[pf] Transformation in process in corporations

by Nan Hildreth

08 December 2000 19:59 UTC

Keep up the pressure, folks. 

Nan

>
> Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 21:55:35 -0500
> From: info@ceres.org
> Subject: CERES On-Line Newsletter, December 8, 2000
> To: nan.hildreth@pdq.net
> X-Airmail-Delivered: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 21:02:55 -0600 (CST)
> X-Airmail-Spooled:   Thu, 7 Dec 2000 21:02:55 -0600 (CST)
>
> The CERES On-Line Newsletter 
> December 8, 2000 
>
> Bookmark these web sites!
> <http://www.ceres.org>www.ceres.org
> www.globalreporting.org
>
>  
>
> IN THIS ISSUE:
>
> UPCOMING EVENTS
>
> 1.      Register Now!  2001 CERES Conference: April 5, 6 in Atlanta
>
> NEWS
>
> 2.      Nike Endorses CERES Principles
> 3.      Over 500 Attend GRI Symposium in Washington, DC
> 4.      Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Presented in Japan
> 5.      New 1999 Corporate Reports Now Available
> 6.      CERES Receives Park Foundation Grant for Green Hotel Initiative
>
> CERES NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS
>
> 7.      Calvert Group Launches New Technology Fund
> 8.      Green Mountain Energy Company Partners with New Jersey Faith
> Communities
> 9.      Center for a Sustainable Economy Releases “Good Business” Energy
> Report
>
> INSIDE CERES
>
> 10.  CERES Welcomes New Board Member, John M. Blanchard
> 11.  CERES Staff Additions
> 12.  CERES Staff Departures
>
> ON THE WEB
>
> 13.  CERES Corporate Environmental Reports: Direct Links On-Line
> 14.  CERES On-Line Conference Bibliography on Globalization and Citizenship
>
>  
>
> 1. CERES 2001 Conference to be held in Atlanta, April 5-6
> “What is Global Citizenship? Ecology and Society in an Era of Rapid Change”
>
> Register now for next year’s annual conference 
> and receive $100 off with the early discount rate!!
>
> The CERES Annual Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 5th and
> 6th , 2001.  Optional environmental field trips will be held Saturday, April
> 7th.  The CERES Conference is the nation's premier event for stakeholders and
> companies to discuss issues related to corporate accountability,
> environmental protection, shareholder activism, and community participation.
> The conference will take place at the Swissôtel Atlanta. 
>
> Hear plenary speakers such as:
>
> · Brent Blackwelder, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth;  
> · Professor Bob Bullard, Clark Atlanta University;
> · Harry Kraemer, Chairman and CEO, Baxter International Inc.; 
> · Winona LaDuke, Vice Presidential Candidate for the Green Party; 
> · Ken Lewis, President and COO, Bank of America; and 
> · Bud Ris, Executive Director, Union of Concerned Scientists.  
>
> Other invited speakers include: President Jimmy Carter; Douglas Daft
> (Chairman and CEO, Coca-Cola) Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel (UNEP), U.S.
> Representative Cynthia McKinney, and Vandana Shiva (Director, Research Fdtn.
> For Science, Technology and Ecology).
>
> Stay tuned to the CERES website at
>
> (<http://www.ceres.org/eventsandnews/events/2001overview.html>http://www.c
> eres.org/eventsandnews/events/2001overview.html) for details and an updated
> agenda.
>
> Note: If you would like to recommend potential workshop speakers or topics
> for the 2001 conference, please email Brad Sperber at
> <mailto:sperber@ceres.org>sperber@ceres.org by December 15.
>
>
> 2. Nike Endorses CERES Principles 
>
> In early November, CERES announced that Nike has endorsed the CERES
> Principles. Nike's decision to endorse the Principles is the result of nearly
> two years of intensive dialogue and fact-finding between the company and
> members of the CERES Coalition. CERES member organizations represented in the
> pre-endorsement dialogue process included the World Wildlife Fund, the Fair
> Trade Foundation, the New York City Comptroller's Office, and the AFL-CIO.
>
> "CERES and Nike have realized that the way to move ahead is in a transparent
> and collaborative manner with both organizations committed to exploring the
> areas where Nike can improve its performance and citizenship as a
> multinational corporation,” said Joan Bavaria, CERES Board Chair and
> President of Trillium Asset Management. “This results-oriented partnership
> offers CERES and its members a new opportunity for engagement and dialogue
> with Nike." 
>
> Dusty Kidd, Nike's Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, commented on
> the endorsement: "The endorsement of the CERES Principles and the processes
> that will come with that step are, for Nike, an opportunity to engage
> important stakeholders in a broad and highly credible forum.” 
>
> Read the full press release at:
>
> <http://www.ceres.org/eventsandnews/news/pressclippings.html#nov00>http://
