The 2008 Ceres Conference, held April 29-30 in Boston, MA, brought together 700 thought leaders from the business, investment, and environmental communities to explore and examine the integration of sustainability into business strategy and long-term shareholder value.
A lively discussion between Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy and Ralph Izzo, CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) about the advantages and challenges of pending national climate legislation. Both CEOs expressed their support of the goal to cut national greenhouse gas emissions to 60-80% below current levels by 2050 outlined in the Warner-Lieberman bill, but debated the details of emission allowances and funding allocation. Watch the video
Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield and Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland engaging in a candid conversation about the environmental, social, and financial benefits of sustainability. The two CEOs reflected on the value of embedding sustainability into their business models and the positive returns they have each seen as a result of early action, company-wide commitments, and clean technology investments.
A compelling discussion of the economic opportunities of climate change. Van Jones of Green for All, Ted Roosevelt of Lehman Brothers, and Michael Eckart of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) agreed that a global transition to energy efficiency and low carbon technologies means significant opportunities for economic growth and job creation. Chip Giller of Grist set the stage for a stimulating discussion that explored the technologies, policies, and financing needed to obtain a clean energy future. Watch the video
Ford and Timberland won the top award in this year's Ceres-ACCA North American Awards for Best Sustainability Reporting. The awards are designed to highlight best practices in reporting on sustainability issues by North American companies and other organizations, and to provide guidance to other groups and companies that are publishing or intend to publish sustainability or corporate social responsibility reports. Other winners, selected from 87 nominations, also included Calgary, Alberta-based Suncor Energy and Austin, TX-based Dell, Inc. Read more about the Ceres-ACCA Awards program at www.ceres.org/reportingawards
Ceres and Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) announced the inaugural winners of the Joan Bavaria Awards for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. The winner of the Bavaria Award for Impact is Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI), an international collaboration between asset owners and asset managers aimed at encouraging research providers to produce investment research that takes into account the impact of extra-financial issues on long-term company performance. The winner of the Bavaria Award for Innovation is the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) in Washington, the first graduate school in the U.S. to offer an MBA in Sustainable Business. Read more about the Bavaria Awards and watch the inaugural awards ceremony at www.ceres.org/bavaria_awards
Dynamic workshops featuring some of the leading experts in business, finance, and sustainability. Workshop topics included emerging water-related risks, sustainable supply chain management, stakeholder engagement, scaling up solar, state, national, and international climate legislation, the future of coal, green collar jobs, sustainable transportation, and the climate risks for the insurance industry, among many others.