Sustainable Innovation

Dutch Business News Radio Interview

thegreentake — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:02:37 +0000

Why do customers want green?

This week I have presented my new book on the Dutch radio in the Business News Radio program ‘BNR Duurzaam’.

Presentator Mark Beekhuis, Jos Cozijnsen and I exchanged about sustainability news and strategies, employee engagement, cultural differences and the new book.

For those who understand Dutch find hereby the link to the radio emission: http://www.bnr.nl/programma/bnrduurzaam/555237-1201/bnr-duurzaam-14-januari-uw-klant-houdt-van-groen

Your customers want your products to be green

thegreentake — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:07:15 +0000

I am proud to announce my new book:

‘Your customers want your products to be green’

During the last few years I have had the chance to interact with senior managers of European sustainability frontrunners.

‘Your customers want your products to be green’ contains Best Practices of Sustainability Frontrunners such as Ericsson, Shell, Rabobank, DSM, Philips, Danone and Veolia Environnement completed with freshly printed business recommendations.

Create societal impact and develop new business opportunities. More information on The Green Take website here. Enjoy and be inspired!

I wish you a happy and healthy 2012!

CSR Automn School 7-11 November in Rotterdam

thegreentake — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:36:57 +0000

If you want to learn more about Corporate Social Responsibility, ISO 26000, GRI reporting, supply chain and reputation management : Join the International CSR Automn School from 7 to 11 November in Rotterdam.

The CSR School has been developed by the Erasmus School of Accounting & Assurance (ESAA) of the Dutch Erasmus University. The Summer School targeted at CSR professionals on middle and senior management level.

CSR insights will be presented by experts from around Europe. Among the speakers will be Karen Maas PHD of the Erasmus University, Prof. dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Jvan Gaffuri of SAM (Sustainability Asset Management AG), Piet Sprengers of the ASN Bank, Alex van der Zwart of Concernz Consulting, and Jacobine Das Gupta of The Green Take.

For more information contact Ms. Henny Lammerschop at Lammerschop(at)ese.eur.nl. or look at http://www.esaa.nl/fileadmin/ASSETS/esaa/brochures/Autumn_School_Brochure.pdf

United Nations Launches online consultation on Food Security

thegreentake — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:22:53 +0000

The United Nations opens an online consultation to increase its knowledge about Food Security and Nutrition to elaborate on its Global Framework for Food Security. The synthese will be presented mid October in Rome. In these times of extreme famine in The East of Africa, and alongside emergency help, an important initiative to understand the causes of under and malnutrition.

More information (French and English)

http://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/consultation-publique-securite-alimentaire-nutrition-FAO-13154.php4

http://km.fao.org/fsn/cfs/cfs-e-consultation/fr/?no_cache=1

Increased CSR expectations among customers of SMEs

thegreentake — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:04:57 +0000

Over 50% of Dutch SME companies state that their customers have increased expectations about their respective CSR strategies.

To 30% of the SMEs it are exactly these changing customer expectations that have brought them to set stronger CSR objectives for the coming years.

75% of the SMEs believes that independant CSR information is essential to live up CSR ambitions and 25% of the SMEs is actively searching for support, information, trainings and tools to define their CSR strategy.

These are conclusions of a recent study (‘MVO-ambities in het MKB’) of the market research agency EIM, that has have interviewed 1663 SMEs. SMEs are defined as companies between 2 and 250 employees.

Source : http://www.mvonederland.nl/content/publicaties/rapportage-eim-onderzoek-naar-mvo-ambities-in-het-mkb (in Dutch)

Measuring Well-Being by the OECD

thegreentake — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:40:02 +0000

Why would you like to live in a certain country ? When are people ‘happy’ – and where ? How to define ‘Well-Being’?

The OECD has launched a new Index to measure ‘Well-Being’. The ‘Your Better Life’ Index’ has been developed in response to requests of a growing group of people who see the shortfalls of GDP as the sole indicator for Well-Being.

The Well-Being tool is based on 11 indicators. It is accessable via http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/. Perimeters are related to either material aspects or quality of life : housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. The tool is interactive : By adding your personal weights for the different indicators ‘You can choose how you can make your life better’.

