The Art of Sustainability Goal Setting Posted April 3, 2017 by Kealy Herman When discussing setting sustainability goals among our team, many clients simply want “the answer.” There are tools that allow you to provide key information and produce a numerical target. You could take that number and run with it… but you shouldn’t. Understand your motivation Setting sustainability goals can and should more nuanced than that. Start by considering why your organization is setting a goal in the first place. There are many reasons to set sustainability goals and your primary objectives will dictate what type of goal you set and how you go about setting it. Think about what is motivating the goal. It could be improving the reputation of your product or brand, pressure from customers, investors or other external stakeholders, a need to gain or maintain competitive advantage, a desire to reap the monetary savings that can accompany achieving sustainability goals, or a desire to “do the right thing.” Read More
Moving Toward One Energy Future Part 2: Improved Storage and Efficiency Posted January 25, 2017 by Evan Evans Although the global economy grew by nearly 3% in 2015, global energy-related carbon emissions remained constant, according to the International Energy Agency. Some of this is due to efficiency improvements and a significant contributor is the slowdown in China’s economy, but the main factors are the change in our energy supply with more focus on renewables and a switch from coal to natural gas as a fuel source, as explored in Part One of this series. Consensus about the necessity of carbon emissions reductions was formed at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) and formal targets were outlined by countries at the 2016 Conference (COP22) in Marrakesh. To reach these aggressive and necessary targets, there are three possible levers: 1) Reduce consumption of energy services; 2) Maintain level of energy services – even increase it – but do so while improving energy efficiency; and 3) Increase use of Read More
Moving Toward One Energy Future Part 1: Cheaper and More Abundant Renewables Posted January 18, 2017 by Evan Evans 2017 may be the year that the world finally gets serious about climate change and embraces the vision that there is only one viable, sustainable energy future. Consensus about carbon emissions reductions was formed among the nations participating in the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. The commitments to a low-carbon future that emerged from Paris have now been translated into country-specific targets at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Together, these country targets lay out the road map by which the world’s people can collectively make aggressive reductions in carbon emissions and thereby achieve a manageable level of climate disruption. Many milestones in renewable energy have been reached in the past few years. For example, the delivered cost of renewable energy, in many cases, is now cheaper than energy delivered from fossil-fuel sources; and the amount of renewable energy capacity additions now exceed non-renewable capacity additions. Renewables are Getting Cheaper In Read More
