Creating Tomorrow’s Greener Leaders           

As we transition into a low carbon economy, there will be a significant amount of retraining required.  A standard accountant will need to understand carbon accounting and a facilities manager will need to understand green building and design. On the sustainability journey, businesses need to adapt to remain competitive globally. So says Lisa Tarry of Turning Green.

By Lisa Tarry, Managing Director of Turning Green

 The Green Steps session of the Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) conference opened with the million dollar question – what are green skills?  Is this just political rhetoric or new jobs for new sectors? 

To dive deep into this area there are a number of key reports that have produced official analysis – ACF, ACTU, UNEP, EIANZ and whilst it is safe to say that ‘green’ roles certainly fall into specific technical environmental areas the extent of change we will see across industry will be far broader reaching. 

As we transition into a low carbon economy there will be a significant amount of retraining required.  For example a standard accountant will need to understand carbon accounting; a facilities manager will need to understand green building and design and we will all need to keep up to date with the sustainability journey as businesses are forced to adapt if they are to remain competitive globally.

Green Steps were ahead of the game when they created a program to offer sustainability training and internships.  This program was born out of Monash University in 2000 when a group of entrepreneurs and activist students responded to the challenge they could see required within organizations to change in the face of sustainability. 

Drawing on a cross discipline of participants including sports management, property management, marketing and communications, environmental science and international business students, Green Steps has continued to survive on federal government grants coupled with some income from industry.

They seek to address the gap between theory and practice through two phases; Sustainability Training and Internships.

The Sustainability Training program runs over two weekends and offers the following content:

- Environmental Auditing

- Change management

- Communications

- Action planning and strategy

It is a highly interactive course with a large focus on group work and all facilitators are past participants.

I asked Mark Boulet, the Green Steps Program Manager at the Monash Sustainability Institute if the content provided students with the tools to communicate how sustainability can positively impact the bottom line of a business.  According to Mark, the change management piece looks at where a company is at on their sustainability journey, and the communications aspect looks at the key drivers and levers to push / pull for optimum outcomes. 

In my view, if we are to transition business forward in the best way, it’s crucial to be able to reframe the impact of sustainability in a language that finance professionals understand.  Cross-functional stakeholder engagement is critical.  As we learned from Leith Sharp, Founder of Harvard’s Green Campus Institute in the previous session that day, social marketing, peer-to-peer engagement through engagement ambassadors and in-house competition creates great social interaction to integrate sustainability thinking throughout an institution.

The Internships offered by Green Steps are real sustainability projects that are paid over 12 days.  Hosts include private business (banks, energy companies, retail and manufacturing), Government, Not for Profit and Schools.

Typical internships include:

- Environmental assessments

- Education and behavior change

- Sustainability reporting

- Action planning

- Research

The Green Steps at Work is a four-day program delivered over a number of weeks that covers basic skills auditing and communicating change.  This program is offered to individuals tasked with sustainability responsibilities within organizations as well as passionate champions.

Outcomes of the Green Step Programs:

65% of graduates get involved in sustainability work

40% of internships resulted in further work

200 tonne of GHG saved per intern

Aside from these statistics, Green Steps are proud to report that past participants include the founder of AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition) and Larissa Brown, founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership.  They have also won the Banksia Award for environmental achievements.

Whilst it is heartening to hear about the great achievements of past students, the Green Steps program is no longer receiving federal grants as a result of the ETS delay.  There was a suggestion that a task force be formed to brainstorm future survival tactics.  This is not a bad idea.  The task force would consist of each participating University representative – from the Careers Unit, School of Environment or Facilities and collectively a solution could be found – collaborative sustainability in action.

Source: www.turninggreenconsultants.com.au

Unwieldy Global Agreements at Glacial Pace?

Airlines have been told to get on with the job of reducing carbon emissions and not wait for the bureaucratic circus that has developed around climate change to produce results. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe warned that enormous resources had been invested in debating climate change but the most basic steps to reduce emissions were not being taken.

Steve Creedy, Aviation writer in The Australian  (9 October 2009):

AIRLINES have been told to get on with the job of reducing carbon emissions and not wait for the bureaucratic circus that has developed around climate change to produce results.

In a damming speech to a Hong Kong aviation conference, Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe warned that enormous resources had been invested in debating climate change but the most basic steps to reduce emissions were not being taken.

He said the policy discussions and hand-wringing over agreeing on emission reduction targets were interminable and distracting parties from the far more important focus of taking action.

“This is simply a travesty,” Mr Fyfe said.

“To my mind the UN climate change discussions amplify all that is wrong with global politics. Whether under the framework Convention on Climate change, ICAO or elsewhere, it’s the same procrastination: multiple conferences of many thousands; turgid presentations and inequitable, albeit politically acceptable backroom deals determining the shape of unwieldy global agreements at a glacial pace.”

Mr Fyfe’s comments come as the International Civil Aviation Organisation hosts high-level discussions this week on climate change and the International Air Transport Association and umbrella organisations representing airports and manufacturers issued a joint working paper calling for a global approach to managing aviation emissions.

