Richard Norgaard, Professor Emeritus of Ecological Economics appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this thought provoking and insightful interview, Tony Juniper provides a timely assessment of the state of sustainability agenda and the relative importance of key sustainability drivers, highlighting how corporations are taking the lead driving the sustainability agenda, the growing influence of investors on sustainability and the role of technology. Tony highlights the scale of change taking place in the motor industry: how corporations in Europe phasing out diesel and petrol vehicles despite government policies often lagging behind. Tony talks about China’s business leaders increasing focus on sustainability and the often hidden dangers that are being stored up by growing inequality. This is a tremendously powerful, synoptic picture of the evolving state of sustainability from a leading sustainability thinker who sees optimism as a key ingredient in building a better world.Campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and environmentalist: Tony Juniper has spent more than 30 years working in a variety of roles to drive change toward a more sustainable society — making the case for new recycling laws, orchestrating international campaigns for action on rainforests and climate change, providing ecology and conservation experiences for primary school children. Today Tony works in a variety of roles –he is a Special Adviser to the Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit, a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), and also a co-founder of the sustainability advisory group Robertsbridge. Tony is a Trustee of Fauna and Flora International, of Solar Aid, Ecologist-Resurgence magazine, and in 2015 he was named President of The Wildlife Trusts.The post Episode 28: The future of the sustainability agenda: interview with Tony Juniper, CBE. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this interview, Lynelle Cameron talks about the work of the Autodesk Foundation-and the relationship between sustainability, CSR and corporate philanthropy at Autodesk. She highlights the growing importance of sustainability in design and the company’s commitment to bringing sustainability thinking into all its design work, and the development of Sustainability Workshop, an online learning platform developed to teach sustainable design. Lynelle also discusses the growing interest in sustainability and convergence across different industries –construction, design and engineering and manufacturing- in which Autodesk works-and the growing interest from investors in sustainability.Lynelle is President & CEO of the Autodesk Foundation and Senior Director of Sustainability at Autodesk, Inc. – both initiatives aimed at investing in and supporting individuals who are designing solutions to solve today’s most epic challenges. She has led the company in setting ambitious science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, committing to 100% renewable energy and integrated reporting. Since Lynelle joined eight years ago, Autodesk has received numerous awards for sustainability leadership and innovation.Lynelle brings over two decades of experience in both the nonprofit and private sectors and has led pioneering efforts in the pursuit of enabling 7 billion people to live well and live within the limits of the planet. She believes in the power of partnership between business and civil society and has served on numerous boards, including currently the Center for Environmental Health, Innovators International, and UC Berkeley’s Center for Responsible Business.The post Episode 27: interview with Lynelle Cameron, President & CEO of the Autodesk Foundation and Senior Director of Sustainability at Autodesk, Inc. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

David Biello, science curator at TED Talks and contributing editor for Scientific American, discusses his book 'The Unnatural World' and explores innovative ideas to survive on a fast-changing planet. Topics include the Anthropocene, government policy, military's perspective on climate change, geoengineering, and the importance of carbon pricing.

In recent years, sustainable procurement has become an increasingly important issue for customers and stakeholders in large companies around the world. Yet assessing levels of sustainability across supply chains remains a tremendous challenge for many companies. In this interview, Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-founder, and co-CEO of EcoVadis, talks about the key drivers of sustainable procurement and the scale of the challenge facing companies. He highlights the importance of being able to measure and benchmark sustainability performance and gives a frank assessment of how companies are doing in different sectors and the progress that needs to take place in the coming years.EcoVadis provides environmental, social and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains. The EcoVadis platform is used by 175 companies and over 30,000 of their trading partners the company and provide CSR Ratings and Scorecards Covering 21 CSR Indicators, 150 commodities, and 110 countries.The post Episode 25: Sustainable procurement: how are companies doing? Interview with Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-founder and co-CEO of EcoVadis. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

How well are companies doing when it comes to sustainability? This is a key question that Corporate Knights assesses in its annual Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations—based on publicly available information provided by companies around the world. In this interview, Toby explains how Corporate Knights assess companies’ sustainability credentials –and the different ways in which Corporate Knights provides information on sustainability and clean capitalism. He assesses the overall progress that companies have made-and the terrain that still needs to be covered –and identifies a wide range of accessible user friendly information sources to help assess companies sustainability initiatives. Corporate Knights Inc. is a Canadian a media company that produces corporate rankings, research reports and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. Its best-known rankings include the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada and the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations.It also publishes of Corporate Knights Magazine– which focuses on how companies, markets and governments are advancing social and environmental sustainability worldwide. It calls itself “the magazine for clean capitalism.” Toby spearheaded the first global ranking of the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations in 2005.The post Episode 24: Keeping track of corporate sustainability commitments: interview with Toby Heap, the CEO and co-founder of Corporate Knights Inc. a media company  appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this interview, Jean Bennington Sweeney, Chief Sustainability Officer at 3M, gives an overview of the company’s sustainability journey as a purpose-driven organisation. She points to three main ways in which sustainability helps 3M –compliance, risk management, and growth—and how this resonates with investors. Jean emphasizes the crucial importance of setting bold sustainability goals-how that drives innovation-and discusses the lesson for the company when it fails meet its sustainability targets, which happened for the first time over the last year. Finally, Jean gives her views on the company’s recently launched 2017 Sustainability Report.Jean Bennington Sweeney is Chief Sustainability Officer for 3M Company. She has held a wide variety of positions at 3M in product development, manufacturing and business management. Today, Ms. Sweeney is responsible for 3M environment, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility programs globally covering over 200 facilities and the development and implementation of corporate sustainability strategies in collaboration with 3M employees, suppliers, customers and stakeholders globally.The post Episode 23: Interview with Jean Bennington Sweeney, Chief Sustainability Officer for 3M Company: 3M’s sustainability journey. appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

In this interview, Professor Giorgos Kallis, a leading degrowth thinker, provides an overview of evolving theories of degrowth. Degrowth theorists argue for a reduction in production and consumption, arguing that overconsumption is at the root of many of the long term environmental issues and social inequalities facing the world today. Professor Kallis highlights the importance not just of reducing consumption, but also of different ways of consuming, like the sharing economy, and also connecting consumption with production. Looking to the future, he explores the likely impact of increasing pace of automation on the economy.Professor Kallis is a Leverhulme visiting professor at SOAS and an ICREA professor at ICTA, Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is a leading thinker in the emerging field of degrowth, based on ecological economics, aims to achieve a steady state of growth that allows the economy to operate within the Earth’s biophysical limits. Giorgos is the co-editor of Degrowth: a vocabulary for a new era.The post Episode 22: Professor Giorgos Kallis: Degrowth and the dangers of excessive economic growth appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.