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GEMI
NETWORKS
GEMI COMMITTEES
Social Innovation
Summit 2012 – May 30-31, 2012, UN Headquarters,
NYC. The Summit is a private forum to explore the global
and social impact of business innovations across the corporate,
investment, government, and non-profit sectors. GEMI
members receive a 10% discount using VIP Code: Gemi10.
Sustainable
Brands 2012 – June 4-7, 2012, San Diego
CA. Join as the Sustainability, Brand Strategy and Innovation
Communities convene to shape the future. Discover and participate
in the sustainable brand revolution by collaborating to
shift consumer demand, drive heretical innovation, and evolve
the business case.
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May 2012
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On May 16-17, ConAgra Foods
and Union Pacific co-hosted GEMI’s
Meeting #2 in Omaha, NE. Special thanks to Bob
Toy, Union Pacific and Tammie Boyd
and Kevin Connors, ConAgra Foods for
hosting the meeting and coordinating their colleagues’
presentations, tours of their facilities and the evening
function. More than 45 people attended the meeting.
Pictured: Bob Toy, UP, Bill Gill,
Smithfield Foods and Kevin Connors, ConAgra Foods
During the meeting, Bob Grimalia,
Alan Baker and David Holt of
Union Pacific shared with participants
an overview of the company, noting that it is in its150th
year of business, and its LEED certified headquarters.
Kevin Connors, ConAgra Foods,
provided an overview of the company and its environmental
sustainability activities.
, 
Pictured:Bob Grimalia, UP and Kevin
Connors, ConAgra Foods
GEMI’s Sustainable Development, Supply
Chain, Climate Change and Water Sustainability Networks
met on May 16 and included guest speaker presentations
from: Tim Smith and Holly Lahd of the Northstar Initiative,
University of MN; Mick Bilney, Cardno TEC; and John Powers,
U.S. EPA Office of Water.
Pictured: Holly Lahd of the Northstar
Initiative, University of MN and Mick Bilney, Cardno
TEC
On May 17, GEMI held its Forum Day #2 on
“The Metrics of Stakeholder Engagement and Collaborations”.
The Forum was facilitated by GEMI’s Director,
Amy Goldman and Audrey Bamberger, Pathways
to Sustainability. The Forum explored the challenges
and opportunities companies face with understanding and
measuring the value of stakeholder engagement, including
collaboration efforts. Presentations and discussions guided
members through the process of evaluating the potential
benefits and downsides of stakeholder engagement including:
identifying the potential value of engagement, measuring
active partnerships and designing appropriate metrics
to communicate the value of relationships.
Pictured: Participants at GEMI's Meeting #2
During the Forum, GEMI members, Steve
Schwalb, Perdue Incorporated and Leslie
Montgomery, Southern Company, gave presentations
on the results and metrics of partnerships, stakeholder
relationships and internal value. Mr. Schwalb’s
presentation focused on Perdue’s solar project collaboration
with its energy supplier, its community engagement collaboration
with an environmental organization and its attempt to
measure the value of these collaborations through surveys,
feedback and behavioral and reputation / perception by
key stakeholders. Ms. Montgomery’s presentation
focused on the importance of having a long-term stakeholder
engagement strategy and challenges of managing expectations
on all sides and how qualitative evaluation over time
can lead to quantitative proof.
Pictured: Steve Schwalb, Perdue Incorporated
and Leslie Montgomery, Southern Company
The Forum also included presentations from
the following guest speakers: Jon Lloyd, London
Benchmarking Group (LBG), who provided an overview
of the LBG tool and how it provides clear metrics that
enable companies to better understand the specific value
of their contributions to community projects.
Ann Rindone, Director, Cause
and Foundation, at ConAgra Foods provided
an overview of the Foundation’s work noting that
in partnership with Feeding America, the ConAgra Foundation
sponsors a comprehensive program, Child Hunger Ends Here,
which provides on-the-ground services aimed at increasing
childhood access to nutritious food. She discussed the
program, its current status and results, and insight into
how the Foundation measures and tracks the program’s
success. Audrey Davenport, Senior Project Manager, Corporate
Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), discussed
how metrics play a critical role in their collaborative
experiences.
Pictured: Ann Rindone, Director,
Cause and Foundation, at ConAgra Foods
In addition, Ms. Bamberger and Ms. Goldman,
led a workshop exercise focused on developing meaningful
metrics that help quantify the value of partnerships using
the GEMI-EDF
Guide for Successful NGO-Corporate Partnerships.
All presentations from GEMI meeting #2 are
posted on the GEMI members only site and meeting summaries
will be posted soon.
