news
There is more and more evidence that companies that disclose environmental information perform better. This study shows that disclosing GHG emissions data was related to increases in stock values.
Sustainability in Operations at Banks & Credit Unions
Erica Reuter & James Barsimantov
To achieve a high level of sustainability, financial services companies need to focus on two areas: operations and portfolios. Focusing operations can offer quick returns, while paying closer attention to portfolios addresses a broader set of sustainability concerns.
Our webinar this Friday (2/3) covers our full approach to green banking, and in this short blog, we focus on operations, since doing business while being cost-effective is fundamental to any business successful. Even simple operational changes can help banks and credit unions do just that, and companies save on operational costs and reduce environmental impacts by using energy, water, paper and other services or materials more efficiently.
Performance metrics are the underlying fabric of any effective sustainability program. That’s why efforts to achieve operational efficiency should be built from the group up. Focusing on comprehensive building energy efficiency is the most obvious first step, but quick wins can also be found in other areas of sustainability. Having a clear roadmap to guide the strategy is essential to maximize return on investment and direct future goals for the company, and metrics are the anchor of this approach.
Operational efficiency works best when it becomes integrated into regular business practice, and is made easier through strategic communication of goals and efforts to employees and customers. This is because so many decisions about resource use lie in the hand of your employees. Efforts that focus on technical solutions alone will often find that the full benefits efficiency upgrades are not realized.
To get started making these changes at your company:
California, New York, and Washington are now asking insurance companies to assess and report risks from climate change, which represents an important step to integrating sustainability into normal business practice.
EcoShift has launched it’s own Blog here on the website today. The blog will focus on industry specific sustainability issues and give insight to the innerworkings of EcoShift.
Decent post-mortem on Durban talks from Harvard. Sad state of affairs, overall, if this is the best we can come up with.
Great analysis of the steps that California needs to take to meet GHG reduction obligations.
The Economist has a great article on why businesses choose to focus on climate change and environmental sustainability even in the absence of federal policy.
A new UNDP Human Development Report on equitable clean energy was co-authored by EcoShift’s Dustin Mulvaney. Read the report here.
The Associated Press reports that this year the rate of greenhouse gas emissions is the highest ever, and higher than even the worst case scenario predictions. It’s really time to do something about this.
The Carbon Disclosure Project’s 2011 annual report shows that 65 percent of the S&P 500 companies responding to a survey said they had integrated climate change issues into their overall business strategies, up from 35 percent in 2010. (read more here, via the NYTimes)