> www.ceres.org/eventsandnews/news/pressclippings.html#nov00.
>
>
> 3. GRI Symposium Draws Delegates from 41 Countries 
>
> The participation of almost 500 delegates from 41 countries made the 2nd
> International Global Reporting Initiative Symposium in Washington, D.C., a
> lively, diverse, provocative and rewarding event. The symposium brought
> together viewpoints from across the globe and across a broad spectrum of
> thinking. There were 85 representatives from corporations, 75 from social and
> environmental NGOs, 20 from financial institutions, and numerous
> representatives from governments, academic institutions, and labor groups.
> The symposium explored how investment, corporate accountability and
> disclosure can be harnessed to advance sustainability. The main points of
> discussion were how to improve the GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
> and the transition to GRI as a permanent and effective institution. 
>
> While the symposium surpassed all expectations, it was equally clear that
> many key challenges lie ahead. Among these are:
>
> · Revisiting and clarifying GRI's mission
> · Harmonizing and linking company and facility-level reporting, and defining
> the utility of such reporting to local communities
> · Engaging small and medium size enterprises
> · Ensuring that GRI does not create unintended and unfair barriers to trade
> · Ensuring a balanced, diverse, transparent high-integrity governance
> structure for the long-term
>
> Speeches and presentations from the symposium will be posted on the GRI
> website
> (<http://www.globalreporting.org/DCSymposium/DCSymposiumAgenda.htm>http://
> www.globalreporting.org/DCSymposium/DCSymposiumAgenda.htm)
> as they are received.
>
>
> 4.  Bob Massie Presents GRI at Global Environmental Forum in Japan 
>
> CERES Executive Director Bob Massie, who also serves as the Chair of the
> Global Reporting Initiative Steering Committee, recently returned from Japan,
> where he was the keynote speaker for a Nov 27-28 conference on the future of
> environmental and sustainability reporting. The event coincided with the
> fourth annual Japanese environmental reporting awards ceremony.  The assembly
> also included intensive workshops on social reporting and verification.
>
> More than five hundred Japanese business, NGO, and government leaders
> attended the conference, which was organized by the Japanese Environment
> Agency, Global Environmental Forum, the National Association for the
> Promotion of Environmental Conservation, Nihon Kaizei Shimbun, the Mainichi
> Newspaper Company, and the Environmental Auditing Research Group.
>
> Stay tuned to the CERES and GRI websites where Bob Massie’s recent speech,
> The Future of Sustainability Reporting, will be posted.
>
> 5. More 1999 Corporate Environmental Reports Recently Released
>
> Numerous CERES endorsers have recently published their 1999 environmental
> reports. See “On the Web” section for links to many of these, and other, 1999
> reports.  The following new reports are now available through CERES:
>
> · PPL Industries 
> · ITT Industries 
> · General Motors 
> · Vancouver City Savings and Credit Union 
> · Interface 
> · Green Mountain Energy Company
> · Baxter 
> · Green Mountain Power
>
> For a complete listing of 1998 and 1999 reports available through CERES, visit
> our website at
> <http://www.ceres.org/reporting/corporatereports.html>www.ceres.org/report
> ing/corporatereports.html. . To obtain a copy of any of the above reports, as
> well as other CERES Reports, contact Iain Watt at
> <mailto:watt@ceres.org>watt@ceres.org.
>
>
> 6.  CERES Receives Grant for Green Hotel Initiative 
>
> The Park Foundation recently awarded a grant to CERES to support the Green
> Hotel Initiative, a new project of CERES.  The Green Hotel Initiative, a
> unique project involving business, the hotel industry, NGOs, labor and
> environmental organizations, seeks to increase green lodging and meeting
> options by catalyzing market supply and demand.  The Initiative kicked off
> with an October 2000 symposium entitled “Catalyzing Market Demand,” held in
> Atlanta.  An establishment of ongoing working groups will continue to address
> the “green” issues confronting the lodging and consumer communities that were
> raised at the Symposium. In April, the Initiative will be highlighted by the
> CERES Conference through a demonstration project and workshop. 
>
> For more information on the Initiative, or to involve your company or
> organization in the project, contact Sarah Raposa, Project Manager, at (617)
> 247-0700 ext. 16, or by email, at <mailto:raposa@ceres.org>raposa@ceres.org. 
>
> Visit the CERES website (<http://www.ceres.org>www.ceres.org) for more updates
> on this project, and submit your own green-meeting ideas! 
>
>
> CERES NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS
>
