Great to see Institutional Investor cover the divestment movement with the video below and this article: Climate Change and the Fossil Fuel Divestiture Movement.
One of my favorite lines from the article: "In the same way that there was plenty of money to be made in U.S. subprime mortgages until there wasn't, many investors see a lot of opportunities right now in the energy sector."
It was great to see a couple of participants from our recent Intentionally Designed Endowment event in the video -- keynote speaker Bob Litterman speaking on the risk management aspects of this, and Responsible Endowments Coalition Executive Director Dan Apfel, talking about the student movement.
Stay going.
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Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Winning the Sustainability Game
The latest from Sustainability Illustrated --- running through the 4 sustainability principles, or 'system conditions' for success in terms of sustainability.
You can't take a strategic approach to sustainability without knowing where you're going. These principles provide that ultimate goal -- not in detail, because the world is too complex to predetermine exactly what sustainability will look like -- but in principle. We know the basic mechanisms by which we are undermining the social and ecological systems upon which we depend, so by eliminating those, we can move strategically toward sustainability:
Subscribe to Sustainability Illustrated for more great videos and share widely!
Stay going.
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You can't take a strategic approach to sustainability without knowing where you're going. These principles provide that ultimate goal -- not in detail, because the world is too complex to predetermine exactly what sustainability will look like -- but in principle. We know the basic mechanisms by which we are undermining the social and ecological systems upon which we depend, so by eliminating those, we can move strategically toward sustainability:
Subscribe to Sustainability Illustrated for more great videos and share widely!
Stay going.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Green Century Funds on Fossil Fuel Free Investing
Another sustainability investing video -- this one from Green Century Funds focused on individual investors:
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Friday, March 07, 2014
Put your money where your heart is
Alice Tepper Marlin on early socially responsible investing efforts via Forces of Nature:
Stay going.
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Stay going.
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Thursday, February 06, 2014
Sustainability Investing Myths
Curious about what Sustainability Investing is? Think it's a fringe concept or do-gooder altruism? Check out this very brief video from RobecoSAM for a quick primer:
Stay going.
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Stay going.
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Thursday, December 19, 2013
Apply Now for Master's Programs in Sustainability & A Brief History of My Recent Life
Applications are open (through Jan.
15) for two amazing sustainability master’s programs in Sweden – MSLS and MSPI
(details below). Please share with anyone you think might be interested in a
transformative international experience.
Here’s a quick run down of mine:
The genesis of this blog was one of
these programs that I attended eight years ago.
(It was those ancient days before Facebook and Gmail were really things,
and I was emailing friends & family about this amazing experience, when I
realized: this is why they invented blogs).
The experience changed my life.
It tied together all of the things I’d been trying to do for years to assemble a career in the sustainability field. It gave me a great framework and opened my eyes to whole new worlds, new ways of thinking, amazingly exciting areas of theory and research.
It tied together all of the things I’d been trying to do for years to assemble a career in the sustainability field. It gave me a great framework and opened my eyes to whole new worlds, new ways of thinking, amazingly exciting areas of theory and research.
I met my wife.
It tapped me into an incredibly dynamic, engaged, welcoming, and exciting international network of sustainability leaders. I met ‘gurus’ whose books I had loved and who I never figured I meet. They became thesis advisors, mentors, and friends.
We got a puppy.
It led directly to exciting jobs
and projects with huge sustainability impact, and endless opportunities for
learning and growth. We got to present at conferences, meet incredible leaders.
We had a baby.
The program left me with lifelong
friends, and every since I’ve been able to look up fellow alumni in just about
every part of the world, get introductions, crash in guestrooms, and make more
lifelong friends.
We have a shared language and a
shared understanding about the big challenges society faces, and the
unbelievably exciting solutions that have the potential to improve quality of
life for everyone, now and in the future.
Please check out the details below if
you’re at all interested, and share with anyone else you think might be – maybe
some recent college grads, or a friend thinking about a career change, or
someone looking to incorporate some bigger-picture meaning into their current
role, or someone already working in a sustainability-related field, who might
want to recharge and get re-inspired...
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Sustainability Master’s Programmes at the
Blekinge Institute of Technology
The Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) is a top ranked
sustainability research and education institution currently recruiting
talented, early to mid career professionals for its cutting-edge Masters
programs. BTH is located in the beautiful coastal city of Karlskrona, a UNESCO
world heritage site on the southeast coast of Sweden.
