Raise Your Voice at COP15

We just discovered an interesting collaboration between the Danish Government and Google/YouTube to raise awareness of the importance of global climate change and inspire the public to get involved. The channel includes a number of interesting videos, with testimonials from activists, leaders and even celebrities, including Jet Li and Desmond Tutu.

Be sure to check out Fleishman-Hillard’s new COP15 section, Countdown to Copenhagen, on our sustainability Web site. Our practice group leaders will be on-site during this important gathering. You can catch our COP15 tweets by following the #FHCOP15 tag or by following us @FHSustain.

iPhone Apps For Going Green

OK, this is so cool. Jaymi Heimbuch and the team over Treehugger compiled a list of some of the best 100 iPhone applications for going green.

Solar Power Costs Drop 30% since 1998

Costs for solar power systems continue to drop, according to new research by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a lab within the U.S. Department of Energy.

Since 1998, costs have dropped 30% thanks to cheaper photovoltaic modules, as well as labor, overhead and marketing. Researchers found that in the past 11 years, costs have reduced from $10.80 per watt to $7.50 per watt, with the most substantial reductions coming in small PV systems used in homes.

As an Information Technology (IT) professional, I would like to introduce myself by presenting some of my thoughts of why I think IT plays a key role in sustainability.  My intention is not to underestimate other players, but rather to talk about the one that makes the worst enemy and the best friend of the “green” world.

Let’s start with the bad part – IT is a problem.  According to Peter Siggins and Connor Murphy’s article Putting Green IT to Work for Corporate Sustainability, IT’s contribution to global carbon dioxide emission is ever-increasing. “To illustrate,” the article reads, “in the U.K., the IT and Communication sector has a carbon footprint equivalent to the aviation industry.” Then we have data centers that often house numerous servers, and according to Manfred Dworschak’s  Massive Computer Centers Bad for the Environment article, monthly electricity costs can raise up to $185,000. Needless to say – not very green (at least, not eco-green).

However, IT can also be a part of the solution. Several months ago I read a CNN article, which was forwarded to me by my Fleishman-Hillard ‘green’ teammate Randy Harris, on calculating the amount of carbon emission that is generated through Internet/online activity. I remember feeling very discouraged after reading the article, as it all suddenly seemed too overwhelming. What I didn’t take into a count at that time was that technology was behind that article – analyzing and identifying issues within itself.

There was technology behind the calculation that produced CNN’s “Twenty milligrams” opening sentence found in the above article. There is technology behind energy use tracking of data centers. There is technology behind general CO2 emission audits. The technology is already there (and has been for a while), researching and addressing sustainability issues.

Companies are already taking advantage of this new IT direction to cut costs and become more eco-friendly. For example, Ernst & Young, an FH client, published an interesting report for the IT industry looking at a range of options and opportunities in sustainability, from data centers to other emerging technologies.

Here are a few more real world examples:

• Allstate Insurance consolidated four data centers into two energy-efficient data centers. (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/335585/Allstate_Insurance_Co.)
• Office Depot centralized and virtualized servers, which resulted in 10.1% reduction of greenhouse gas emission and saved 66 million kWh of electricity. (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/335772/Office_Depot)
• Mohawk Fine Papers use sensors that collect data on energy use, which is transferred into a Web-based, real-time analysis system. (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/335618/Mohawk_Fine_Papers_Inc.)

Where there is investment, there is invention.

So while IT professionals, and the whole industry for that matter, might top environmentalists’ negative list due to findings, it was IT that gathered those findings for them. And if there is a way to discover, then there is a way to address. We just need to keep researching and investing.

Evening falls on the 2009 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Jamie Carracher)

There was a celebration Saturday night on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as 20 teams of college students from around the world marked the end of the Solar Decathlon, an exciting and innovative contest where energy efficient houses are scored on everything from temperature control to entertaining.

For the second competition in a row, the German team from Technische Universität Darmstadt was proclaimed the winner. Their house, clad nearly entirely with solar panels, generated and stored impressive amounts of energy. And it looked pretty cool, too.

I arrived in late afternoon for my shift as a volunteer at the victory reception. The weather was miserable – persistent rain, dreary clouds and winter-like temperatures. Yet visitors in rain jackets with umbrellas waited patiently to go inside each house, led by the many volunteers who had signed up for multiple shifts throughout the two-week event. They knew almost as much about the houses as the students. And they wanted to know more.

At the reception, each team was called to a podium to be recognized for their work. As a PR person, I couldn’t help but see brilliant spokespeople of the future. Their message was passionate and authentic: The future will be great – if we just let it.

