Sustainability professionals have done a fantastic job understanding how valuable natural resources like energy, water, minerals, materials, fuel and other key resources are for driving business forward.  In 2013, we have come to understand business requires natural resources to be competitive, sustain growth and manufacture the products needed for consumers to purchase.

For Apple, Facebook, Google or any company, consumers need iPads, iPhones, Android phones or Microsoft Surface devices to access those services.  What makes these products?  What materials are required?  How do they get manufactured?  How do they get transported from the factory to the store?  Are the materials required to manufacture these products abundant?  Are the costs of fuel impacting consumer prices?

All these questions drive the survey results below you will see from CEO’s who have recognized the value of environmental sustainability and it’s direct impact on the natural resources required to continue building a profitable business moving in the future.

“PwC’s 2013 Global CEO Survey revealed that CEOs are focusing on the need to create value in uncertain times with sustainable business practices high on the agenda. CEOs everywhere believe the only solution to dealing with uncertainty is to build organizations that can thrive amid ambiguity. And those that view sustainability as a market-driven strategic priority will emerge stronger as a result.

So, what exactly did CEOs tell us about sustainability?

• Energy is on the radar for US CEOs, with 41% of US CEOs and 52% of global CEOs concerned about rising energy costs as a threat to growth prospects.
• CEOs are intent on securing natural resources now, including energy, water and raw materials. Over the next three years, 35% of developed-market CEOs plan to increase investment in securing natural resources and 52% of emerging-market CEOs say the same.
• Beyond securing what they’ll need, CEOs will make energy efficiency and water conservation measures pay off in both cost and reputation; 43% of US CEOs plan to increase efforts to reduce their companies’ environmental impacts.

“Sustainability is important to our customers, and increasingly it’s becoming very important to our employees who want to see the company as a highly responsible, sustainable organization. Beyond that, it’s just good business. The triple bottom line of environmental and consumer safety and profitability all come together, and reduced waste generates savings for the company.”

– Douglas D. Tough, Chairman and CEO, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.”

PwC – great work in obtaining this data to confirm it goes beyond being green, but rather showing the value of securing natural resources for the sake of doing business.  We as a society are responsible for putting pressure on business to promote eco-friendly products so we have them for many generations to come.

Are products you buy eco-friendly?  Do you pay attention to environmental sustainability practices when purchasing products or services?

It’s still early, but we are on the right road to progress.  See article below written by James Murray on investor demands.

Mounting investor demands for enhanced environmental performance

Business leaders at the world’s largest listed companies have been facing growing pressure from investors to embrace environmental best practices, following the launch of the Carbon Disclosure Project reporting season and the publication of new research showing shareholder support for environmental resolutions is on the rise.

The CDP announced that it has kicked off its annual disclosure season, writing to more than 5,000 public companies around the world requesting information on their carbon emissions and climate change strategy.

Significantly, the group said the number of institutional investors supporting the annual requests for information has increased 10 percent to 722 separate investors, meaning that the initiative is backed by institutions with $87 trillion of assets under management — equivalent to around one-third of the world’s invested capital.

A nonprofit, the CDP aims to help investors manage climate risks and encourage businesses to measure their climate impacts and develop mitigation and adaptation strategies by requesting relevant information from listed companies.

As part of its annual disclosure season, companies will now have until May 30 to submit climate information to the organization using a standardized approach to measurement.

Last year, more than 80 percent of the Global 500 companies responded to CDP requests for information and the group is seeing a growing number of organizations around the world providing data on their emissions performance.

“Since pioneering a system for corporate climate disclosure a little over 10 years ago, the number of investor signatories to CDP programs has grown more than twentyfold and growth in the number of companies using CDP has nearly matched this rate,” said Paul Simpson, chief executive of the CDP. “This is testament to the economic relevance of environmental data to investment decisions.”

For more on this article, go to http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/02/22/mounting-investor-demands-enhanced-environmental-performance?page=0%2C0.

What do you think now that the CFO’s, like Sean Noonan of BMW, are integrating sustainability into their overall operations? Have we past the “nice to have” making sustainability resource management a key financial component of running a business?

