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GEMI WORK GROUPS
GEMI NETWORKS
GEMI COMMITTEES
The
8th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment:
Climate Change: Science and Solutions, January
16-18, 2008 in Washington, D.C. The three-day National Council
for Science and the Environment’s (NCSE) conference
will provide a strategic opportunity to address large scale
solutions to climate change. Over 1,000 participants from
government, the business, academic, and non-governmental
communities are expected to attend. The conference will
feature 35 interactive breakout sessions, 10 concurrent
symposia, and the “Showcase of Solutions” Exhibition.
Following the conference, the participant-developed action
agenda will be included in a published report to be disseminated
nationally and internationally.
Voluntary
Carbon Markets New York: February 5-6, 2008, New York,
NY. The event will provide an in-depth overview of this
exciting market, look at the attempts to standardize the
market, the risks of investing in the market, the future
developments of the market in terms of its relationship
with a future mandatory market.
Concentrated
Solar Power Congress: February 5-6, 2008, Barcelona,
Spain. The inaugural CSP Congress will focus on investment
opportunities in CSP and analyse what factors make new projects
attractive to investors, providing a platform for financiers
and project developers to meet and do business.
The
Conference Board’s Leadership Conference on Global
Corporate Citizenship: February 26-27, 2008, New York,
NY. An invited group of 21st Century leaders from large
and small organizations will share insights on how corporate
citizenship is about "Winning Ideas for Tomorrow,
Today."
CEPS
4th Annual Brussels Climate Change Conference 2008:
February 26-27, 2008, Brussels, Belgium. After a series
of high profile events related to climate change throughout
2007 such as the G8 summit or the major economies meeting,
the climate change negotiations during the COP13 in Bali
are expected to agree on a roadmap for the negotiations
for a post-2012 climate change agreement. After taking stock
of the state of negotiations, this joint CEPS/Epsilon conference
will explore the key issues for the post-2012 agreement.
ECO:nomics:
Creating Environmental Capital: March 12-14, 2008, Bacara
Resort, Santa Barbara, CA. A unique conference from the
editors of The Wall Street Journal, ECO:nomics takes a CEO-level
view of the rapidly developing relationship between the
environment and the bottom line. At ECO:nomics, The Wall
Street Journal will bring together top leaders, thinkers
and innovators to debunk the myths and uncover the opportunities
in a massive new market: the business of environmental capital.
GLOBE
2008: March 12-14, 2008, Vancouver, BC, Canada. This
event will center around four main themes: Corporate Sustainability,
Energy & Climate Change, Finance & Sustainability
and Building Better Cities. Over 50 speakers have already
been secured for the 10th event in the renowned GLOBE series,
including some of the world's most prestigious business,
government, and social leaders.
Sustainable
Manufacturing Summit: April 8-9, 2008, The Art Institute
of Chicago, IL. Representatives from Dell, Royal Philips
Electronics, Honeywell, Cadbury Schweppes, Sharp, Caterpillar,
Interface, Patagonia, Frito Lay, Toyota, Interface, GM,
Yakima, and General Mills are among those confirmed to speak.
With sessions focusing on climate-friendly product development,
operational response, sustainable supply chains, and waste
management, this event covers carbon reduction at every
stage of the manufacturing process.
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December 2007
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A
Message from Bob Accarino
GEMI Chair 2008 |
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As we close out 2007 and look forward to GEMI’s
activities in 2008, the GEMI Board wants to thank
you for your continued support and participation in
GEMI. And, I want to thank you for electing me to
be the Chair of GEMI for 2008.
The GEMI Board of Directors has been meeting over
the past few weeks developing strategies and approaches
that will enhance the value of both your individual
as well as your companies’ participation in
GEMI. After the first of the year, I will be sharing
with you the results of the Board’s work but
for right now we wanted to share with you the meeting
schedule for next year, so you can get those dates
on your schedule and also give you some insights into
how the meetings next year will differ, in some degree,
from those in the past.
First, we want to make you aware of the meeting schedule
for 2008 that will, in response to the messages the
Board has heard from the membership, include 3 instead
of 4 meetings. We are decreasing the number of times
that members have to travel to meetings, but enhancing
the value provided to you for the time you spend at
the meeting. In addition, GEMI will be "greening"
our meetings in 2008. The
meetings dates for 2008 will be:
• Meeting #1: February 19-21
in Miami, FL hosted by Carnival Corporation
• Meeting #2: May 20-22
in Williamsburg, VA co-hosted by Anheuser-Busch and
Smithfield Foods
• Meeting #3: October 28-30
in Chicago, IL hosted by Kraft Foods
The annual SAC meeting will be held in June 2008 in
NYC/NJ area and we are still in the process of determining
an exact date and location. Once this has been selected
we will share this information with you.