> 7. Calvert Group Launches New Technology Fund
>
> Calvert Group, the mutual fund company well known for its socially
> responsible portfolios, has launched its first-ever socially screened
> technology fund.  The fund addresses the common social concerns of technology
> investors, including production of environmentally harmful byproducts from
> the manufacturing process of semi-conductors, waste disposal problems, unfair
> labor practices, and human rights issues related to offshore manufacturing
> operations.  The fund also addresses legal issues in genetic engineering and
> biotechnology.  With this newly added fund, Calvert now offers a total of 27
> funds totaling about $6.7 billion in assets.
>
>
> 8. Congregations for Cleaner Air Partner with Green Mountain Energy 
>
> Leaders of the New Jersey Congregations for Cleaner Air Conference announced
> on November 31 that it has entered into a unique partnership with Green
> Mountain Energy Company in an effort to improve air quality. The leaders of
> the Partners for Environmental Quality (PEQ), an alliance of 6,000 New
> Jersey-based Catholic, Episcopal, Jewish, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian,
> Quaker and Unitarian faith communities, are asking their followers to
> consider choosing a vendor of cleaner electricity based on the company’s—and
> the congregants’—environmental principles. The effort is the first ever,
> statewide faith-based environmental campaign and is expected to directly
> engage some 200 congregations in northern New Jersey. Faith communities will
> receive training on the moral implications of choosing electric supply and
> will learn how to sign up to receive energy distributed by Green Mountain
> Energy Company.
>
> "Green Mountain Energy Company and Partners for Environmental Quality share a
> vital common goal. That is, to change the way electricity is made and used,"
> said Clifton Payne, Mid-Atlantic regional president for Green Mountain Energy
> Company. "We are honored that religious leaders from throughout New Jersey
> have put their faith in Green Mountain Energy Company to reliably provide
> cleaner and renewable electricity to their followers."
>
>
> 9.  Center for a Sustainable Economy Releases “Good Business” Energy Report
>
> CERES Coalition Member, the Center for a Sustainable Economy has released a
> report entitled "Good Business: A Market Analysis of Energy Efficiency
> Policy."  It is the first study to calculate the effects on business of the
> tax and technology policies in Clean Energy Futures, a report by the national
> labs of the United States Department of Energy.  The study analyzes the
> impact of those policies on nearly 500 separate industries. The results of
> the study conclude that more than 84 percent of these industries would
> experience net cost reductions if the policies were enacted.
>
> For more information and to obtain a copy of the report, contact Maureen
> Walsh at (202) 234-9665 or
> <mailto:mjw@sustainableeconomy.org>mjw@sustainableeconomy.org.
>
> NOTE: If you would like to submit a news item or announcement to be
> considered in this feature, please email Alyson Muzila at
> <mailto:muzila@ceres.org>muzila@ceres.org with “CERES Highlight” in the
> subject line of your email. You may also contact Alyson by phone at
> 617-247-0700 ext. 31.
>
>
> INSIDE CERES
>
> 10.  John M. Blanchard of Calvert Group Joins CERES Board of Directors
>
> CERES is pleased to welcome John M. Blanchard of Calvert Group as its newest
> Director.  John was recently appointed Senior Vice President of Social
> Products and Policy at the Calvert Group, the largest U.S. socially
> responsible mutual fund.  Prior to this post, John served on the board of the
> Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility as co-chair of its Equality
> Issues Group and as a founding member and chair of The Committee of Reference
> of Friends Ivory & Sime, a British based ethical investment firm. John
> continues to serve on the board of the Social Investment Forum.  In the ten
> years prior to joining Calvert Group, John served as CFO of the American
> Friends Service Committee, a Quaker international relief, peace and justice
> organization, where he was responsible for their socially responsible
> investment activities. In addition, John is a licensed United Methodist
> Minister.
>
>
> 11. Harry Fatkin Joins CERES as Senior Program Advisor
>
> CERES is pleased to welcome Harry Fatkin as a Senior Program Advisor. Harry
> was formerly Polaroid Corporation’s Vice President for Health, Safety and the
> Environment and later served as a consultant to Polaroid and the company’s
> liaison to CERES following his retirement from a 35-year career at the
> company. While at Polaroid, Harry was an early leader in the area of
> corporate environmental reporting and worked on the company's endorsement of
