"I would like my life back," declared Tony Hayward. The embattled BP CEO was trying to communicate empathy with Louisiana residents affected by his company's devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but only succeeded in compounding the widely-held US impression that

Earlier this year GlobeScan’s Doug Miller and well-known sustainability expert John Elkington presented the latest results from GlobeScan’s regular surveys. Futureye Associate Stephen McGrail tuned into the webinar and summarises the key findings and reflections on the emerging agenda...

Green city dwellers are lobbying their politicians to increase renewable energy targets in today’s carbon-constrained world. Yet wind power, the most economically viable renewable energy source, is facing ongoing community opposition and has limited political support...

An office worker gets the mid-morning munchies, unwraps a Nestlé Kit-Kat chocolate bar, and bites into ….an orang-utan’s finger, spurting blood. This graphic, unsettling "advertisement" appeared on YouTube in mid-March this year, posted by Greenpeace

Earlier this year GlobeScan’s Doug Miller and well-known sustainability expert John Elkington presented the latest results from GlobeScan’s regular surveys. Futureye Associate Stephen McGrail tuned into the webinar and summarises the key findings and reflections on the emerging agenda.

The Regional Strategic Planning Initiative (RSPI) was a multi-staged process developed by the Victorian Government to understand the needs of provincial Victoria. Inputs from the project were integrated into the ‘Ready for Tomorrow’ plan which was launched mid 2010 and is a Blueprint for Regional and Rural Victoria.  Read more about Futureye’s involvement...

Environmental activists claim there is no such thing as clean coal, yet Clean Coal Victoria is researching new coal technologies and claiming coal is part of our future energy mix. Charlie Speirs, the Director of Clean Coal Victoria discussed his challenges with an enthusiastic Members’ Circle. Futureye energy sector consultant EYAL HALAMISH was there to hear about it.

Helen Souness, Marketing Director of SEEK Limited, spoke to an inspired group of Futureye Members’ at the May event. Helen spoke about SEEK’s desire and vision to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into its business model. CSR was critical component for the company to keep pace with changing expectations and it had an overwhelming success. Futureye Members’ Manager CINDY PLOWMAN was amongst the inspired group.

For the 2 per cent of high achieving Australian dry cleaners, the commissioning of ClassiCleaners, into The U.S House of Representatives was equivalent to watching the red carpet for most Americans. For Roger D Bancroft, owner of Bancrofts Dry Cleaning, in South Yarra “it’s a marvelous endorsement of so many years of struggling to create good corporate governance.

Lloyd Fleming joins Futureye bringing a diverse range of skills and experiences from finance, energy, risk and strategy.

Matt is a passionate that integrating sustainability practices and theories with communication strategies is necessary to achieve good results. Too often he has seen a good sustainability strategy undermined by an incompatible or inferior approach to communications.

Most people these days are familiar with the concept of ‘greenwash’. Have you ever wondered if your own organisation is exposed to complaints about greenwashing. If so, your concerns are warranted because consumers are waking up to this issue in the face of daily bombardment from ‘green’ marketing. SAM OSBORN and HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT investigate the status of greenwash in Australia and find out how companies can avoid it.

Foster’s Cascade Green beer is a great case study to illustrate how developing a greener product can stimulate innovation and performance improvements throughout a company. Hedda Ramsan- Elliot explores the force behind developing a greener beer came and the process the Fosters’ team used.

All stakeholders agree that forests should play an important role in efforts to mitigate climate change. Industry believes that some level of native forest logging is acceptable, where as forest protection advocates hold the view that industrial logging releases unacceptable amounts of carbon through degradation and the short carbon stock life of the end product (i.e. paper for the Japanese market). Hedda Ramsan- Elliot explores this debate.

Many dream about the day when ‘sustainability departments’ are obsolete because sustainability has become streamlined into every part of the organisation. Looking at the majority of businesses today, it has to be said that we still have a long way to go.