There will be a new format for the membership meetings
next year. We will be launching what the Board is
calling the “GEMI Forum”. This new forum
concept is being designed to help all of us improve
the business case for EHS/sustainability within our
organizations based on both internal drivers and external
influences facing global organizations today. The
first GEMI Forum will be at the February meeting and
will be a facilitated discussion led by an external
thought leader(s), and will include company presentations,
group exercises and roundtable discussions designed
to assist members in the tactical realities of creating
a high-performance EHS organization.
Jim Kearney of BMS, who will be GEMI’s new Vice
Chair in 2008, will be working with the GEMI Board
and GEMI’s staff to develop the meeting agendas
and arrange for guest speakers. If you have suggestions
for speakers for the meetings, please contact Jim.
We look forward to working with you in 2008!
Bob Accarino
Director, Global Environmental Affairs, Abbott
2008 GEMI Chair |
GEMI Meeting #1: February 19-21 in Miami, FL -- We will
hold the first GEMI Meeting in 2008 on February 19-21, 2008
in Miami, FL. Carnival Corporation & PLC
is the meeting host. The meeting location is the Hotel
Sofitel Miami (800-258-4888 / 305-264-4888) located
at 5800 Blue Lagoon Drive, Miami, FL 33126. A block of guest
rooms with the rate of $215/night (for a single room) has
been reserved under “GEMI” – be sure to
ask for GROUP RESERVATIONS. Please be sure to make your
reservations soon, as the block ends MONDAY,
JANUARY 21, 2008.
The meeting will begin on February 19 at 12:00pm and end
on February 21 at 2:00pm EST. Carnival Corporation &
PLC will host a dinner on Feb 20 at Jungle
Island in Miami. At this meeting, we will debut several
innovative ideas and present information that you will not
want to miss. We will debut the GEMI Forum, present the
GEMI strategic plan, and allow increased opportunities for
roundtable discussion and Network interaction.
Please note that we will be sending out a detailed DRAFT
meeting agenda and a Meeting Response form in early January.
Anheuser-Busch
(#35), BNSF (#1), Johnson Controls
(#7) and Southern Company (#21) are listed
in the Top 50 Most Military-Friendly Employers 2007. This
list, drawn from a sample of an estimated 2,500 companies
(those with over $1 billion annual revenues), was created
based on company criteria including the strength of company
military recruiting efforts, the percentage of new hires
with prior military service, and company policies toward
national guard and reserve service. More
information. The list can be found here.
Cargill
and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have formed
a partnership to support global efforts to examine health
links among humans, livestock and wildlife, and to monitor
for avian influenza and other diseases shared between people
and animals. Cargill is committing $1.5 million for two
initiatives spearheaded by WCS: expanding a global surveillance
network for avian influenza in Indonesia and Vietnam, and
introducing a grants program for animal health projects
in Brazil. More
information.
Coca-Cola
has redesigned its iconic glass "contour" bottles
to use 20% less glass. The 11-ounce bottle is both shorter
and slightly wider and weighs nearly two ounces less than
the original design. Coke estimates that converting to the
lighter packaging will cut its raw glass usage by an estimated
3,500 metric tons and CO2 emissions by 2,200 metrics tons
a year. In September, Coke unveiled a new 20-ounce plastic
bottle that uses 5% less plastic. More
information. As part of a larger commitment to climate
protection, the Coca-Cola Company also launched a new website,
www.polarbears.thecoca-colacompany.com,
to help raise public awareness about the plight of the polar
bear. Through the new digital portal and North America Coca-Cola
stores, consumers can directly support polar bear conservation
projects undertaken by World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The Company
has also established a conservation seed fund called the
Coca-Cola Polar Bear Support Fund, which will support new
and existing projects by WWF. More
information.
