Sustainability, in its ecological and social components, poses businesses an inescapable challenge: without sustainability there will be an end to profits. Hence, business people have a strong self-interest in minimizing the ecological damage of their operations. In this book, business executives, economists, ecologists, and other thinkers outline new practical approaches that businesses and society must take to meet this challenge.
Winner of Choice Magazine - Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 Sustainability promises both reduced environmental impacts and real cash savings for any organization - be it a business, non-profit/NGO or government department. This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization's environmental, social and economic performance. The authors demystify 'sustainability', untangle the plethora of sustainability frameworks, tools and practices, and make it easy for the average person in any organization to move towards sustainability. Organized by sector (manufacturing, services and office operations, and government) and common organizational functions (senior management, facilities, human resources, purchasing, environmental affairs and compliance, marketing and public relations, and finance and accounting), the authors show how organizations can incorporate sustainability into their everyday work through the application of useful tools and self-assessments.
First edition: Winner of Choice Magazine - Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 Sustainability promises both reduced environmental impacts and real cash savings for any organization - be it a business, non-profit/NGO or government department. This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization's environmental, social and economic performance. The authors demystify 'sustainability', untangle the plethora of sustainability frameworks, tools and practices, and make it easy for the average person in any organization to move towards sustainability. Organized by sector (manufacturing, services and office operations, and government) and common organizational functions (senior management, facilities, human resources, purchasing, environmental affairs and compliance, marketing and public relations, and finance and accounting), the authors show how organizations can incorporate sustainability into their everyday work through the application of useful tools and self-assessments. This fully updated edition includes a new chapter on information and communication technology (ICT). The authors have also added many new facts, stories, practices and resources throughout the book to keep up with this rapidly emerging field and have updated their widely used SCORE sustainability assessment.
As the world struggles to cope with the growing threat of a global carbon crisis, Doppelt has revised one of the best books ever written about change management, leadership and sustainability to focus on de-carbonisation. Doppelt's research, presented in this hugely readable book, demystify the sustainability-change process by providing a theoretical framework and a methodology that managers can use to successfully transform their organisations to embrace sustainable development. Filled with case examples, interviews and checklists on how to move corporate and governmental cultures toward sustainability, the book argues that the key factors that facilitate change appear in the successful efforts at companies such as AstraZeneca, Nike, Starbucks, IKEA, Chiquita, Interface, Swisscom and Norm Thompson and in governmental efforts such as those in the Netherlands and Santa Monica in California. For these and other cutting-edge organisations, leading change is a philosophy for success. Leading Change toward Sustainability has been used by change leaders around the world to guide their internal global warming and sustainability organisational change initiatives. This new edition is essential reading for leaders from all types of organisations.
Fritjof Capra, bestselling author of The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life, here explores another frontier in the human significance of scientific ideas—applying complexity theory to large-scale social interaction. In the 1980s, complexity theory emerged as a powerful alternative to classic, linear thought. A forerunner of that revolution, Fritjof Capra now continues to expand the scope of that theory by establishing a framework in which we can understand and solve some of the most important issues of our time. Capra posits that in order to sustain life, the principles underlying our social institutions must be consistent with the broader organization of nature. Discussing pertinent contemporary issues ranging from the controversial practices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the Human Genome Project, he concludes with an authoritative, often provocative plan for designing ecologically sustainable communities and technologies as alternatives to the current economic globalization.
"Zero emissions" has become a definitive term in the debate on sustainable development in the last few years. This radical book focuses on a world where the waste for one process can become the raw material for another – a cascade of materials once thought worthless supporting new products, new processes and new wealth – as industries that were previously considered unrelated cluster together. A world where new business will be created on an unprecedented scale. This is not just a theory: projects in the agro-industries, based on integrated biosystems, are already up and running in countries as diverse as Fiji, Namibia and Colombia and are fully described in the book, as is the lead given by Japan in terms of the adoption of the concept. In UpSizing, Gunter Pauli, founder of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative (ZERI), examines how the adoption of the Zero Emissions concept not only radically reduces pollution and waste but can contribute significantly to the generation of income and jobs – specifically for those that need them most: the rural poor in less developed countries.