• June 12 @ 2pm EDT:
GEMI Water Sustainability Work Group Webinar with guest
speakers: Jim Strittholt, President/Executive Director and
Tom Atiyeh, Chief Development Officer, Conservation Biology
Institute
• July 12 @3pm EDT: GEMI Sustainable
Buildings & Energy Management webinar
• August 1-2: Annual GEMI SAC meeting
in Palo Alto, CA – hosted by Perdue Incorporated
• November 15-17: GEMI Member Meeting
#3 in Houston, TX – hosted by Halliburton
 Esys
Automation and 3M were named 2012 Automotive
News PACE Award winners for their joint submission of the
automated precision wheel balance system AutoW8t™,
which installs 3M™ Wheel Weights. The Automotive News
PACE Awards honor superior innovation, technological advancement
and business performance among automotive suppliers. More
Information.
CSX Corporation was named to the Maplecroft
Climate Innovation Leader Index, one of three Maplecroft
Climate Innovation Indices that rank U.S. companies on their
leadership in climate change mitigation and management.
At No. 81, CSX is the highest-ranked Class I railroad included
in this year’s index and the only railroad featured
on the top 100 Climate Innovation Leaders list. More
Information.
Innovative vacuum-packaging that reduces food waste by keeping
meat looking and staying fresh longer took top honors in
the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation.
Gold honors went to retail packaging that boosts shelf appeal,
a community-based packaging recycling project in Brazil,
and modular industrial packaging that cuts waste and cost.
More
Information.
 Eni
has announced the names of the winning researchers and scientists
of the fifth edition of the Eni Awards, established in 2007
and now an international reference point for energy and
environmental research. The Eni Award aims to encourage
the improved use of energy sources and develop new generations
of researchers, reflecting the importance given by Eni to
scientific research and sustainability. More
Information.
 FedEx
Express, a unit of FedEx Corp, has made
significant progress towards its goal to make its vehicle
fleet 20 percent more fuel efficient by 2020, announcing
that the FedEx Express vehicle fleet is now 16.6 percent
more fuel efficient through FY2011 than it was in 2005.
Twenty percent of the FedEx Express diesel vehicle pickup
and delivery fleet has already been converted to more efficient
and cleaner emission models that comply with 2010 U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency diesel emission standards. More
Information.
FedEx Corp. Staff Vice President of Environmental
Affairs and Sustainability Mitch Jackson testified this
month before the U.S. Senate on the long-term value of corporate
environmental responsibility and innovation. More
Information.
 Halliburton
has been recognized by the 2012 Offshore Technology Conference's
Spotlight on New Technologies program for its EquiFlow®
autonomous inflow control device (AICD). The EquiFlow AICD
addresses the problem of unwanted water or gas production
and solves the inefficiency in current ICD designs. More
Information.
 A
recently completed solar installation at the Back River
Wastewater Treatment Plant is expected to save the city
of Baltimore more than $6 million over the life of the project.
During its construction phase, the project further supported
the local economy through the addition of 75 jobs. As part
of a performance contract with Johnson Controls
the installation is helping the city reach its goal of self-generating
30 percent of its own electricity. More
Information.
New consumer research conducted by Johnson Controls
finds that 97 percent of Americans are ready for new Start-Stop
technology that improves the fuel economy of their vehicle.
The research was conducted to gain understanding of how
consumers view fuel-saving power train technologies based
on attributes such as purchase price, fuel economy, annual
fuel cost and performance. More
Information.
 Most
people have heard the saying that you can’t improve
what you can’t measure. But measurement can be complex
and time-consuming, especially when it comes to figuring
out how to reduce environmental impacts. Which is why Kraft
Foods is using lifecycle assessment (LCA) to help
it make the right changes and get the best results. LCA
measures the footprint of what goes into making a product,
from farm to fork and beyond. More
Information.
 Legrand
announced a more than 20 percent reduction in energy intensity
as the result of its first year as part of a Department
of Energy (DOE) program to promote energy efficiency, realize
energy and cost savings and spur job creation for communities
across the United States. More
Information.
 The
Procter & Gamble Company announced that it
is converting its battery-operated forklift fleets at three
facilities to ones powered with hydrogen fuel cells. Fuel
cells are a leading edge technology that combines hydrogen
and oxygen to produce electricity efficiently without combustion,
with the goal of producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
More
Information.
 Residents
will have greater access to fresh and healthy food choices
as part of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
and The U.S. Conference of Mayors nationwide GRO1000 gardens
and green spaces program. The City of Corpus Christi, along
with a host of philanthropic partners, will dedicate The
EDGE Garden at Lindale Park that will focus on producing
locally grown and healthy food options for area residents.
More
Information.
 The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Southern
Company subsidiary Georgia Power the 2011-2012
National Pledge Leader for its "Change the World, Start
with ENERGY STAR" campaign. The campaign encourages
consumers to take small steps that make a big difference
to save energy and help the environment. More
Information.