There are two MSc programs
available, both suited for early- to mid-career professionals from around the
world (the 450 alumni have come from 69 different countries), and taught in
English.
The Master's in Strategic
Leadership towards Sustainability (MSLS) program is a
one-year program founded on the basic premise that a "whole-system,"
trans-disciplinary approach is needed to deal with the sustainability
challenge. Two integrated streams are the focus: 1) a framework for
strategic sustainable development; and 2) organizational learning and
leadership required for sustainability decision-making. http://www.bth.se/msls
The Master’s in
Sustainable Product/Service System Innovation (MSPI) program is two-year
program designed for students wishing to combine engineering competence with
sustainability knowledge to help deliver new product and service systems.
Specifically, students learn to analyze sustainability challenges for an
organization in a scientific manner; introduce a strategic perspective on
sustainability to a company’s product innovation process; use new methods and
tools to work with sustainable product and service innovation in industry; and
support a transition towards a more service-oriented economy. More info
can be found at: http://www.bth.se/mspi
Both programs are delivered in a non-traditional educational
setting through experiential and holistic learning methods. Tuition is
100,000 SEK (about US$15,000), and is paid by the Swedish government for EU and
EEA citizens.
Applications
are due January 15th, 2014.
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"The question of reaching sustainability is not about
if we will have enough energy, enough food, or other tangible resources - those
we have. The question is: will there be enough leaders in time?"
-- Dr. Karl-Henrik Robčrt and Dr. Göran Broman program
co-founders.
Stay going.
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Super Typhoon Haiyan: climate disruption is not a future concern
How to comment on such a tragedy? First and foremost, our thoughts, condolences, prayers are with the victims.
This disaster, once again (like Katrina, Sandy, the droughts, floods, and wildfires), brings stark clarity to the idea that climate change is a challenge of morality and justice.
We know the frequency and intensity of storms will continue to increase, driven by global warming and the climate change that results. And increasingly, people are starting to believe what scientists have been saying for years, now that we're seeing and experiencing the patterns first hand; prompting the question if this will be a "turning point in how the West thinks about climate change."
For years, we in the sustainability field have been saying, "there's still time to act, if we act now." And in a sense that's still true. But in another, very real sense, it's already too late.
It's true in that the faster we reduce and eliminate our net contributions to GHGs in the atmosphere, the better chance we have of minimizing the damage. It's too late in the sense, that we're clearly feeling the damage, in obvious and subtle ways. We'll keep feeling these changes for decades -- even if we stopped GHG pollution on a dime today, what we've already emitted cumulatively will continue to have an impact for decades. So we'll need to continue to adapt and prepare for changes to come.
But we can't give up on the necessary goal of eliminating net GHG emissions. The annual international climate negotiations -- COP19 -- are happening in Warsaw Poland right now. The lead negotiator from the Philippines, Yeb Sano, announced in a powerful video (below) that he will voluntarily fast until meaningful pledges are made.
You can take a small, simple action now to help support his effort by signing Yeb Sano's petition to Stand with the Philippines and demand significant progress in Warsaw.
Stay going.
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This disaster, once again (like Katrina, Sandy, the droughts, floods, and wildfires), brings stark clarity to the idea that climate change is a challenge of morality and justice.
We know the frequency and intensity of storms will continue to increase, driven by global warming and the climate change that results. And increasingly, people are starting to believe what scientists have been saying for years, now that we're seeing and experiencing the patterns first hand; prompting the question if this will be a "turning point in how the West thinks about climate change."
For years, we in the sustainability field have been saying, "there's still time to act, if we act now." And in a sense that's still true. But in another, very real sense, it's already too late.
It's true in that the faster we reduce and eliminate our net contributions to GHGs in the atmosphere, the better chance we have of minimizing the damage. It's too late in the sense, that we're clearly feeling the damage, in obvious and subtle ways. We'll keep feeling these changes for decades -- even if we stopped GHG pollution on a dime today, what we've already emitted cumulatively will continue to have an impact for decades. So we'll need to continue to adapt and prepare for changes to come.
But we can't give up on the necessary goal of eliminating net GHG emissions. The annual international climate negotiations -- COP19 -- are happening in Warsaw Poland right now. The lead negotiator from the Philippines, Yeb Sano, announced in a powerful video (below) that he will voluntarily fast until meaningful pledges are made.
You can take a small, simple action now to help support his effort by signing Yeb Sano's petition to Stand with the Philippines and demand significant progress in Warsaw.
Stay going.
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