3/3 Flashcards
Model for Organizational Sustainability
-Policy
-Performance
-Stakeholder needs and desires
Organizational Documents Useful for Setting Sustainability Direction (Strategy)
-Vision Statement
-Mission Statement
-Core Values and Beliefs or Code of Ethics
-Existing Policies
-Contractual Obligations
-Applicable Laws and Regulations
-Guiding Principles
What is Teck’s Materiality Matrix about?
What is important to the stakeholders? How are they doing? Climate change, workplace environment, community impact, Indigenous rights, biodiversity, etc.
Steps to Define Material Topics (From GRI)
-Identify issues and create a list of topics;
-Prioritize what is material to the organization and recognize any potential conflicts or different perspectives through form of stakeholder panel;
-Review the topics by an internal, high-level committee/team or an external consultant.
Dual Materiality
-Material because of social and environmental impact.
-Material because of the effect on financial outcomes.
Benefits of Stakeholder Management
-Identifying material sustainability concerns and issues,
-Determining the communication strategy appropriate for each stakeholder group,
-Assessing performance on material topics,
-Determining the credibility of the sustainability disclosure and report,
-Deciding which company decisions need to be explained, and
-Participating in projects with certain stakeholders to improve performance.
Types of Stakeholder Engagement
Informing: strong one-way communication (from firm to the stakeholders)
-Newsletters, regional or global sustainability reports on all dimensions, reports on specific aspects of concern on environmental or social dimensions or specific commitments.
Responding: strong one-way, weak return communication. (Strong from firm to stakeholder; weak from stakeholder to firm)
-Consultation on material items or appropriateness of reports, grievance management; answering questions about certain aspects of a project, informal sessions or town meeting on project process.
Involving: strong two-way communication (from firm to stakeholder and from stakeholder to firm.)
-Project monitoring, negotiations, partnerships.
Strong Linkages
Policy <–> Performance = Management System
Performance <–> Stakeholder needs and desires = Sustainability Reporting & Assurance
Stakeholder needs and desires <–> Policy = Participation in multi-stake holder initiatives.
What Motivates Change?
Motivational Underpinnings:
-Greed (Profit)
-Fear (Penalties and Fines)
-Responsibility (Ethics and Good Citizenship)
-Policy and Regulations (compliance)
-Policy and Market Solutions (Free Market)
-Internal Motivation and Value Systems
Organizations Can Develop Capability By:
-Allocating resources through budgets and investments
-Hiring people with the required expertise
-Building expertise internally through training
-Providing opportunities to learn from others internally and externally
Complementary Environmental and Economic Efficiencies
-Re-designing processes used in the office, in production, in delivery, purchasing, or any number of steps in the value chain.
-Retrofitting buildings in which we work.
-Re-designing products or services offered to use fewer resources.
-Turning materials that were once waste into re-usable materials.
-Working with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders jointly to find solutions to new, less impacting products and a better world in which to live.
Characteristics of Good Indicators
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timely
Economics Indicators
-$ of economic value distributed;
-percent of employees hired locally;
-percent of goods purchased locally;
-percent of taxes paid;
-percent of independent directors on the board of directors.
Environmental Indicators
-tons of GHG and air emissions;
-number or volume of spills;
-tons of wastes;
-kilowatts of energy use;
-tons of water used.
Social Indicators
-percentage of employee turnover;
-number of injuries;
-hours of training;
-number of code of conduct infractions;
-number of minorities in top management positions.
Input Indicator
What is going in to a process (e.g. dollars invested into a community)
Output Indicator
What is coming out of a process (e.g. number of food bank meals provided).
Outcome Indicator
Short-term effects of the input or output (e.g. satisfaction or enjoyment of the individuals eating the meals; flavour and nutritional value of the meals).
Impact Indicator
Long-term effects (both direct and indirect) of input or output (e.g. health effects or better quality of life).
Measuring Success of a Business
How we measure success:
-Quarterly Financial Reports
-Return on Financial Investment
-Dividend payout
-Increase in Stock Price (day traders)
-Growth
How should we measure success:
-Number of societal problems solved
-Number of societal problems created
What is Sustainably Reporting?
It acts an accountability document. Source of information if the organization are legitimate whether its implicit social license to operate ( we need people to operate).
Sustainability Report Formats
-Stand-alone reports communicating with the pillars’ performance.
-Integrated reports communicating financial, three pillars’ performance.
-Other special reports on climate change, human rights, modern-day slavery, conflict minerals, and other sustainability aspects.
Many Names of Sustainability Reports
-Impact Report (Tesla)
-Community Report
-Integrated Annual Report
-Corporate Citizenship Report
-Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Report
-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report
-Triple Bottom Line Report
-Sustainable Development Plan (Cascades)
-Corporate Responsibility Report (IGM Financial)
Evolving Structure and Content of Sustainability Reports
Mostly social information –> environmental information –> Stakeholder engagement, Reporting standards –> Third-party assurances –> Integrated report combine financial with environmental and social information.
Credibility in Sustainability Reporting
Credible Reports: Comparability –> Reliability –> Accuracy –> Balance –> Completeness
Undermining Credible Reporting: Wrong tone –> Unrelated photos –> Too rosy of a story.
The Benefit of Sustainability Reporting
1) Reporting can motivate performance internally
2) Valuable stakeholder resource for monitoring company activities
3) Performance results influence stakeholder decision-making
4) Fuels continuous improvement by setting targets and goals
Calgary Recycling Process
Calgarians: put the process recyclables in the blue cart.
The City of Calgary: provide Calgarians with blue cart and ensures sorting facilities handle recyclables.
Sorting Facility: sort recyclables into proper categories and verify legitimate manufacturers to send sort materials to.