 Lowe's
Home Improvement named Union Pacific Railroad
its 2011 Rail Carrier of the Year at its Global Transportation
Conference. Lowe's based its selection on Union Pacific's
superior commitment to customer service and its ability
to differentiate itself from other railroads by providing
a variety of products. More
Information.
If you have news and notes you would like to
share with the GEMI members, please email them to Kellen
Mahoney.
• During the recent IPIECA Water
TF meeting in Milan, Italy, representatives from ConocoPhillips,
BP, REPSOL and ENI S.p.A, and Jan Dell, CH2MHill,
provided an overview of the GEMI
LWT™ for Oil & Gas, and shared
lessons learned by internal use of IPIECA Global Water
Tool for Oil and Gas (GWT) and the GEMI LWT™
for Oil & Gas
• During the recent WBCSD Liaison
Delegate Meeting of approximately 50 companies in
Montreux, Switzerland, GEMI Water Work Group co-chair,
Karl Fennessey, ConocoPhillips, Jan
Dell, CH2MHill and Alistair Wyness, BP provided an
overview of the an overview of the GEMI
LWT™ and shared lessons learned.
• Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) kicked off another season of EDF Climate Corps,
placing 57 specially-trained MBA students in 49 leading
companies to develop practical, actionable energy
efficiency plans that cut costs and greenhouse gas
emissions. GEMI members Carnival Corporation
& plc, CSX, P&G, Sealed Air Corporation
and Union Pacific are participating
in the program. More
Information.
CLIMATE
A
New Global Framework to Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions
from Cities
Source:
WRI
At an official side event to the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change
Conference, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40),
ICLEI– Local Governments for Sustainability, the
World Resources Institute (WRI), and partners released
Pilot Version 1.0 of the Global Protocol for Community-Scale
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC).
Source: Ceres
The three largest mutual fund companies in the U.S. managing
more than $1.6 trillion in U.S. securities in 2011, voted
on dozens of shareholder resolutions last year seeking to
improve corporate environmental and financial performance
related to climate change. But in no case did any of the
three firms cast an affirmative vote. That’s one of
the major findings of a new analysis of proxy votes cast
in 2011 by 44 of the largest U.S. mutual fund companies.
Source: WWF
Corporate members of WWF's Climate Savers program cut their
carbon dioxide emissions by more than 100 million tons over
the period 1999 to 2011, according to an independent review
of the program. The figure is equivalent to double the current
annual emissions of Switzerland.
SUPPLY
CHAIN
Source: Environmental Leader
Seventy-two percent of US companies say sustainability influences
their purchasing decisions and is an important factor when
selecting a service provider, according to a survey by cloud
computing firm Rackspace Hosting.
Source: Ceres
At last year's Ceres conference in Oakland, Levi Strauss &
Co. announced a commitment to improve conditions in its global
supply chain. The company's efforts to date on the project,
done in close collaboration with Ceres, are outlined in a
new white paper.
Source: GreenBiz
Nike is making some big changes to how it manages its supply
chain. As part of its sustainability report, the retailer
said it plans to launch a new manufacturing index in 2012
that will place factories' sustainable practices "on
equal footing" with the traditional supply-chain measures
of quality, cost and delivery.
Source: GreenBiz
MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group
recently published their third annual survey of corporate
sustainability efforts, and the responses suggest that
sustainability has become a permanent fixture on the agendas
of most executives and managers.
Source: Environmental Leader
Forty-four percent of senior executives say that sustainability
is critical to their businesses, according to an Accenture
report, and that figure rises to 64 percent in emerging
markets.
Source: GreenBiz
Data makes the business world go round. So it makes sense
that sustainability managers can improve their chances
for successful buy-in if they demonstrate measurable outcomes
that relate directly to their broader corporate agenda,
according to a panel of operations experts.
WATER
Source: Environmental Leader
What is the best way to manage water? Until recently,
most of us have not given this question much attention.
True enough, we may have realized at some point that
water is an essential resource for supporting all life
on the planet. Yet we assumed that there is, and will
always be, an ample supply of water, and that water
itself will always be one of our cheapest resources.
USGS
Details Effects of Climate Change on Water Availability
in 14 Local Basins Nationwide
Source: USGS
Climate change projections indicate a steady increase
in temperature progressing through the 21st century,
generally resulting in snowpack reductions, changes
to the timing of snowmelt, altered streamflows, and
reductions in soil moisture, all of which could affect
water management, agriculture, recreation, hazard mitigation,
and ecosystems across the nation.
Source: WRI
The Wei River in west-central China is not just the largest
tributary of the Yellow River, but it has also been a critical
water source for communities for thousands of years. To
manage this important resource, water authorities in China
just announced that they plan to invest 6 billion yuan -
more than US$950 million - this year to fight floods and
pollution in the Wei. |
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