The CSR Monitor archive

The Lancet and the University College London, Institute for Global Health Commission, recently published a groundbreaking study on the effects of climate change on health, which will affect most populations in the next decades and put the lives and well being of billions of people at increased risk. Incentives for the development of technologies are necessary to address the negative public health consequences of climate change, especially in poor countries.

“Sending an email across the Atlantic Ocean does not burn any jet fuel, but the internet is not without its own, huge carbon footprint”, writes New Scientist in an article on various intriguing aspects of the Internet. Internet giants including Google and IBM have started measuring and acting on the environmental impact of the use of Internet.

If the economic crisis can bring something good, it would be the emergence of new business models built on the imperative of sustainability. A sustainability focus might also act as a lever for development. “Working on sustainability releases new levels of emotional commitment and excitement in firms” says Rebecca Henderson, Co-Founder of the Sustainability Lab at MIT. “Sustainability Takeaways” and other resources are available from the Sustainability Initiative homepage at the Sloan School.

The crisis and the lowest-in-years oil prices are no good news for clean energy investments.All is not gloom, however, reports recent research at the Wharton School. The volatility of the oil price, compared to the stable foresights of renewable energy investments, might still play in favour of the latter. Top Business School Wharton regularly publishes research with intriguing insights into environmental and ethics aspects of business. A simple registration enables access to the content. Access the Business Ethics area.

The ambitious and necessary targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases must be matched by technical and economic feasibility of different target levels. In this newly published report, McKinsey & Company supported by ten leading global companies and organisations including The Carbon Trust, ClimateWorks, Enel, Entergy, Holcim, Honeywell, Shell, Vattenfall, Volvo, and WWF, provides a quantitative basis for such discussions. Access summary and full report (after registration) from the McKinsey.com site.

The UN Secretary-General has called 2009 the “Year of Climate Change” – and for good reason. This year, crucial negotiations are scheduled related to the forging of a new global framework for climate change. As a key stakeholder in this global crisis, the business community is mobilizing, understanding that any meaningful progress must involve the private sector. We hope you will join this historic call-to-action. Read the Letter.

The Hellenic Center for Corporate Social Responsibility is a business-driven membership non-profit organization, whose mission is to promote the meaning of CSR to both the business community and the social environment. Among the various activities of the center can be found the collection, edition and presentation of innovative best CSR practices in Greek companies. In December, new editions of the Best Practice Catalogues and the SME CSR Guide have been published. Best practices are also available on-line (Greek language only).

That the food we cook and eat has an impact on the climate is not new knowledge. However, it needs alot more publicity and attention, simply because it concerns all citizens of the industrialized world, and with a small change in habits, impact can be great. Learn more from a recently published research report from the University of Surrey “Cooking up a Storm: Food Greenhouse Gas Emissions and our changing Climat“.

Past and projected climate change and impacts in Europe, by means of about 40 indicators, have are recently been published by the European Environmental Agency. The report further shows the need for adaptation actions at EU, national and regional levels. The report is available from “Impacts of Europe’s Changing Climate – 2008 Indicator-Based Assessment“.

The first green building in Greece has been inagurated. Baptised “Prometheus Pyrforos” (Prometheus the Fire-bearer) and situated in Paleo Faliro south of Athens, it is the first self-sufficient building in Greece in terms of energy. Visit the website of the project to learn more about green buildings.