There was plenty to learn at this year’s decathlon. But perhaps the best lesson came from hearing from the students, volunteers, organizers, sponsors and, most importantly, visitors. I learned creating a sustainable future can be back-breaking; it can be heart-breaking; it can be exciting; it can be sleep-depriving; it can be eye-opening; it can be fun.

As a global community, we face a lot of tough talks in the coming months and years. The road ahead will be challenging, and as communicators we will be called upon to help build consensus for some changes that might be hard. As we develop our plans, messages and strategies, we should also remember the excitement and passion of those who walked the National Mall this October. This can be fun, too.

Credit: Coca Cola

From Coke to Clean Water

Dean Kamen, the prolific inventor who brought the world Segway, has teamed up with Coca Cola to help re-think their ubiquitous soda fountain business, BusinessWeek reports. The pop dispensers, seen in restaurants around the United States (come on, you know what I’m talking about!), have not been updated in decades. Working with Kamen, the company created a new fountain (pictured above) that’s technology allows customers to create a multitude of customized drinks based off concentrated ingredients stored in cartridges rather than big bags of syrup. But why is Kamen, a medical device inventor who normally focuses on game-changers, spending his time on carbonated beverages? Because his real game-changing goal is to bring potable water to the world. Very interesting read.

Road to COP15

We gather interesting news from around the Internet as the world gears up for critical climate change talks December in Copenhagen

African leaders met this week to discuss creating a unified position as they prepare to enter climate change talks at COP15. Kenyan Environment Minister John Michuki says pan-African collaboration is needed in order to ensure African nations don’t “(waste) our meager resources for two weeks and come out there with nothing.”

In Australia, saving jobs has overtaken climate change as the top policy issue facing the country, according to a recent opinion poll. The government is not fazed and will continue its plans to tackle the issue. “I think Australians basically think that the Rudd Government is going to do something about it, that it’s taking not only action at home seriously but action in Copenhagen seriously,” said Dr. Michael Wesley with the Lowy Institute, which conducted the poll.

Drive-Thru Museum

Rendering of the Automobile Museum in Nanjing (Credit: 3GATTI)

Remember when I asked earlier this week if cars are that important? Well, China is poised to open the world’s first drive-thru museum.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Washington Post published an interesting report last week – the underground parking lot at a popular new shopping district in Northwest Washington is frequently going underutilized. The 1,000 space, $40 million lot, paid for by the city, serves retailers like Target, Best Buy, T.J. Maxx and a dense, beautiful old residential neighborhood.

“I don’t want to say it’s a quote, unquote, mistake. At the time the District did what it had to do to attract a retailer it sorely wanted,” Valerie Santos, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, told the newspaper. “Am I happy about the operating deficit? Of course not.”

As a nearby resident, I enjoy having some of my favorite essential stores nearby and easily accessible. I also appreciate the transformative investment that has taken place in this part of the city. However, it does bring up an interesting question about how we develop our cities.

Shopping on any given evening or weekend shows this redevelopment has been a wild success. However, with a Metro train stop right next door, a popular, cheap circulator bus frequently stopping a block away and many thousands of residents nearby, how important are cars really?

Communities around the country are taking a good look at investment, redevelopment and transit-oriented development. In Cleveland, my hometown, the local transit authority has plans to relocate one if its train stations to the heart of the historic Little Italy neighborhood, complementing nearby restaurants and retail and even a possible park over the tracks.

As this tough economy influences nearly everything we do, I wonder if it is also having a subtle impact on how we interact with our communities. Gas prices are down this year, but Americans expect to drive even less in 2009. What do you think this means?

Treehugger this week posted a video (above) from Nissan that aims to “tell Nissan’s Zero emissions story,” by focusing on Leaf, its fully electric hatchback automobile. As communicators, we all know how important and challenging it can be to tout innovation authentically. Nissan’s approach is interesting, especially its use of short web-friendly videos, hosted on YouTube, and circulated with influential bloggers. This is a strategy that many companies are embracing to great effect (like AT&T, an FH client). What do you think?

Green Career Development

If you live in Chicago, you may want to check out the upcoming sustainability career workshops from the Foresight Design Initiative, an organization that “seeks to improve and sustain the quality of life in the urban environment through smart design, without sacrificing the needs of future generations.” Next week the organization will host part II of its career development workshop series. With spots filling up fast (only two left at this posting), you’ll may want to plan ahead to be added to the list for the next round of workshops in mid-November.

Workshop attendance costs $75 and promises to give attendees an introduction to what kinds of jobs are available and how you can work to land your dream gig.

This is a wonderful idea. Are there any organizations doing something similar in your community? Let us know in the comments!