The industry groups propose improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5 per cent annually to 2020, stabilising emissions from 2020 with carbon neutral growth, and halving net carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Mr Fyfe said he would be happy to see a price on carbon provided it was applied equitably across geographies, uniformly across industry sectors, and promoted improvement and investment in new green technologies rather than penalising all activity.

Air New Zealand is recognised as being on the cutting edge of airline moves to reduce emissions and Mr Fyfe has been vocal in promoting New Zealand as a green destination under the “100 per cent pure” campaign.

The airline has been investing in new, more environmentally friendly aircraft and making its existing planes more efficient through a combination of technology and improved operating procedures.

The Air NZ chief said the initiatives were paying off and, when combined with capacity reductions, had lowered the airline’s fuel burn by 10 per cent in the previous financial year. It had improved emissions each passenger kilometre by 10 per cent since 1995 and expected another 15 per cent gain over the next decade, a feat he challenged other airlines to match or better.

“In the aviation industry we have no excuse for inaction,” he said. “Emission reductions make sense irrespective of the science of climate change and irrespective of the cost of carbon.

“Whether you believe in the science or not, it’s an indisputable fact that the aviation industry is a polluter and has an adverse impact on the environment.”

Mr Fyfe also took aim at trans-Tasman competitor Emirates, saying the Dubai-based airline flew the equivalent of seven empty Airbus A320s a day between Australia and New Zealand in the four months to August.

He accused Emirates, which has been critical of hysteria over climate change and claims about aviation, of “environmental extremism”.

“I firmly believe that we all have a responsibility to minimise the emission intensity of aviation,” he said.

“This is a responsibility to act first to give effect to the improvements that are already available, then to support innovation to deliver further improvements.”

The Climate Group’s senior policy analyst Damian Ryan warned that aviation was seen by many as the industry that got away under Kyoto.

“As a result there is a real expectation that it needs to play its part in a new agreement,” he said. “If the industry wants a solution that works for it in the long-term it needs to put forward proposals that respond to many of the concerns raised by scientists, governments and the wide community. The risk otherwise is that solutions will be imposed on it from the top down.”

Mr Ryan said the IATA-led industry proposal was a step in the right direction but its mid-term fuel efficiency targets were simply business as usual and did not measure up to the cuts faced by other industries.

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Floating Platform for Gas & CCS?

Shell’s plan to build a $US5 billion floating liquefied natural gas plant off the West Australian coast will be a ”real game-changer” and spur on a spate of similar projects. It would provide 20% fewer emissions than an onshore project and could incorporate carbon capture and storage if it can be proven at a commercial scale.

Mathew Murphy for Sydney Morning Herald (9 October 2009):

SHELL predicts its plan to build a $US5 billion ($5.5 billion) floating liquefied natural gas plant off the West Australian coast will be a ”real game-changer” and spur on a spate of similar projects.

The oil group says it will develop the Prelude and Concerto gas fields in the Browse Basin, 450 kilometres north-east of Broome, subject to a final investment decision. The former is already in the front-end engineering and design phase.

About 3.5 million tonnes of LNG a year will be processed at the floating facility over the project life of more than 20 years. The facility, 480 metres long, 75 metres wide and 600,000 tonnes in weight, will be ”the largest vessel in the world”.

Shell plans to anchor it to the seabed and design it to survive a one-in-10,000-year cyclone.

Malcolm Brinded, Shell’s executive director of upstream international, suggested a floating facility could be used for its Sunrise joint venture in the Timor Sea, which will be operated by Woodside.

”It is our view that this technology is one where you want to design one and build many because we see economies of scale in doing that,” he said. ”We think this will be the first and that blazes the trail for subsequent ones. The design work that is going on is for a generic one that is adaptable for a range of conditions … it would indeed be quite straightforward to adapt for Sunrise.”

Japan’s Inpex wants to develop its Abadi field in Indonesia with a floating facility, and Santos recently formed a venture with GDF Suez to build a platform near Shell’s Prelude field.

These type of projects are seen as attractive because they allow gas fields previously considered uneconomic to be developed from a floating plant, which strips out some of the high capital costs.

Mr Brinded said Shell was still assessing the total gas in the two fields but was confident of producing 3.5 million tonnes a year as well as condensate and LPG.

He said the floating plant would provide 20 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than an onshore project and that Shell would consider applying carbon capture and storage if it can be proven at a commercial scale.

A final investment decision is not expected until 2011 and first gas ”a few years after” that. A draft environmental impact statement will be made public on Monday.In July Shell awarded a contract to build a floating LNG facility, with options for another nine over the next 15 years.

The Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, said it would unlock more gas. ”A CSIRO report last year estimated Australian stranded gas reserves to be around 140 trillion cubic feet and worth around $1 trillion,” he said.

Source: www.smh.com.au

Operation Ice Bridge Underway

NASA next week begins the most extensive aerial survey of Earth’s surface to chart the impact of global warming, with six years of flights over Antarctica to understand the frozen continent’s glaciers and ice sheets. It will help scientists predict how changes to the massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to a rise in sea levels around the world.