Here are a few lines from a recent article on Noonan and BMW’s strategy:

“Noonan told us that sustainability is entrenched in BMW’s corporate strategy, where coming from the top it is integrated in a balanced scorecard and the target management system. This encourages continuous improvement and innovation to initiate activities and enables projects to support sustainability goals. This allows BMW to achieve results that are needed in a top/down philosophy in which the goals are not just environmental, but also incorporate the economic and social aspects as well.

Asked how this affects BMW’s supply chain, Noonan said, “As our suppliers provide a lot of the value-add in our products, it is also important that we share these best practices with them and/or we learn from their knowledge of sustainability best practices in the supply chain.””

I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you in the least to hear that some new research from Ernst & Young/GreenBiz Group about the motivating factors behind corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs shows that financial concerns increasingly hold sway over these decisions.Indeed, a new report published in conjunction with GreenBiz Group, “Six growing trends in corporate sustainability,”suggests that 65 percent of chief financial officers now have a hand in sustainability strategy. Maybe that is because a larger percentage of the companies considered for the report (76 percent) believe that natural resources will be constrained within three to five years, which would affect operations.The data in the report comes from approximately 272 executives and “thought leaders” focused on corporate environmental strategy. A large majority of the respondents (85 percent) work for companies based in the United States; all the represented companies had revenue of more than $1 billion annually.

With that in mind, the report identifies six major trends occupying sustainability managers’ minds this year.

1. The need for better sustainability reporting tools. Apparently only one in four of the surveyed respondents are using a specific sustainability application to report on their efforts. Most are still using spreadsheets, emails and phone calls to gather information. Can you say frustrating?
2. The CFO’s involvement. Not only are 65 percent of the companies considered involving CFOs in their strategy, approximately 74 percent of the respondents to Ernst & Young/GreenBiz Group identified cost reductions as the primary motivator for business sustainability programs at their companies. In addition, approximately 66 percent reported heightened scrutiny from investors and shareholders. People are watching how sustainability is affecting the bottom line from all internal and external angles.
3. Employees are driving action. Grassroots initiatives continue to gain momentum. The more passionate an organization’s employees are, the more likely it is to record real progress. Most people are pretty interested in helping make sure their employer is around for the long term.
4. Companies are still focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage. Even though no one really knows what is going to happen on the regulatory front as far as reporting requirements because it is so political, 76 percent of the surveyed executives and sustainability decision makers said they are reporting about greenhouse gas emissions and more of them (not less) plan to do so over the next five years. Almost two-thirds of the respondents are now reporting on water usage, to boot.
5. Natural resource shortages are a worry. As mentioned already, many companies are acting at least in part because they believe natural resources necessary for operations many be in shorter supply within three to five years. This is a matter of survival for some.
6. Rankings matter. More than one-half of the respondents are focused on how their company stands in various indices or rankings related to corporate sustainability (so, the fact that their businesses are on or need to be on these lists is driving action in some places).

How do these factors stack up against your own organizations sustainability initiatives? Is your team being realistic about what it is trying to achieve or should it involve more of the financial influencers within your company to have a bigger impact? It may seem crass, but I call it being realistic.

CHICAGO, IL, Feb 13, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — The Edison Awards, celebrating its 25th year, has announced its finalists for the internationally renowned 2012 Edison Best New Product Awards. Since 1987, The Edison Awards have recognized ideas at the forefront of new products, services, marketing, design and innovation. Winning an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a company can receive in the name of innovation and business.

“The Edison Awards provide an exclusive platform for honoring innovation, recognizing innovators, and encouraging ongoing innovation among today’s development teams, researchers, designers, ‘intrapreneurs’ and entrepreneurs,” says Thomas Stat, the 2012 Edison Awards Steering Committee Chairman. “We’re inspired by our 2012 finalists and delighted to have this opportunity to recognize and promote the outstanding accomplishments they represent.”

The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose extraordinary new product development methods and innovative achievements garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world. The ballot of nominees for the Edison Best New Product Awards(TM) is judged by a panel of more than 3,000 individuals, including members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), an organization comprising America’s top marketing professionals and academics. The panel also includes professionals from the fields of product development & design, engineering, science and education.

This year, the nominees were judged on a new set of evaluation criteria developed in partnership with Nielsen. These new criteria establish a new definition of innovation, leveraging the primary themes of Concept, Value, Impact and Delivery.

Winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Edison Awards will be announced April 26, 2012 at the Capitale in New York. The annual Edison Awards program encompasses multiple events over a two-day period including an Opening Reception, Meet the Innovators Forum, Innovator’s Showcase and the Awards Gala, where the Awards will be presented.

About the Edison Awards The 2012 Edison Awards are sponsored by Nielsen, Discovery Communications, Science Channel, USA Today, CSRware and Applepeak. For more information about the Edison Awards visit www.edisonawards.com .

The Finalists are as follows:

ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY

Automotive/Transportation

        
        --  Energy Xtreme Independence Package
        --  KLD Energy Technologies Electric Motor System
        --  Transportation by Total Transportation Services

Building Materials

        
        --  Indow Windows(R)
        --  FORTECO by Lightweight Structures
        --  DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles

Power Generation/Utilization

        
        --  Kiverdi Carbon Engineering
        --  PolyPlus Lithium Air and Lithium Water Batteries
        --  Tremont Electric nPower(R) PEG

Smart Systems

        
        --  The Panoptix(TM) Solution by Johnson Controls
        --  Nest Learning Thermostat
        --  SWITCH75

SCIENCE/MEDICAL

Analytic Systems

        
        --  3M Food Satefy Aerobic Testing Procedure for Lactic Acid Bacteria
        --  CardioDX Corus(R) CAD blood-based gene expression test
        --  Invivo Sciences Tissue-based compound screening

Apps/Online Tools

        
        --  QRS and the Centre for Innovation in Complex Care Clinical Message
        --  Telcare Blood Glucose Monitoring System
        --  ZocDoc

Assistive Devices

        
        --  Ekso by Ekso Bionics
        --  GEAR4 Renew SleepClock
        --  Midmark SleepView Monitor and SleepView Portal
        --  Starkey Laboratories AMP(TM)

Diagnostic Aids

        
        --  EyeNETRA
        --  MelaFind by MELA Sciences
        --  SCALEVIEW by Olympus

Pharmaceuticals

        
        --  Adimab Human Monoclonal Antibody Discovery Platform
        --  Intersect ENT PROPEL(TM) Mometasone Furoate Implant
        --  pharmaCline Diabecline
        --  Selecta Biosciences Synthetic Vaccine Particles (SVP) (TM)

Surgical Aids

        
        --  Abbott ABSORB
        --  CardioKinetix PARACHUTE
        --  Endo-Ethicon Percutaneous Surgical Set (PSS)

TRANSPORTATION

Technology Systems

        
        --  Boomerboard WaveJet Propulsion System
        --  ECOtality Blink Level 2 charger
        --  SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft

Safety/Security

        
        --  HeistProof Keyless Information Security System
        --  Nissan Back-up Collision Intervention
        --  OnStar For My Vehicle (FMV)

Electric Vehicles

        
        --  Fisker Karma EVer
        --  2012 Ford Focus Electric
        --  Vision Motor Corp. Tyrano(TM)

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY

Game Changer

        
        --  IBM Watson

Power Management

        
        --  Cooper Wiring Combination USB Charger Receptacle
        --  Craftsman NEXTEC QuickBoost(TM) Charger
        --  eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power

Research Tools

        
        --  Cogito Corporation
        --  Mind Genomics Ideamap.net
        --  Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings

Smart Systems

        
        --  Craftsman AssureLink
        --  Nexia(TM) Home Intelligence

EDISON GREEN AWARD powered by CSRware

Program

        
        --  Johnson Controls, Inc.
        --  ConAgra Foods & Forgotten Harvest
        --  Newark Public Schools Journey to Sustainability

Implementation

        
        --  Langson Energy Gas Letdown Generator
        --  McLaren Group Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
        --  Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations

LIFESTYLE & SOCIAL IMPACT

Health & Wellness

        
        --  applepeak Wellness Record
        --  GE Adventure Series
        --  inHealth HealthCoach

Quality of Life

        
        --  3M(TM) Kind Removal Silicone Tape
        --  Pixel Optics emPower!
        --  SimplyHome
        --  The HopeFULL Gift Pack

Social Impact

        
        --  ChotoKool by Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co.
        --  Rural Shores Business Services
        --  Whirlpool Ace