D.C.  Alternative Energy Talk Canceled

I recently wrote about an exciting panel discussion being hosted this week by the D.C. chapter of PRSA on U.S. implementation of alternative energies. Well, I got the unfortunate news that it was canceled due to lack of interest. I was very disappointed, especially as this is the city where our nation’s sustainability policy is being forged.

Is this part of a larger trend? Is sustainability being ignored, and if so, how can we get it back to the forefront of discussion?

Credit: Inhabitat.com

As October 1 marked the “official” start of Walmart’s Sustainability Index, I have been wondering about the eventual outcome and current progress of this first phase. As you may know, by that date, Walmart’s “top-tier” consumer product companies should have returned a 15-question assessment form, detailing information about their carbon footprint, resource use and ethical business practices.

According to an article by GreenBiz.com, the sheer size of Walmart’s reach and influence makes the initiative a big deal – few other companies can even come close to the power that Walmart can yield as one of the world’s biggest customers. Which in itself makes Walmart an essential part of any conversation about the future of sustainable business practices.

But this is just the first step and the index itself remains a work in progress. Rand Waddoups, Walmart’s senior director for sustainability, admits that the retailer doesn’t have it all figured out, but notes that they don’t want to have it all figured out right now – and they’re working with their suppliers to find the best way to move forward.

This is undoubtedly the best approach – reportedly, only 10 percent of Walmart’s approximately 100,000 global suppliers had already been tracking this data and many Walmart suppliers remain in great need of assistance with preparing their responses. Consultants have emerged specifically to target these needs, including ClearGreen Advisors, the “Walmart Sustainability Experts.” Marc Major, cofounder of ClearGreen Advisors, says, “The majority is unprepared. It seems like suppliers are waiting for some kind of signal from Walmart that this is serious. I don’t know what it’s going to take for some to figure it out.”

Hopefully time is on their side – Walmart’s sustainability initiative is broken into three phases:

• The first phase is the supplier assessment, a survey of the company’s 100,000 global suppliers with 15 questions. Walmart’s top-tier suppliers in the U.S. must complete the survey by Oct. 1; timelines for the remaining suppliers have not been announced.
• The second phase involves the creation of a lifecycle analysis database by a consortium of universities that will work with suppliers, retailers, government and nonprofits. Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas will jointly administer the consortium.
• The third and final step calls for delivering the information to the consumer on how products rank, possibly through a numeric score, color code or other label.

There are three “scores” for the supplier assessment: Suppliers will be rated either “above target,” “on target” or “below target.” Walmart suppliers can fill those questions out online at Walmart’s Retail Link and once the questions are answered online, suppliers will get instant feedback. Suppliers will be able find out how their operations measure up, how they compare to other suppliers in their category and they’ll also be provided with “tips on how a company can improve their performance.” Waddoups notes, “We want to know if you’ve measured it; if you’ve measured it, that’s important. If you’ve measured it and you’re making progress, that’s even better.” Interestingly, Walmart does not intend to “own or manage” the index itself – that will be left to Sustainability Consortium.

So what exactly with the index measure and what purpose will it ultimately serve? The index will serve as a way for the retailer to “measure the sustainability of every product it sells.” Over the next few years, labels will begin to appear on products – allowing consumers to compare and navigate the increasingly confusing world of sustainable/eco-friendly/”green” claims of various products. Is this the end of greenwashing?

So will Walmart be able to “sustain” this initiative, or will it go the way, as others have noted, of their RFID (radio frequency identification) and “Made in America” requirements?

Credit: Reuters

At last week’s G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, little progress was made on climate change. The European Union’s original intention was to get some specific commitments on the fight against climate change ahead of the Copenhagen summit in December (COP15), but leaders did not manage to agree on precise obligations, especially on the thorny issue of climate financing. They have asked their finance and energy ministers to report in November on possible options to help developing countries adapt to climate commitments. The issue will surely resurface during the new round of climate negotiations in Bangkok over the next 10 days.

Having said that, the G20 agreed to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies over the medium term. This is not a trivial decision as the G20 accounts for over 80 percent of the world’s energy use and removing fossil fuel subsidies helps eliminate market distortions and strengthen incentives for investments in energy efficient technologies and non-fossil energy supply. Also, the G20 committed to stimulate investment in clean energy, renewable energy, and energy efficiency and to provide financial and technical support for such projects in developing countries. A timeline with actions and deadlines will be presented at the next G20 summit in Canada in June. The future will say if the agreement can translate into a firm commitment.

All this is very well, but I wonder how participants of the COP15 will manage to agree on a post Kyoto deal with exact emission reduction targets for the period after 2012 if global leaders do not make progress during these in-between meetings. In this respect, Obama’s recent comments playing down the need to reach an agreement by the end of the year are not particularly reassuring.

Less than 80 days from COP15, I believe leaders of the world have still a long way ahead.