CSR Perspective

Limited Invitation to BT’s Net Good Launch event in London

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The Climate Group and Carbon Trust are joining BT to launch our Better Future Net Good programme in London on June 18^th…. I will be there to speak about the progamme together with our CEO, Ian Livingston, who is opening the event, and our CSO, Niall Dunne who will be closing it. The Climate Group, Carbon Trust, Small World Consulting and many others will also be joining us at the event. While this is an invitation-only event, and numbers are limited due to space, we would like to allow for some people outside of the usual lists of sustainability read more

When Executives Speak Out

A fair number of prominent business people have taken leadership positions on issues of sustainability and societal responsibility. Of course there are the examples we know and love to quote: Paul Polman of Unilever, Ian Cheshire of Kingfisher and Jochen Zeitz of Puma. But what about when the pronouncements are more controversial? I will never forget the audible intake of breath at the BSR conference in San Francisco in 2010…. Aron Cramer was interviewing Zhang Yue, a prominent CEO from China running an energy efficiency business and displaying impeccable employee/human rights credentials. Taking everyone off guard he proclaimed that read more

Great Developments: BT’s Net Good Creates a New Carbon Accounting Model

What does the excitement over waiting for old fashioned film to be developed have to do with launching a new carbon accounting model? Well, while it might not be obvious in the digital age but the answer is tied up in anticipation and the excitement of not knowing exactly how your project – photograph or accounting – model will turn out; whether expectations will be met, or not. Below is an excerpt from my post yesterday over at BT’s Let’s Talk site that talks about what we hope to achieve with Net Good and how carbon accounting will change the … read more

Employee Engagement Rules! Why Employees Are the Best Force for Change

Last week I delivered a presentation on BT’s Better Future programme at Georgetown University. My thanks to my friend and colleague Harriet Hentges… who invited me in! As always, I found it invigorating to present to a class of students, particularly students with experience under their belts. The questions and comments that came during the session were challenging and thought provoking. But I was sent an email from one of the students after the event that made me stop and think through where I should focus my efforts in order to best effect change. As I see it, sustainable behavior read more

Celebrate Earth Day by Riding a Bike!

Nearly two years ago, I did a series on how ICT services change our daily lives. One of my favourite posts from that series was this one on the Capital Bikeshare program and how well planned program that leverages smart technologies can make a real impact on how we live. Since I first wrote about the program in 2011, it has grown from strength to strength both in the number of bikes and stations in operation, but also in the number of areas served. Today, as we mark Earth Day, I think it’s important to remember that doing something … read more

The Pros and Cons of Being Big

The food sector has faced a barrage of issues recently. Much of it is summarized in this report launched recently by Oxfam America called “Behind the Brands”. The report analyses the largest food companies (in the interests of full transparency many of them are BT customers) across a range of sustainability dimensions, including nutrition and obesity, environment, tracing and trust, poverty and international development. There is a well balanced review of the report by Marc Gunther here. But in contrast we need to consider observations… I noticed by Emma Duncan of the Times. In theUK, and I am sure read more

The Yahoo! Telework Brouhaha: Are We Getting All We Need From Remote Working?

I am sure everyone has seen the media coverage around Yahoo’s requirement that workers come into the office. I read somewhere a compelling piece that telework is proven good for productivity, but coming into the office is better for collaboration and innovation and innovation is what Yahoo needs to focus on right now. Surely there is a half way house. Companies need both innovation and productivity. Furthermore, different roles require different amounts of each. Seems to me there would be a way to have employees come into the office some of the time, on common days to allow for collaboration… read more

Net Good is Positive News for All: How Business Can Effect Sustainable Growth

On Monday March 4^th Green Monday is focusing on Net Positive. I will be watching the live stream and running a virtual roundtable after the events. In addition, some of my BT colleagues will be there in person to talk about our net good programme. I wrote this post to set the scene…… Reducing environmental footprint is essential, but not enough, to bridge the chasm between a global population that is growing in size and affluence and available resources to meet their needs. Businesses are at the nexus of that challenge as we depend on natural resources to create and read more

A Sustainability Surge?

…Over the last week or so I have had a taster of both how big and how small the world really is. On Thursday the previous week I joined HP’s advisory board on corporate responsibility and sustainability, the HP External Global Citizenship Council. I was honored to participate in a day and a half of stimulating discussions and insights. Last week, BT’s internal executive level Sustainable Business Leadership Team met in London. I was able to experience moving from the advisory to the operational side of the table just a few days apart. We commenced our BT meeting with an read more

Sustainability Gets a Seat at the Table: Why Including Climate Change in the Inaugural Address is a Momentous Event

Inauguration speeches are a bit of a conundrum, really. All at once they are meant to set a vision and inspire a nation, yet avoid partisanship, or anything that might be too controversial from the current political agenda. The sameness of inaugural addresses even inspired a mashup… of inaugural addresses from the last 50 years that was broadcast widely online in the days leading up to President Obama’s inauguration last week. Whether Republican or Democrat the inaugural address follows a comforting formula noting the new beginning, but acknowledging the foundation of tradition; praising the quintessential American values of read more