Topic: business

Companies Respond to Ecosystem Degradation

Climate change may dominate headlines today. Ecosystem degradation will do so tomorrow. Why should business care?

Leading Companies Responding to Ecosystem Degradation

Corporate Ecosystem Services Review road-tested by Akzo Nobel,

BC Hydro, Mondi, Rio Tinto, and Syngenta

Measurement is critical to effective greenhouse gas (GHG) management. As the United States moves toward a low-carbon economy, companies find it imperative that they keep track of their GHG emissions. This fact sheet answers key questions about corporate GHG inventories and how they relate to other GHG measurement initiatives.

By mid-2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must develop a national greenhouse gas (GHG) registry. This is not part of ongoing climate policy discussions, it is already law. This fact sheet answers the questions many are asking about GHG registries and the role of a mandatory GHG reporting program in the United States.

The following provides quick definitions for terms often used in climate policy debates. It is an introduction to the key climate change concepts and issues, which is explained further in subsequent issues in WRI’s “Bottom Line” series on climate and energy policy.

Laws alone are not enough to ensure environmental protection. Civil society organizations often play a critical role in bringing those laws to life. In Uganda, Greenwatch has done exactly that for the country’s laws on access to environmental information, the first of which passed in 1998.

This WRI policy brief provides an overview of the wind power industry in the United States, including the current state of policy, economics, challenges, and common misconceptions. The brief includes a detailed discussion of available wind power products that corporate buyers can use to diversify their energy portfolio.

Chinese Cement Companies Accounting for CO2 Emissions

Last month, Chinese cement companies took the first steps towards measuring and managing CO2 emissions across the entire cement sector.

The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) is a structured methodology for corporate managers to proactively develop strategies for managing business risks and opportunities arising from their company’s dependence and impact on ecosystems.

Remarks by Jonathan Lash on December 18, 2007 at the National Press Club Briefing for Journalists

These films show how Senegal’s Forestry service, forest merchants, and other government agents are blocking local governments from playing their legal role in forest management and use.

Once isolated Paraguay has changed radically due to a boom in soybean exports, which has brought changes in land and pesticide use. 

Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Company, a once struggling small enterprise, is revolutionizing China’s industrial energy consumption by making it more efficient and cleaner.

Environmental Trends to Watch in 2008

Trends to Watch is WRI’s annual forecast of emerging issues that will have major impacts on environmental coverage in 2008. On climate change: what will happen between COP-13 in Bali, and COP-14 in Poznan? What role will China play? Will we see new legislation and regulations from Congress or the EPA? Where will biofuels and technology go? Where will the water come from? WRI President Jonathan Lash makes his predictions at the National Press Club.

WRI President Jonathan Lash has been named to the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics listing by Ethisphere Magazine, a new “global publication dedicated to illuminating the important correlation between ethics and profit.” The list, which will appear in the Q4 issue available in December, recognized individuals for “inspiring change in business ethics.”