Duke
Energy is expanding its renewable energy portfolio
through a contract to purchase 100 wind turbines from General
Electric. The turbines, capable of generating a total of
150 megawatts, are anticipated to be in service in the 2009-2010
timeframe on sites currently under review in the western
and southwestern United States. The company’s wind
generation assets are managed by Duke Energy Generation
Services (DEGS), a Duke Energy subsidiary that focuses on
renewable energy, commercial power and onsite energy across
the United States. More
information.
Innovations
will be essential to increasing the energy efficiency of
buildings and transportation to reduce global greenhouse
gas emissions, DuPont Greater China President
Doug Muzyka told participants at the Bali Global Business
Day at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change. Jointly organized by World Business Council for
Sustainable Development and the International Chamber of
Commerce, the Bali Global Business Day brought together
nearly 300 decision makers from companies, governments,
inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. More
information.
Intel
Corporation is at the top of the Corporate Responsibility
Officer (CRO) Magazine's Best Corporate Citizen list for
technology hardware companies. Also, Dave Stangis, director
of corporate responsibility, Intel, was named to Ethisphere
Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics
list. More
information.
Johnson
Controls, Inc. has pledged to reduce its total
U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity per dollar
of revenue by 30 percent from 2002 to 2012. The company
has committed to the reduction goal as part of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Climate Leaders
program, which Johnson Controls joined in 2003. More
information. Johnson Controls also illustrated its commitment
to sustainable business practices at a capacity building
workshop on recycling in Tijuana, Mexico on December 4.
More
information.
The World Bank
and Merck & Co., Inc. announced an
initiative to raise $50 million to help eliminate river
blindness, a leading cause of preventable blindness, in
28 African countries. Merck has pledged up to $25 million
- about half of the funding needed over the next eight years
to help eliminate this public health problem which puts
the health and livelihood of 100 million people at risk
worldwide mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. More
information.
Owens
Corning introduced the industry's first paper-free
all service jacket for fiberglass pipe insulation with the
launch of FIBERGLAS Pipe Insulation with Evolution Paper-Free
ASJ. This innovative solution dramatically improves mold
prevention in commercial structures by eliminating paper,
which can be a mold and mildew food source. More
information.
Roche
has achieved a 10.8 % reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
since 2001 at its United States sites. This accomplishment
is two years ahead of the goal set by Roche in support of
the United States Environmental Protection Administration’s
(EPA) Climate Leaders program. Roche Group U.S. Affiliates
pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG emissions by 15 percent
from 2001 to 2010. More
information. Also, Abbott pledged to
reduce its total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by
2 percent on an absolute basis from 2006 to 2011. A member
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Climate Leaders program since 2006, Abbott has announced
this goal as part of its ongoing commitment to reduce its
environmental footprint by exploring responsible, progressive
ways to measure, manage and reduce its energy consumption.
More
information.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals,
a division of Wyeth, announced that it
has been recognized for its leading scientific and pharmaceutical
achievements at the third annual Scrip Awards ceremony held
in London, England on December 4. Wyeth received honors
for Best Overall Pipeline, and Best New Drug. More
information.
If you have news and notes you would like to share
with the GEMI members, please email them to Amy
Goldman.
Two clean-tech venture capital funds - RockPort
Capital Partners and DFJ
Element are interested in finding a forum that would
include hundreds of executives from Fortune 500 companies
that might be interested to hear about their portfolio
companies. Each of the Funds’ web sites have a list
of their portfolio companies. Coca-Cola
has recently made investments in both funds. If you would
like more information about this, please contact Jeff
Foote at Coca-Cola.
CEOs are under more pressure than ever to incorporate
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices
into their core strategy — and as many as nine in
ten are up to the challenge, according to a McKinsey survey.
An article
in the October issue of McKinsey Quarterly summarized
the survey findings, reporting that 90% of the CEOs said
they were doing more to address ESG issues than they did
five years ago. An overwhelming 95% said public expectations
for corporate responsibility are higher now than they
were five years ago. More
information.
Companies that give high priority to green transport
issues tend to make more money, according to a new study
from logistics firm Eye for Transport. The survey of more
than 500 large companies worldwide finds a strong correlation
between those reporting the highest revenues and those
emphasizing environmental performance in logistics operations.
More than half (59%) of respondents consider green issues
either "important" or "very important"
to their companies’ overall strategy, and nearly
one in ten say green issues are likely to become the top
priority for their transport and logistics operations
within the next three years. More
information.