NASA to begin Antarctica climate survey

The Age (9 October 2009):

NASA next week begins the most extensive aerial survey of Earth’s surface to chart the impact of global warming, with six years of flights over Antarctica to understand the frozen continent’s glaciers and ice sheets.

The US space agency said the massive aerial survey, part of a program dubbed Operation Ice Bridge, will get underway on October 15.

Data gathered during the mission will help scientists predict how changes to the massive Antarctic ice sheet will contribute to a rise in sea levels around the world.

Researchers will work from NASA’s DC-8, an airborne laboratory equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments.

“A remarkable change is happening on Earth, truly one of the biggest changes in environmental conditions since the end of the ice age,” said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“It’s not an easy thing to observe, let alone predict what might happen next. Studies like Ice Bridge are key,” he said.

Space officials said the plane, crew and scientists depart October 12 from NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, California, and fly to Punta Arenas, Chile, where they will be based through mid-November.

Some 50 scientists and support personnel are part of the mission, which will involve 17 flights over the southern polar region.

Source: www.news.theage.com.au

CEO Leadership the Sustainability Challenge

Nearly two thirds of all respondents in a GlobeScan survey clearly show that it is difficult for a company to be recognised as a sustainability leader without a strong and committed CEO. The Sustainability Challenge is being launched in Australian cities this month and early November.

The previous major GlobeScan survey was on climate change which found that a meaningful global agreement on climate change would unleash a wave of innovation and investment in renewable energy and low carbon products and services.

A committed CEO is seen by nearly 2/3 of respondents as critical to defining corporate leadership. The results are strong enough to suggest that it is difficult for a company to be recognized as a sustainability leader without a strong and committed CEO. Globescan survey

Sustainability experts believe that a committed CEO is a defining element of corporate sustainability leadership, not just one of many important factors.

• Short term focus, lack of alignment with the business and limited personal expertise are identified as key obstacles facing CEOs in the transition to sustainability.

• Vision, goals, targets and actions are seen as paramount for CEOs to advance the sustainability agenda. Working beyond the corporate boundaries is also seen as important, while being “exposed” in the media and elsewhere is viewed as less critical. Experts highly prize substance over style.

• The list of identified attributes of individual CEO sustainability leadership is consistent with what experts generically believe is necessary for corporate leadership on sustainability – integration, commitment, action, vision.

• Being a charismatic or an influential leader, as well as being outspoken, are also mentioned as characteristics of leading CEOs.

Most of the obstacles identified can be overcome by becoming personally involved in developing and stewarding a strategy which is core to business and long-term in nature.

The greatest obstacle is short term focus.

One stakeholder noted: “Being able to communicate their sustainability mission and purpose to the rest of the management team – enable commitment from the team and the stakeholders and be able to implement the necessary changes for the companies to become truly sustainable.”

1,300 sustainability thought leaders from The Sustainability Survey panel were invited to participate in a survey to help provide feedback to SC Johnson.

• 236 sustainability experts completed the on-line questionnaire September 15-18, 2009.

• Senior and influential respondents were drawn from: corporate, government, non-governmental, academic/research, and service (e.g. consulting) organizations.

• Experts surveyed span more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa/Middle East, Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and comprise a highly-experienced respondent pool:

• 47% have more than ten years of experience working on sustainability issues.

• 32% have five to ten years.

• 16% have three to four years.

• 4% have one to two years

Source: www.globescan.com

The Sustainability Challenge is being launched in Australian cities this month and early November.

The Sustainability Challenge organisation has been setup in association with MOSS – Models of Success and Sustainability. It is supported by many organisations, including Baker & McKenzie and ABC Carbon. The academic partner is Swinburne University of Technology and the National Centre for Sustainability. 

What is the Sustainability Challenge?

The Sustainability Challenge is a revolutionary new training and auditing tool that will assist organisations and communities in the shift to long-term sustainability.

Transitioning an organisational culture from short term “take, make, waste” thinking to one of long term sustainability is becoming a survival imperative for organisations operating in a world of increasingly scarce resources.

Leveraging the successful Challenge methodology, the Sustainability Challenge will develop essential understanding and capability around complex issues such as emissions reduction, sustainable supply chains and social responsibility whilst auditing your culture’s attitudes towards sustainability.

¨  Helps leaders and employees recognise sustainability as a key strategic imperative.

¨  Challenges knowledge and expands thinking on a broad range of issues around trust, reputation, innovation and sustainable development.

¨  Builds the sustainability capabilities of management and employees in organisations of any size and throughout all levels of government.

¨  Leverages strategic action to embed sustainability across the whole organisation including the supply chain.

¨  Collects valuable data on sustainability understanding and practices, enabling organisations to audit achievement of their stated sustainability objectives and policies on an ongoing basis.

¨  Helps all stakeholders understand and live their vision of building a sustainable, responsible organisation.

Events will be held across the country starting with Melbourne 16 October,  Sydney 29 October and 4 November and  Brisbane 5 November.  The Sydney (29 October) is booked out. If you cannot make it to one of these events, Sustainability Challenge is proposing events for Perth, Canberra and Adelaide.  It will go further afield if there is sufficient interest.

More information from MOSS – Models of Success and Sustainability.

Source: www.moss.org.au