Remarkable differences can be unveiled whilst analysing country scores and Compendium details. Take for instance France and The Netherlands :

France has relatively high scores in many measures. French people sleep on average the most hours compared to all OECD countries (8,5 hours), they spend the most time eating and drinking per day (about 3 hours) and the country has the highest fertility rate among the European OECD countries : close to 2,1 children per woman. Given the high scores on other indicators the proportion of the population that reports to be happy about their own lives (51%) is relatively low, compared to 59% of the OECD average.

The Netherlands is another country with high values on the ‘Well-Being’ perimeters. Almost all indicators event point at a higher score than France – except ‘Environmental Quality’ – which is because of the relative high concentration of small particles in the air (‘PM10 levels’ of 30.8 micrograms per m2). To the contraryof France no less htan 91% of the Dutch people say they are satisfied with their own life. People in The Netherlandswork work on average only 1378 hours a year. This notably due to the large proportion of part-time workers. Over 93% of 11-15 year old children report above average life satisfaction.

The tool seems rather useful to make weighted judgements between countries. As it is also easy to use it offers opportunities to launch discussions on peoples well-being by both politicians as well as citizens.

More information :

Video about theYour Better Life Index : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ywE5xqIxw&NR=1

Background : http://oecdinsights.org/ and : http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/3501/Better_measures_for_better_lives.html

Summary of French Societal Factors : http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/22/47572947.pdf

Gender Inequality in France still present - action required : http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/46/47700963.pdf

Relatively happy families and work balance in The Netherlands : http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/29/47701063.pdf

Whitepaper Sustainable Cities Seminar Paris

thegreentake — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:27:05 +0000

The network ‘Femmes & Développement Durable’ based in Paris has held a seminar on the 15th of March : The City of Tomorrow : A City that Respires.

Senior representatives from private companies, public bodies and consultancies shared their views about ways to build and maintain livable cities, applying innovative mobility solutions, sustainable building criteria, new waste management systems and notably a transversal and multidisciplinairy approach.

The organising committee has created a ‘Livre Blanc’. The whitepaper is written in French and contains a summary in English. It can be found at the website of the network Femmes & Développement Durable.

Do not hestitate to share your ideas and comments on the website of the network !

Nicolas Hulot candidate for the French presidential elections in 2012

thegreentake — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:29:10 +0000

Photo credits : AFP (Le Figaro)

‘Nothing in my DNA would have forecasted the decision that I have made today’, says Nicolas Hulot.

The former television reporter, environmental activist and ‘free electron’ Nicolas Hulot has announced today to be candidate for the presidential elections in France in 2012 – leading the French Ecologist Party.

Nicolas Hulot is known in France as the creator of the Manifesto Pacte Ecologique in 2006, signed by 750 thousand French people, urging the French government to put Sustainability higher on the political agenda.

Even Nicolas Sarkozy signed the pact. After being elected in 2007, extensive consultation rounds and the development of the new sustainability laws ‘Grennelle de l’Environnement’. The Grenelle has been both widely admired as well as received much criticism because the laws were considered not sufficient enough.

What decided Hulot to become candidate for the presidental elections ? Hulot sees it as a ‘Personal Mission’. Having been active for 35 years wants to ‘change the current system that is not sustainable’ and ‘contribute to a new society that is more ecologically and socially viable’. Hulots feels strongly supported by its own party members and the younger generation.

Aware of his blind spots, Hulot has been consulting experts from various disciplines. Hulot will need to build a convincing Ecologist Party program that tackles not only environmental issues for which he is publicly known, but also bringing in solutions for the countries economical and social issues such as the large jobless population, the number of paperless people and the significant state deficit. In the coming months Hulot will provide information on his website www.2012hulot.fr.

As a consequence of his policital involvement, Hulot has stepped down as the president of the NGO that he founded 20 years ago. ‘Fondation The foundation will continue its activities to create liveable and sustainable societies by engaging with citizens, governmental bodies and enterprises – such as Bouygues Telecom. The Foundation will be renamed ’Fondation pour La Nature et Des Hommes’.