CLIMATE
Source: SustainableBusiness.com
After failing to pass a second procedural vote on the proposed
energy bill, Senate Democratic leaders removed the last
contentious measure--a tax package including production
credits for renewable energy and reduced tax breaks for
big oil companies--and passed the bill late in the day by
a vote of 86 to 8.
Source: wbcsd.com
ISO (International Organization for Standardization), the
World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council
for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) under which they have agreed to jointly
promote the ISO 14064 standards and the WRI and WBCSD GHG
Protocol standards. The move is in response to concerns
among businesses and GHG program designers that the two
standards might not be consistent and mutually supportive.
Source: msnbc.com
A U.N. climate conference adopted a plan to negotiate a
new global warming pact, after the United States lifted
opposition to a call by developing nations for technological
help to battle rising temperatures. The adoption came after
marathon negotiations overnight, which first settled a battle
between Europe and the U.S. over whether the document should
mention specific goals for rich countries' obligations to
cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: PlanetArk.com
The trillion-dollar shipping industry must set global
targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and other air
pollutants by the end of 2008 or risk having regional
solutions imposed on it.
Source: sfgate.com
Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to ask voters next year to approve
a "carbon tax" on businesses that he says would
provide a financial incentive for conserving energy and
motivating workers to use public transportation. The ballot
measure would increase the city's 5 percent commercial
utilities tax by an as-yet-undetermined amount to encourage
energy-saving steps by hotels, offices and other nonresidential
buildings.
Source: SustainableBusiness.com
Earlier this month a team of experts led by the University
of Colorado released a detailed and bold plan for the
next President of the United States to assert bold leadership
on global warming within 100 days of taking office. The
Presidential Climate Action Plan consists of more than
300 specific recommendations for changes in federal policies,
programs and laws, across more than 13 topical areas --
including energy policy, national security, economic development,
natural resource stewardship, public health, transportation
and local adaptation.
Source: SustainableBusiness.com
California continued its leadership role in environmental
policy by setting key emissions targets and becoming the
first state to require heavy industry to report greenhouse
gas emissions.
Both actions were required under AB32, California's landmark
climate change legislation, known as The Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006.
Source: msnbc.com
Al Gore received his Nobel Peace Prize and urged the United
States and China to make the boldest moves on climate
change or "stand accountable before history for their
failure to act."
Source: SustainableBusiness.com
The EarthLab Foundation announced its 2007 list of
the Top 10 Green Cities in the United States. Chicago
tops the list followed by New York, Boston, Los Angeles
and Philadelphia. Rounding out EarthLab's Top 10 Green
Cities List are Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle,
Austin and Portland.
Source: SustainableBusiness.com
The Green Jobs Act of 2007 (H.R. 2847), introduced by
Reps. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and
John Tierney (D-MA) was incorporated into the energy
bill and authorizes up to $125 million in funding to
establish national and state job training programs,
administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The training
programs would address job shortages in green industries,
such as energy efficient buildings and construction,
renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles,
and biofuels development. Estimates suggest these growing
industries could create as many as 3 million green collar
jobs over a 10-year period.
WATER
Source: siwi.org
Companies
that have contributed to pollution elimination or
reduced freshwater consumption through innovative
programs, policies, processes or products now have
the opportunity to be nominated for the prestigious
2008 Stockholm Industry Water Award. The Stockholm
Water Foundation presents the award in collaboration
with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Nominations will be accepted until February 28, 2008,
from businesses and industries whose resources, competencies
and experiences have helped to reduce the effects
of the escalating world water crisis. The award will
be presented in August 2008 during the World Water
Week in Stockholm. An on-line nomination form, criteria
and other information is available here.
Source: nfwf.org
The Five Star Restoration Challenge Grant Program
is a national program providing modest support to
community-based wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat
restoration projects that build diverse partnerships
and foster local natural resource stewardship through
education, outreach and training activities. Five
Star is a partnership between the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the National Association of Counties
and the Wildlife Habitat Council. Southern Company
is the southern corporate lead sponsor, having made
a five-year $1.2 million, commitment to fund projects
in its service area through 2010. Applications for
2008 grants nation-wide are being accepted until February
15, 2008. Awards are between $10,000-$40,000 depending
on duration and scale; applicants must provide a minimum
1:1 match (dollars or in-kind) to their request; partnerships
should include at least five partner groups ('stars');
and projects must include both a restoration and educational
component. This program is open to any public or private
entity. This is a great way for employees to get involved
with their local community.
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