IKEA has already gone some way to integrate sustainability into all their operations. Each Group Manager is responsible for ensuring social and environmental responsibility is integrated into the day-to-day business. To support them, there are a number of specialists covering a wide range of areas, such as chemical experts, foresters, IWAY auditors and energy experts. HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOT interviews Thomas Nermark, Ikea’s Sustainability Manager.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has set a new standard for environmental and social outcomes-based banking in the sustainability era. IFC Pacific Regional Manager Gavin Murray joined us to discuss how this international finance institution responded to the global financial crisis and is now financing sustainable growth in developing countries. Futureye consultant EYAL HALAMISH was there to hear about it.

Biodiversity, defined by biologists as the ’totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region’^[1], is a relatively new policy issue that will likely escalate faster than issues such as climate change and water. It is a complex policy issue due to challenges surrounding how to measure and then value biodiversity. Dr Megan Clark explores the early signs of an emerging policy framework with our members, writes HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT.

Fashion comes naturally to Tiffany Treloar. When Tiffany was awarded a grant from AusIndsutry she worked with CSIRO to understand the full implications of the fashion industry and learnt what it would take to be truly sustainable. CINDY PLOWMAN reports on Project 332 and the sustainable journey Tiffany is travelling.

Concerns in the Gladstone community around public health issues linked to industrial emissions led to a Clean and Healthy Air study for Gladstone, this study was initiated by the Queensland State Government. Five key companies representing major industry in Gladstone commissioned Futureye to develop a regional strategy and implementation plan to address the community’s concerns. Futureye developed a Clean Air Strategy, Environmental Transparency Framework and an employee engagement strategy to drive environmental improvements.

Professor David Karoly has a long history of involvement with climate science and has built up an impressive international profile based on extensive research on climate change and climate variability. HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT provides a summary of Professor Karoly’s forum presentation and the dynamic discussion that followed.

Adapting to the reality of significant carbon regulation: Risk, due diligence and carbon management

The take-home message from this forum’s presentation is that businesses can no longer avoid being impacted by climate change. The risks of failing to put in place measures to mitigate climate change are increasing with the development of new legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT presents a summary for Futureye members.

Social license has become a buzzword in recent times and is most mentioned in the context of something a company lacks or has lost through its own actions. HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT and KATHERINE TEH-WHITE provide some thoughts on why having a social license is important and what it means to have one.

Newmont’s Community Relations Review (CRR) provides an insightful analysis of the complex issues around stakeholder engagement in the mining and extractive industries. The study aimed at understanding the factors and drivers that threaten, or conversely, strengthen the company’s social licence to operate. The study examined five sites globally as representative of the broad set of social, cultural, political, operational, and environmental conditions under which Newmont operates.

As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores is ambitiously pulling together a process to create a universal rating system that scores products based on how environmentally and socially sustainable they are over the course of their lives.

The proposed introduction of the CPRS and the proposed increase in the Renewable Energy Target in Australia to 20% by 2020 is going to create a significant driver for companies to reduce their carbon footprint. The following case study from Johnson & Johnson is an excellent case study for Australian companies to learn how they can significantly reduce their footprint and achieve a competitive advantage, writes HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT.

Transport infrastructure is a fundamental issue in sustainability as it provides the platform to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and establish relationships. The challenge is how to do this without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future?

Australia has joined many others around the world in establishing a UN Global Compact Local Network. It’s an exciting opportunity for Australian companies and individuals committed to corporate sustainability to learn and share information not only related to Australia but also international experiences through over 63 other Local Networks.

KATHERINE TEH-WHITE and HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT analyse what the bushfires taught us about banking on a good reputation. During the aftermath of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, one bank responded in a way that provoked a media furore resulting in Treasurer Wayne Swan speaking to the CEO of an unnamed bank (reported as being the Commonwealth Bank.

Several possible futures emerge from the crisis, writes STEPHEN McGRAIL. (This article originally appeared in The Age on January 29, 2009.)

The view that sustainability and corporate responsibility are only important during "the good times" would suggest we are entering a "sustainability downturn".
 

Futureye will be holding a Members’ roundtable on Monday 1st June on the topic of “Sustainability in a global downturn: challenges and opportunities” (from 3:30-5.00pm). This event will be a chance for Members' to discuss effective strategies for keeping sustainability on the agenda and collaboratively develop practical insights into the outlook for sustainability and corporate responsibility. To get you thinking on these topics, Futureye consultants HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT and STEPHEN McGRAIL have prepared a list of Top 10 Dos and Don’ts.

