Tag Archives: Sustainable Business

ViewPoint: Corporate Reform -The Bigger Picture

March 3, 2009Sea Change BlogAlternative Economic Models, Aron Cramer, business for social responsibility, Climate Change, Community Economic Engagement, corporate governance, corporate structure, Labor Rights, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Public Policy, View PointBill Baue

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Corporation 20/20, an organization promoting alternative corporate structures, just announced the Second Summit on the Future of the Corporation, slated for this June in Boston. Discussion amongst those who attended the first Summit in November 2007 was abuzz about the future of boards of directors. In the broader press, fingers are pointing, primarily at the banking industry as the culprit and at outrageous executive pay. As accurate as these points may be, the troubles run deeper and wider, according to Aron Cramer. He’s CEO of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a global nonprofit network of businesses focused on sustainability, and he’s on the convening committee for the Future of the Corporation Summit. In this week’s Sea Change ViewPoint, Cramer calls for more structural reforms.

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Envisioning a Green Economy

February 11, 2009Full ShowClean Tech, Climate Change, economic security, Green Building, green business, green economy, Green Jobs, Green Living, greenbiz, joel makower, john harrington, Obama, Renewable Energy, Social Entrepreneurs, Sustainable Business, sustainable economy, Sustainable Innovation, Sustainable Public Policy, troubled asset relief programBill Baue

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This week, green business guru Joel Makower encourages us to envision success in creating a clean, sustainable economy that averts climate catastrophe and improves our environment, communities, and lives. And shareholder activist John Harrington urges banks bailed out with Troubled Asset Relief Program funding to make sure they stabilize US economic security.

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Sea Change Member Thanks

February 9, 2009Extra Audio Feature, Sea Change BlogSustainable Business, western massachusettsBill Baue

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Thanks to the efforts of the Sea Change Marketing Coordinator Wayne Cobb, we have almost reached the halfway point in our goal of raising $5,000. That’s the amount of the Matching Grant Challenge issued by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts in late December 2008, which effectively doubles every dollar donated toward membership.

“The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts is a funding vessel to sustain projects like Sea Change that promote sustainability here in the Pioneer Valley and throughout the world,” said CFWM board-member Sandy Pearson, whose Donor Advised Fund, the Pearson Family Trust, financed the grant. “I’m proud to support Sea Change to enhance the value of its programming through fundraising and building its community of members, who are fans of the show like me.”

We currently have over 30 members, and would love to have YOU join the Sea Change community. Contact Wayne at marketing [at] cchange.net to arrange for your donation, which is tax-deductible due to our non-profit status as a division of the Trusteeship Institute.

Members, please listen to the below message from Sea Change Radio Co-Host/Producer Bill Baue thanking you for your generosity, and outlining ongoing benefits of membership.

Thanks!

Bill

Slow Money = Compost for Growing New Economy

February 4, 2009Full ShowAlternative Economic Models, Climate Change, Community Economic Engagement, Fair Trade, Green Living, jessie smith noyes foundation, katy lederer, Local Living Economies, steve viederman, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Business, Sustainable InnovationBill Baue

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Today we measure the speed of money. Woody Tasch discusses his book, [amazon-product text=”Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered” type=”text”]1603580069[/amazon-product]. And Katy Lederer transforms her experience working in the fast money culture of Wall Street into poetry in the book , [amazon-product text=”The Heaven-Sent Leaf” type=”text”]1934414158[/amazon-product].Read the show transcript

After Capitalism: PROUT as a Sustainable, Democratic Economic Model

January 28, 2009Full ShowAlternative Economic Models, Clean Tech, Climate Change, climate policy, Climate Progress, Community Economic Engagement, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, EPA, greenhouse gas emissions, joe romm, Lisa Woll, Local Living Economies, Obama, progressive utilization theory, Renewable Energy, Social Entrepreneurs, stimulus package, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Business, Sustainable InnovationBill Baue

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[amazon-product align=”right”]1877762067[/amazon-product]Today, Dada Maheshvarananda meditates on the alternative economic model of Progressive Utilization Theory, or PROUT. Joe Romm of Climate Progress analyzes the climate resolve of the Obama Administration. Lisa Woll of the Social Investment Forum proposes an Office for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility to the Obama Administration. And auto and environment expert Jim Motavalli comments on the significance of President Obama’s executive order directing the EPA to reconsider its refusal to grant California a waiver allowing it to regulate greenhouse gases from autos.