From Rayment and Smith's passionately argued but well reasoned perspective, leaders, the led, and those responsible for leadership development, will gain an insight into the prevalence and causes of misleadership and into ways in which it can be identified and overcome. A range of examples and case studies is provided to enable the concepts presented here to be related to practice. As well as illustrating instances of 'misleadership' these also demonstrate that emphasis on the decision making models currently available to leaders may mean we are not focusing on the most important stages of the processes involved.
How can we get from where we are to where we want to be? Metaphors for Change attempts to answer this question and provide a roadmap for sustainability by bringing together the thoughts of a unique collection of leading change agents from business, government and academia. Environmental questions have previously been dealt with metaphorically, by catastrophism or manicheism (zero growth; Malthusianism, Deep Ecology; "man is the enemy"; less is more). These metaphors have had limited impact because they have failed to connect with the mainstream of cultural, political, and business ideas. This book examines a number of new metaphors – and related partnerships, tools and action – which appear to have greater possibilities for the world in which we now live. The editors argue that Metaphors for Change can deliver to the public and to decision-makers new perceptions ("structured knowledge") that can help interpret the past and the present, and help us forge the future. The wider the gap between the "now" and the "necessary", the stronger the bridging perceptions have to be in order to break through barriers of fear and conservatism. Some of the concepts considered are: sustainable development; the polluter pays principle; the precautionary principle; eco-efficiency; eco-effectiveness; life-cycle assessment; design for the environment; eco-services; dematerialization; industrial symbiosis; industrial ecology; and zero emissions. There are of course other useful metaphors on the horizon, some of them included in this book. Including key contributions from the ground-breaking conferences ECO 97 and ECO 99, along with other specially commissioned and reprinted pieces, Metaphors for Change provides a treasure chest of new ideas, innovations and action. Accessible and forward-thinking, it will prove indispensable both as a student learning tool and as a panoramic overview of the sustainability metaphors key thinkers believe we should be putting into practice.
This book takes a comparative perspective of practice in the European Union, North America, Japan and Australasia, arguing that existing legal reforms to promote sustainable development are unlikely to be successful unless environmental policy can be diffused and embedded in the financial services sector. This sector plays a crucial role in creating the financial conditions that allow much economic development to proceed. Financial markets are already highly regulated in pursuance of various public policy objectives, and there is scope to adapt existing regulation to incorporate environmental aspects into the financial services sector. In terms of specific reforms, the book focuses on the role of corporate environmental reporting, economic instruments and liability rules to provide a proper context for engaging financial organisations with the environment, as well as reforms to the system of prudential regulation that currently governs this sector. Beyond the focus on the financial services sector, the book raises complex questions regarding the relationship between the state and market institutions in environmental policy, and will appeal to scholars from a wide range of disciplines interested in problems of environmental governance.
Environmental management is a wide, expanding, and rapidly evolving field, affecting everyone from individual citizens to businesses; governments to international agencies. Indisputably, it plays a crucial role in the quest for sustainable development. This comprehensively updated second edition explores the nature and role of environmental management, covering key principles, practices, tools, strategies and policies, offers a thorough yet understandable introduction, and points to further in-depth coverage. Among the key themes covered are: sustainable development proactive approaches the precautionary principle the ‘polluter pays’ principle the need for humans to be less vulnerable and more adaptable. Reflecting the expansion and evolution of the field, this revised edition focuses strongly on sustainable development. There has been extensive restructuring to ensure the book is accessible to those unfamiliar with environmental management and it now includes greater coverage of topics including key resources under stress, environmental management tools, climate change and urban environmental management. With rapid expansion and development of the subject it is easy for those embarking on a course of study to become disorientated, but with its well-structured coverage, effective illustrations, and foundation for further, more-focused interest, this book is easily accessible to all.