Manufacturers & Brands: buy recyclables from sorting facility to turn into new consumer products to sell.
Retailers: stock and sell products made from recycled materials.
Blue Cart in Calgary
-95% of households use their blue cart regularly.
-The Blue Cart Program has a 93% Satisfaction Score.
-5 Main Categories: Plastic containers, Tin cans and foil, Glass jars and bottles, Paper and cardboard, Bundled plastic bags.
Things That Shouldn’t be in Blue Cart
-Chemicals or Propane Tanks
-Batteries
-Garbage
-Hoses, rope, or electrical cords
Percentages in Calgary’s Black Carts
In 2019:
-28% Garbage
-11% Program Recyclables
-45% Food and Yard Waste
-16% Blue Cart Recycling
Transportation Societal Impacts
-Congestion
-Noise
-Traffic Incidents (safety)
-Costs (taxes and fees)
Transportation Environmental Impacts
-Energy consumption
-GHG emissions
-Land use
-Waste
Strong Sustainability (Deep Ecology) Approach
-Compact urban development and improve public transport and infrastructure
-Use fiscal instruments to reduce transportation emissions and encourage modal shift (higher fuel taxes, parking fees, congestion charges)
-Accelerate transition to electromobility
-Implement policies to drive the uptake of low-emission technologies and fuels in aviation and shipping
Weak Sustainability (3-Pillar) Approach
-Sustainable maintenance of infrastructure
-Provide access to amenities and overcome congestion
-Equity and access to economic opportunity (affordable vehicles and efficient public transportation)
-Improve local quality of life impacts (noise, vibration, water pollution, habitat impact)
-Continue air quality impact improvement
-Mitigate security challenges (terrorist attracts, extreme weather, hazardous/radioactive transportation)
-Minimize contribution to climate change
-Reduce energy usage
Passenger Car Types
-Conventional Internal Combustion Engine
-Hybrid
-Battery Electric
-Hydrogen
-Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Conventional Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEV)
-Low fuel efficiency (petrol engines use 21%, diesel use up to 25%)
-Characterized by engine volume (small <1.4L, 1.4L < medium < 2.0L, big>2.0L)
-The engine volume is correlated to the car weight, which is related to the average unit fuel consumption
Hybrid Vehicles (HYV)
-Powered by conventional petrol or diesel ICE and an electromotor (electric energy stored in on-board batteries, charged by the energy from the ICE engine, plugging in to charge is only possible with plug-in option (PHEV))
-The electromotor for driving at low speeds in urban areas (power to switch to ICE when driving at higher speeds, requiring greater engine power)
-Fuel efficiency is about 40% (Toyota Prius 2017)
Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
-Propulsion by electro-motors using electric energy stored in batteries
-Energy efficiency ranges between 13-31% (WTW efficiency, 20% energy consumed due to charging inefficiencies)
-Recharge time can be 10-30 mins to fill the batteries to about 70% of their capacity
-Convenient for urban and suburban use with relatively short daily driving distances
Hydrogen & Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
-Powered by highly compressed hydrogen
-Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles are more advanced.
-Primary source of obtaining hydrogen influences the energy efficiency of HFCVs (50-60% WTW energy efficiency (Natural gas), 22% if from water electrolysis)
How is Airport Size Measured?
Passenger traffic volume and aircraft movements (ATM) over a year.
One ATM represents a single landing or takeoff.
GHG Emissions by Passenger Vehicle Type, Make and Model
The model shoes that ICE and PHEV mainly use the most. While HEV uses a bit less.
Earth’s Available Fresh Water
While there is plenty of water for us, less than 1% near the planet’s surface is available freshwater.
Consumptive Water Use
Temporarily removes water from an available supply, usually through evaporation but also incorporation in crops and livestock.
Water Usage in Agriculture
More than 50% of water withdrawn from freshwater sources is lost to the atmosphere by plant transpiration and evaporation from reservoirs and irrigated fields.
Virtual Water
The amount of water required to produce a product in the raw materials and production stages of its life cycle.
–> Ex. 1 ton of grain requires 1,000 tons of water.
Water Intensity
Amount of water required per unit of economic value.
–> Beef has very high water intensity as exporting 1 ton of beef = 6,000 tons of water.
Water Footprint
This is the measure of water demand.
Water-Energy Nexus
It is the interdependence of water and energy production.
–> Pumping and treating drinking water and wastewater consumes about 4% of the energy supply in the United States.
Potable Sources of Water
Water evaporates from nonpotable resources of water such as the ocean, precipitates, and collects to form POTABLE water (rivers and lakes).
The process is FAST (roughly 10 days) with the help of Earth’s gravity.
Water Availability in Aquifers
Affected by climate, microbiologic activity, dissolution of soluble minerals, atmospheric inputs, physical transport, and anthropogenic contamination (Zhu and Schwarz 2011)
Fossil Water
Contained in deep aquifers.
-Unsustainable and nonrenewable source of water.
Eutrophication (water pollution problem)
Limited nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen cause algae to bloom. When algae die, they decompose consuming the oxygen dissolved in the lake water.
Bottled Water Use in America
34 billion litres (nearly 9 million gallons) of bottled water purchased in 2008.
Americans use 30 billion plastic bottles per year.
Graywater
Potential reuse of wastewater. When it does not contain toxic chemicals and small amounts of suspended material that make it turbid (cloudy/muddy). Dishwashers can be safely used for watering plants, cleaning the car, etc.
Black Water
Sewage water must be confined to septic systems and treated at wastewater treatment plants.
Integrated Water Resources Management
“A process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in other to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in a n equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.”
Demand Management
Can be used to economize water through water markets, education, conservation and efficiency measures, and recycling and reuse.