Sources : http://www.fondation-nicolas-hulot.org/blog/declaration-de-cecile-ostria-directrice-de-la-fondation-suite-lannonce-de-nicolas-hulot / http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2011/04/13/nicolas-hulot-j-ai-decide-d-etre-candidat-a-la-presidentielle_1506793_3232.html / http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2011/04/12/01002-20110412ARTFIG00697-2012le-jour-j-de-nicolas-hulot.php / http://www.electionspresidentielles.org/candidats/detail/nicolas-hulot.htm / http://www.2012hulot.fr/

Unilever perceived as sustainability leader

thegreentake — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:31:23 +0000

GlobalScan and SustainAbility presented the results of their study about perceived Sustainability Leadership. Results are based on an worldwide online survey among 559 sustainability specialists working in the private and public sector and at NGOs.’

What are the top 5 sustainable development leaders ? Unilever (mentioned by 15%), General Electric (12%), Interface (12%), Wal-Mart (11%) and Marks&Spencer (8%).

What makes Unilever the frontrunner ? First of all, the newly launched and ambitious Sustainability Living Plan is much admired. Second it proves to have encorporated sustainability values deep in the organisation. Third, it works in close relationship with external experts. As an illustration the four key objectives of Unilevers Sustainability Living Plan :

1) Improve the health of 1 billion people in Asia, Africa and Latin-America by providing Lifebuoy soap, assisting with changing health habits, reducing diarrhea and thereby reducing infant mortality.

2) Source 100% of its raw materials sustainably by 2020, including 100% sustainable palm oil. (Unilever know buys 3% of the worlds palm oil).

3) Make drinking water safer in developing countries by extending sales of its Pureit home water purifier.

4) Improve the standards of living of 500 million smallholders by linking them to the Unilever supply chain in cooperation with NGOs Oxfam and the Rainforest Alliance

The following indicators as most contributing to perceived sustainability leadership :

1) commitment to sustainability values : Does the company demonstrate the willingness to address social and environmental challenges, by its mission statement and strategic directions.

2) sustainable products/services/supply chain : The extent to which the company has changed and improved its portfolio of products and services and has changed its purchase and supply chain strategies to match environmental and social requirements.

3) integration in the core business model : If and how the company has incorporated sustainability in its operational business.

What counts now is the extent to which companies can match social and environmental issues with their core business, change their products and service portfolio, supply chains and operational business accordingly.

Sources : http://www.sustainability.com/news/latest-globe-scan-sustain-ability-survey-explores-sustainability-leadership / http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2011/04/11/unilever-tops-list-sustainability-leaders / http://www.sustainable-living.unilever.com/

Why buy ? Leasing is the future !

thegreentake — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:38:50 +0000

Customers want no hassle, no upfront costs, up-to-date and high quality products. Products As A Service’ (PAAS) become increasingly popular and respond to some of these needs.

What is a ‘Product As A Service ? PAAS is a creative derivation of the ICT word ‘Software As A Service’. Instead of becoming the owner of a new product or service, you just rent and ‘pay as you go’. Take for instance Salesforce.com : an online CRM system paid on a monthly base.

PAAS can be found in all industries : Take the machines you can find at the office : copy, coca cola and coffee machines can be rented instead of buying the equipment representing substantial CAPEX. Dresses, costumes, shoes can be rented for special occasions. Michelins offers tyre-services to its lorry transportation customers, taking care of the tyres and the maintenance whilst customers pay for the transported kilometers. Property developers rent instead of sell their office and retail properties. Philips pilots a new ‘pay per lux’ service : customer like the architect agency of Thomas Rau profit from up-to-date high quality LED lighting without the hassle of installation and maintenance.

Customer advantages of PAAS are numerous : No need to pay high upfront costs : just pay as you go. No need repair the product yourself : just ask the owner. No hassle to get the latest version : the supplier will take care of. And if you do not use the product any more : the supplier will come and take it back.

Environmental advantages of PAAS are obvious : By optimising the use of high-quality products, they can be kept operational for a longer period of time. In this model, suppliers and customers extend the lifetime of products, use less separate products and create a smaller environmental footprint.

In the ideal situation the supplier takes back the product and closes the product life cycle by using components as raw materials for new products – just as The Van Gansewinkel Group demonstrates.

- Thanks to Mirjam Kibbeling for our exchanges -