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Lisa Woll Proposes Federal Office of CSR Innovation

January 28, 2009Sea Change BlogClean Tech, Climate Change, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, human rights, Lisa Woll, News Analysis, Obama, Renewable Energy, Shareholder Engagement, shareholders, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Innovation, Sustainable Public PolicyBill Baue

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The Social Investment Forum (SIF) submitted a letter to President Obama listing a series of policy proposals, from proxy access allowing shareholders to nominate board candidates to “say on pay” giving investors a vote on executive compensation. SIF also urges the Obama Administration to establish an Office for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR. This idea dates back to the early 2000s, propounded first by Susan Aaronson at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, and supported by a Government Accountability Office report finding major lack of coordination on federal CSR initiatives. SIF CEO Lisa Woll explains the rationale behind the recommendations, and how they will promote advancement toward sustainability.

Blog: Top Corporate Social Responsibility News of 2008

January 19, 2009Sea Change BlogAl Gore, Alternative Economic Models, bank of america, bob pollin, Clean Tech, Climate Change, clinton global initiative, corporate governance, corporate watchdog, deutsche asset management, Green Jobs, human rights, interfaith center on corporate responsibility, John Ruggie, michael renner, Obama, oxfam america, political economy research institute, Renewable Energy, sanford lewis, Shareholder Engagement, shareholder resolutions, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Innovation, Sustainable Public Policy, wendell berryBill Baue

Each January for the past several years, Bill has surveyed the top Corporate Social Responsibility news stories of the past year for CSRwire.com, where he is a contributing writer. Here’s this year’s edition:

A “green” recovery from economic and environmental meltdowns; the advent of Shareholder Activism 2.0 with binding resolutions at TARP banks; CSR adopts Web 2.0 strategies for sustainability reporting; is Wal-Mart really green?; and much more…

The economic meltdown of 2008 mirrors the simultaneous environmental meltdown fueled by the climate calamity – both share common roots, and many in the Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) community believe they share a common salvation.Read the show transcript

Investing in Sustainability

January 14, 2009Full Showcorporate governance, HSBC, human rights, interfaith center on corporate responsibility, John Ruggie, responsible investing, Shareholder Engagement, shareowner activism, Sustainable Business, Tim SmithFrancesca Rheannon

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Today, Sea Change Radio talks with Nick Robins of HSBC and Cary Krosinsky of Trucost about their book, Sustainable Investing. We also visit the Responsible Investing Forum, produced in association with the Social Investment Forum, where we speak with Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management about shareowner activism and hear the excerpts from the keynote of John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights.

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The Transition — to Sustainability

January 7, 2009Full ShowCharlie Cray, Clean Tech, Climate Change, climate policy, EPA, Green Jobs, hunter lovins, Obama, paul hawken, Renewable Energy, sustainability movement, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Public PolicyBill Baue

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Today we talk with Hunter Lovins, founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, about the Presidential Climate Action Project. The Sea Change ViewPoint comes from Charlie Cray of the Center for Corporate Policy.

For many people, the election of Barack Obama as the US President stoked hope for big change. The transition to the Obama Administration brings promise of shifts to government regulations and policies to promote sustainability. Long before the election, though, a group of influential sustainability leaders gathered to brainstorm recommendations to the incoming President on tackling climate change. The Presidential Climate Action Project was born,Read the show transcript

Lester Brown’s Plan B 3.0 for Mobilizing to Save Civilization

October 15, 2008Full Showcap and trade, Climate Change, Sustainable Business, worldwatch instituteBill Baue

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Plan A — the business-as-usual, free-market, capitalist economy — is clearly breaking down, causing meltdowns of global markets AND polar icecaps. Time for Plan B. That’s the title of the book by Earth Policy Institute Founding President Lester Brown, published five years ago. In it, he proposes an alternative economic model for “Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble,” according to the subtitle. An updated version 2.0 came out two years ago, and earlier this year, Brown unveiled Plan B 3.0, this time subtitled “Mobilizing to Save Civilization.”

Lester Brown

Earth Policy Institute

Worldwatch Institute State of the World reports, which include a chapter on “Investing for Sustainability” by CWR co-host Bill Baue.

CWR Headlines:

—The Global Financial Blues Could Be Good for Going Green — or Not
—A Carbon Tax Would Cut Emissions Better Than Cap-and-Trade
—Shade-Grown Coffee Could Soften the Blow of Climate Change