> the CERES Principles.  In addition to working at CERES part time, Harry
> currently serves as a Research Fellow in the George Perkins Marsh Institute
> at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Harry can be reached at
> <mailto:fatkin@ceres.org>fatkin@ceres.org.  
>
>
> 12. Ivie Higgins, June Turner to Leave CERES
>
> CERES would like to wish well both Ivie Higgins, CERES Consultant, and June
> Turner, Assistant to the Executive Director, as they depart CERES in
> December.  Currently, Ivie is a full-time MBA student at Suffolk University
> and will continue with his studies.  June is joining the staff of a
> Boston-area law firm.
>
> Ivie and June joined CERES in early 1999 and have played critical roles in
> the formation of CERES in the last two years. Their contributions have been
> significant and widely felt within the CERES Network. We will greatly miss
> both Ivie and June, and we wish them many successes in their new endeavors!
>
> · Stay Tuned for Announcements on Job Opportunities at CERES
>
> The following staff positions will soon be announced on the CERES website:
>
> · Community Involvement and Coalition Outreach
> · Executive Assistant
> · Communications Associate
> · CERES Fellowship
>
> Visit
> <http://www.ceres.org/about/jobopenings.html>http://www.ceres.org/about/jo
> bopenings.html for more information.
>
>  
>
> ON THE WEB…
>
> 13. CERES Corporate Environmental Reports On-Line: Direct links below!
>
> Accessing environmental information was never easier! View or download CERES
> Reports directly from their corporations’ websites. The following companies
> offer their reports on-line at the links below:
>
> Arizona Public Service Company
>
> <http://about.apsc.com/environment/annual_report/default.asp>http://about.
> apsc.com/environment/annual_report/default.asp 
> Bank of America Corporation -
>
> <http://www.bankamerica.com/community/env_progress_rep.htm>http://www.bank
> america.com/community/env_progress_rep.htm 
> Baxter International -
> <http://www.baxter.com/sustainability>http://www.baxter.com/sustainability 
> Catholic Healthcare West -
>
> <http://www.chwhealth.com/community/Ceres/Default.asp>http://www.chwhealth
> .com/community/Ceres/Default.asp 
> General Motors -
>
> <http://www.gm.com/company/environment/env_annual_report/index.html>http:/
> /www.gm.com/company/environment/env_annual_report/index.html 
> Green Mountain Energy Company -
>
> <http://www.greenmountain.com/about_greenmtn/mission_statement.asp>http://
> www.greenmountain.com/about_greenmtn/mission_statement.asp 
> Green Mountain Power Corporation -
> <http://www.gmpvt.com/98ceres.htm>http://www.gmpvt.com/98ceres.htm
> Interface Inc. -
>
> <http://www.interfaceinc.com/us/company/sustainability/frontpage.asp>http:
> //www.interfaceinc.com/us/company/sustainability/frontpage.asp
> Northeast Utilities -
> <http://www.nu.com/environmental/index.htm>http://www.nu.com/environmental
> /index.htm 
> Polaroid Corporation -
>
> <http://www.polaroid.com/polinfo/environment/index.html>http://www.polaroi
> d.com/polinfo/environment/index.html 
> Sunoco Corporation -
>
> <http://www.sunocoinc.com/health_env_safety/ceresreport1999/ceres99tocf.ht
> m>http://www.sunocoinc.com/health_env_safety/ceresreport1999/ceres99tocf.htm 
>
>
> 14. CERES On-Line Conference Bibliography
>      on globalization, citizenship, and environmental responsibility
>
> CERES is known for its diverse discussions on the most challenging topics. 
> Participate now as we begin to explore the issues of globalization and
> citizenship in preparation for our April 2001 Conference.  Submit a paper or
> on-line resource (such as a link to a document or website) via email to
> Alyson Muzila at <mailto:muzila@ceres.org>muzila@ceres.org, or by
>
> visiting:<http://www.ceres.org/eventsandnews/2001bibliography.html>http://
> www.ceres.org/eventsandnews/2001bibliography.html . 
>
> Once we have received a number of resources we will make them downloadable
> from the CERES website.  We hope that this bibliography will serve as an
> early indication of the richness of the dialogues that occur at the CERES
> Conference. So send us your thoughts and ideas!
>
>  
>
> __________________________
>
> Feel free to pass on this information to your friends and colleagues.
>
> _____________________________________
>
> If you do not wish to receive future issues of this newsletter, please reply 
> to this message with "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.
>
> _____________________________________
>
>  
>
> CERES
> 11 Arlington Street, 6th Floor
> Boston, MA 02116-3411
> phone: (617) 247-0700
>
>
> fax: (617) 267-5400
> <mailto:info@ceres.org>info@ceres.org
> www.ceres.org
> <http://www.globalreporting.org>www.globalreporting.org 
>
>  




Nan Hildreth, Houston 713-864-7108

"Only dead fish go with the flow."