NEW RETAIL FRONTIERS

        
        --  KinekPoint by Kinek
        --  Tide Dry Cleaners(R)

CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS

Personal Care

        
        --  GLO Brilliant Personal Teeth Whitening Device
        --  Philips Sonicare AirFloss
        --  Crest 3D White Intensive Professional Effects Whitestrips

Food

        
        --  Orville Redenbacher's Pop Up Bowl
        --  MiO Liquid Water Enhancer
        --  Duncan Hines Frosting Creations

Household

        
        --  bobble jug
        --  Tide Pods
        --  Flings Pop-Up Trash & Recycling Bins

LIVING, WORKING & LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Collaborative Networks & Support

        
        --  Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network
        --  OpenStudy
        --  Regina Dominican Preparing Women for Global Leadership Program

Curriculum/Educational Programs

        
        --  21st Century Youth Project
        --  Discovery Education Science Techbook
        --  The Henry Ford Innovation 101 digital curriculum

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Household

        
        --  Dyson Hot fan heater
        --  TikTok + LunaTik
        --  WordLock

Tools

        
        --  Lift'n Buddy
        --  Kobalt 29-Piece Double-Drive Screwdriver Set
        --  Slice Box Cutter

ELECTRONICS & COMPUTERS

Computing Solutions

        
        --  Memjet Technologies
        --  Motoroloa WallPlate Access Point
        --  Tabula ABAX

Entertainment

        
        --  SkyProdigy Computerized Telescope
        --  Logitech Harmony(R) Link

Photography/Imaging

        
        --  Lytro
        --  Recon Instruments MOD Live
        --  ZionEyez Eyez Glasses

Smart Devices

        
        --  Kindle Fire
        --  iPhone 4s with Siri
        --  DROID RAZR

INNOVATIVE SERVICES

Apps/Online Tools

        
        --  Chicago Traffic Tracker
        --  Ideomed Abriiz
        --  Transclick Mobile Translation Apps

Business/Communications

        
        --  Appcelerator Integrated Mobile Platform
        --  Carbonite Business
        --  ViridiSTOR Green Box Solution

Personal Safety/Security

        
        --  OnStar First Assist
        --  Rave Mobile Safety Smart911
        --  Webroot(R) SecureAnywhere(TM)

Social Innovation

        
        --  CBS EcoMedia
        --  GiveForward
        --  GoodSearch
        --  Ygrene Energy Finance

MATERIAL SCIENCE

Enhanced Functionality

        
        --  Corning(R) Gorilla(R) Glass
        --  Liquipel
        --  Smart InMold by T-Ink

Safety & Sustainability

        
        --  BoralPure(TM) Technology Smog Eating Tile
        --  XyloBag
        --  PURETI

MEDIA/VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Business/Communications

        
        --  Citrix(R) GoToMeeting(R) with HDFaces(TM)
        --  PGi iMeet
        --  Polycom(R) RealPresence(TM) Mobile

Content Display

        
        --  James Law Cybertechture Mirror
        --  LG CINEMA 3D
        --  VIZIO Theater 3D(TM)

Mass Media

        
        --  Everloop.com
        --  Media-Sync
        --  MLB Network BallPark Cam system

THOMAS A. EDISON MARKETING AWARD powered by MENG

        
        --  HubSpot All-in-one Inbound Marketing Software
        --  Nielsen Catalina Solutions Single Source + Performance Analytics
        --  The Domino Project
        --  YouTube Space Lab

SOURCE: Edison Awards
Copyright 2012 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

Moneyball tells the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who two decades ago threw aside commonly held assumptions about how to build a team roster. He proved that deep statistical measurement and analysis are more useful than conventional wisdom, sending the A’s to the World Series on one of the lowest budgets in baseball.

Sustainability is the Moneyball of the global economy. Investors are pushing for new kinds of sustainability “stats” to measure an investment’s prospects. The protagonist of Greenball isn’t the general manager, but rather the prescient fund manager or company executive. Instead of restricting his understanding of a company’s value to traditional financial metrics, these investors are looking at environment, social and governance data (ESG).