Everyone seems to agree we need major public infrastructure to stimulate the economy. But the question is “what, where and how”? KATHERINE TEH-WHITE and HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT argue it’s time to find new ways of getting major projects off the ground.

The Rudd government was elected with a mandate to address climate change but now faces a backlash from a large percent of the environmental movement and industry following release of its White Paper and draft Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation. In this edition’s In Theory Futureye’s STEPHEN McGRAIL and KATHERINE TEH-WHITE outline key aspects of the proposed Scheme, consider the policy-making process and key criticisms, and pose the question “could the Government have avoided the intense pushback?”

Futureye consultant, STEPHEN McGRAIL, spoke with Anna McCann about the release of the draft Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation, how companies need to prepare for the CPRS, the complex world of ‘carbon cost pass-through’ and ‘carbon due-diligence’, and the emerging acronymized reality of emissions trading.
 

If you have been considering using online tools to engage with your stakeholders you may be wondering how robust it is, what additional resources it requires and if it is really appropriate for your organisation. Dr Crispin Butteriss worked in community engagement for government before setting up Bang the Table, a company that develops online tools, (or “web 2.0” tools for tech-savvies) for engaging with stakeholders. At Futureye's April Members' Forum, Crispin explained how online engagement can complement an existing engagement strategy and described in detail the many tools and their various uses for interactive online engagement. Futureye consultant HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT provides a brief snapshot of the main points discussed at the forum.

There is good news for both those in the business of green technology and people looking to save money and the planet by reducing their resource use.

Five Steps to Environmental Innovation, Saving Money and Engaging People

Job cutting has limitations as a survival strategy for the Global Financial Crisis. There’s a threshold limit to how many staff a company can lay-off and while you are cutting staff morale plummets. Futureye’s innovation process offers a way for companies to drive cost savings and re-engage their people at the same time. The benefit of the process is that it can help shape the organisation to become more competitive and emerge from the Global Financial Crisis more powerfully writes Futureye Consultant, Eyal Halamish.

In a new book by management guru Peter Senge he argues we have reached ‘the end of an era’ and that people and organisations need to urgently change how they think and act. Futureye consultant STEPHEN McGRAIL, assesses this shift in assumptions and beliefs.

Francis Grey, Manager of Research of SAM Australia, spoke to Katherine Teh-White about the Global Financial Crisis and how it has affected the Australian marketplace.

Professor Marcia Langton argues that the indigenous human rights discourse in Australia has historically focused too much on principles of political self-determination at the expense of economic human rights. Futureye consultant HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT reports.

Futureye’s Managing Director, Katherine Teh-White, went to New York for the BSR conference of 2008: ‘Sustainability: Leadership Required’.  She reports on the CEO best and worst practices.
 

Economic theorists continue to warn that the current financial crisis will worsen before it improves and that society will need brace itself for further times of financial uncertainty.

GETTING OUT OF THE “SAFE ZONE” TO GAIN STRATEGIC FORESIGHT

In Steve Tighe’s view historical data and trends have largely been “mined to death”. The solution, he asserted, is not to try more of the same but to use a new approach called “strategic foresight” which uses a combination of Environmental Scanning’, assessment of ‘Driving Forces’, and the use of ‘Scenario Planning’ to better develop the foresight required to anticipate and plan ahead more effectively. Futureye Consultant STEPHEN McGRAIL was there to hear how we can get ourselves out of the “safe zone” – as Tighe called it – in order to gain strategic foresight.

KATHERINE TEH-WHITE and HEDDA RANSAN-ELLIOTT analyse what the bushfires taught us about banking on a good reputation. During the aftermath of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, one bank responded in a way that provoked a media furore resulting in Treasurer Wayne Swan speaking to the CEO of an unnamed bank (reported as being the Commonwealth Bank.

Fashion comes naturally to Tiffany Treloar. When Tiffany was awarded a grant from AusIndsutry she worked with CSIRO to understand the full implications of the fashion industry and learnt what it would take to be truly sustainable. CINDY PLOWMAN reports on Project 332 and the sustainable journey Tiffany is travelling.