Like A’s manager Billy Beane, sustainability investors are ignoring stolen bases and grand slams and focusing on who is consistently moving forward. ESG disclosure scores are the new OBP. There are dozens of possible ESG metrics. Topics are as universal as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, employee sustainability training or percentage of board members that are women. Measures are also sector-specific, such as number of spills, which are monitored in extractive industries.

Corporate sustainability reporting is still missing the uniformity and ubiquity of traditional financial reporting. Movements are afoot on some stock exchanges to encourage sustainability reporting, including initiatives at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Brazil’s Bovespa.

Despite much progress at collecting ESG data, now measured by financial data companies including Bloomberg and Reuters, the current backlog of five years of aggregate data is insufficient to quantify the value of pursuing sustainability. Do sustainability efforts drive better stock performance? What are the best ways for investors to weigh a company’s sustainability? The World Series of the global economy will play out over the coming decades, and sustainability rosters are just being filled out.

By Eric Roston Feb 7, 2012
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/sustainability-is-the-moneyball-of-the-global-economy.html

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 15, 2011 CSRware, a recognized leader in cloud-based Sustainability Resource Management (SRM) software with modules focused on Energy and Sustainability Management and Sustainable Supply Chain, announced today that the Edison Awards will run The Edison Green Awards program on the CSRware software platform. Utilizing the CSRware technology, nominees for the annual Edison Green Awards will have the opportunity to baseline and track their company’s ability to reduce carbon emissions, create Green Collar jobs and to reduce their societal impact. The new partnership will allow the Edison Awards Steering Committee and its strong community of innovators a collaborative mechanism to compare marketplace innovation against an established green compliance criterion to determine the winners for the program.

Clients such as Bloomberg, Juniper Networks, and The State of California (Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) who have implemented comprehensive energy and sustainability management programs work with CSRware to improve efficiencies and drive down costs across internal operations and the supply chain. To address demand around green technologies and sustainable solutions, CSRware and the Edison Awards will now be able to deliver a comprehensive solution to verify actions taken by nominees to earn them the ability to be recognized with a prestigious Edison Green Award™.

The Edison Awards were established in 1987 to honor Thomas Edison’s wide-ranging contributions to technology and consumer products, as well as to inspire and foster continued innovation. The Edison Green Award™ is designed as a platform to recognize efforts to reduce participating community’s carbon footprint, create Green Collar jobs through new innovation methods and improve community health and self-sufficiency.

“With Green technologies and sustainable solutions playing a large role in the redevelopment of Main Street, USA, the Edison Green Award™ recognizes an organization’s commitment to developing sustainable solutions and Green business models,” said Tom Stat, Chairman of the Edison Awards Steering Committee. “We’re excited to be working with CSRware because of the tremendous value it will provide to our Green Award nominees and community of contributors.”

“There are a lot of natural synergies in this partnership,” said Karen Alonardo, CSRware’s Founder and CEO. “The Edison Awards program is an especially good fit for us as it focuses on innovative solutions to improve how we do business and share community resources. We look forward to expanding our offering to the Edison Awards community where there is growing interest and a need for products like ours,” she continued. “We are also attracted by the depth and breadth of the Edison Awards experience and thirst for creative ideas. The insights brought to us by the Edison Awards experience will help us further refine and expand our offerings.”

About CSRware®

Since 2006, CSRware has been helping organizations better understand, account for and optimize resources, reduce costs and measure environmental impact. Our cloud-based software suite is used by leading companies to effectively prioritize, manage and report on their resource efficiency, carbon management and sustainability initiatives for internal operations and across the supply chain. CSRware offers modules on Energy & Sustainability Management (ESM) and Sustainable Supply Chain (SSC). Delivered through any web browser, our solution provides the tools required to maximize the effectiveness and ROI of corporate sustainability programs. For more information, please visit our website: http://csrware.com.

Media Contact:
Thom Hayward
CSRware®
1-855-277-9273 (CSRware)
pr@csrware.com

About the Edison Awards™

The organization annually recognizes new product and service innovation through its Edison Green Awards™ and Edison Best New Product Awards™. Sponsors and partners of the Edison Award include The Nielsen Company, Discovery Communications, Science Channel and USA Today. Nominations for the Edison Best New Product Awards™ and Edison Green Awards™ will be accepted beginning September 1, 2011. Visit http://www.edisonawards.com for more information.