environment - Blog - Global Risk Community2024-03-28T12:04:01Zhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/environmentGreening Your Workplace: Practical Steps for Companies to Take Action on Climate Changehttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/greening-your-workplace-practical-steps-for-companies-to-take-act2023-03-17T12:10:06.000Z2023-03-17T12:10:06.000ZMyrtle Bautistahttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/MyrtleBautista<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10998966276?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Climate change is arguably the most pressing issue faced by mankind today. To even have a chance against it, everyone must strive to reduce their impact on the environment. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Companies, in particular, should assume a leading role in preventing climate disaster. Doing so benefits not only the environment but the businesses themselves. A 2020 study from Unily found that </span><a href="https://www.unily.com/insights/guides/future-of-the-sustainable-workplace-in-the-age-of-covid-19-and-climate-change"><span style="font-weight:400;">65% of workers prefer to work for a company with a strong environmental policy</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">. This indicates green companies appear more reputable and attract more talent.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">One of the key tasks businesses have is to green their workplace, and many practical steps exist to achieve this. In this article, we will discuss the practical steps companies can take to green their workplace.</span></p><h1><span style="font-weight:400;">1 - Conduct a Carbon Footprint Assessment</span></h1><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Reducing a company’s impact on the environment requires a carbon footprint assessment. This assessment allows companies to determine how large their footprint is, giving them insight into what is expected of them in terms of reducing it.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">A carbon footprint assessment calculates the total number of greenhouse gases a company produces. It takes into consideration energy consumption, waste production, and transportation activities.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Conducting a carbon footprint is the critical first step in developing a sustainability plan. It allows a company to understand where its emissions are coming from. This knowledge then helps in identifying which areas it can reduce its carbon footprint. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">For instance, a company, through assessment, might find a large bulk of its carbon emissions come from the energy consumption of its offices. In this case, it may consider investing in renewable energy sources. It may also implement energy-efficient lighting, </span><a href="https://www.getconduit.com/"><span style="font-weight:400;">air conditioning</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">, and smart building automation to lower energy consumption.</span></p><h1><span style="font-weight:400;">2 - Implement Sustainable Practices</span></h1><p><span style="font-weight:400;">With an understanding of their own carbon footprint, companies can better determine which practices they need to follow. It is essential to implement sustainable practices that align with the </span><a href="https://www.cooleaf.com/guides/guide-to-company-core-values"><span style="font-weight:400;">company’s core values</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">The following are some practical steps a company can take to implement sustainable practices:</span></p><ul><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Reduce energy consumption</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Switch to renewable energy sources like solar or wind power. Implement energy-efficient lighting and smart building automation to reduce energy consumption.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Minimize waste</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Reduce paper consumption, encourage recycling, and eliminate single-use plastics.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Encourage sustainable transportation</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Encourage employees to use sustainable transportation options. Teach them about carpooling, public transportation, and biking.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Provide remote work options</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Allow employees to work from home when possible and set up virtual meetings. Doing these can reduce travel-related carbon emissions.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Establish sustainable procurement practices</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Choose suppliers that have sustainability practices in place. Also, select sustainably produced and packaged products.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Acquire green building certifications</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Obtaining certifications like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) demonstrates a company’s commitment to sustainability. Being certified also comes with benefits for the company.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Implementing sustainable practices is a no-brainer for companies. It reduces their carbon footprint while also saving them money on energy bills, reduces waste disposal costs, and attracts customers who prioritize sustainability.</span></p><h1><span style="font-weight:400;">3 - Engage and Educate Employees</span></h1><p><span style="font-weight:400;">How effective your sustainable practices greatly depend on how well a company’s employees follow them. After all, employees comprise the bulk of a company’s workforce. And they play a critical role in reducing its carbon footprint.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Therefore, engaging and educating workers should be a part of a company’s </span><a href="https://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/4-processes-of-sustainable-change"><span style="font-weight:400;">process of sustainable change</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">. They are also obligated to provide the necessary tools to take action. Doing so not only makes it easier for employees to implement the practices, but it also makes them more effective.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Here are ways businesses can engage and educate their employees:</span></p><ul><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Provide sustainability training</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Offer sustainability training to employees. This helps them understand the importance of sustainability. It also teaches them how to implement sustainable practices.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Create a green team</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Establish a "Green Team" of employees who are passionate about sustainability. Empower them to lead sustainability initiatives.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Foster a culture of sustainability</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Foster a culture of sustainability by promoting sustainable practices. Also, recognize employees who go above and beyond to support sustainability.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Deliver sustainable resources</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Provide employees with sustainable resources such as reusable water bottles, coffee cups, and utensils. Doing so helps reduce waste and promote sustainable practices.</span></li><li style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Measure and communicate progress</strong><span style="font-weight:400;">: Measure the company's progress in reducing its carbon footprint. Make sure to communicate this progress to employees to foster a sense of ownership and pride in the company's sustainability efforts.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Engaging and educating employees is essential to implementing sustainable practices. By empowering employees to take action and fostering a culture of sustainability, a company can not only reduce its environmental impact but also increase employee satisfaction and retention.</span></p><h1><span style="font-weight:400;">Final words</span></h1><p><span style="font-weight:400;">Businesses worldwide are expected to pull their weight in executing </span><a href="https://www.manifestclimate.com/blog/what-is-tcfd/"><span style="font-weight:400;">climate action plans</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">. Committing to big-ticket sustainability projects is important, and greening the workplace is one of those projects. Doing this requires plenty of time, effort, and resources, but with a data-driven approach and sincerity, any company can be greener.</span></p></div>Green Tourism Strategy: 3 Key Phaseshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/green-tourism-strategy-3-key-phases2021-11-15T18:43:40.000Z2021-11-15T18:43:40.000ZMark Bridgeshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/MarkBridges<div><p><a href="https://flevy.com/business-toolkit/tourism"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2291 align-right" src="http://powerpointing-templates.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Tourism-Strategy2-200x300.jpg" alt="Tourism Strategy2" width="200" height="300" /></a>Tourism is a key element in creating an impetus for financial growth across the globe. The sector was providing jobs to around 260 million people and contributing to over 10% in global GDP, based on 2010 numbers. These numbers will grow in future.</p><p>However, these financial benefits do not occur without costs that have the potential to destroy popular destinations and disrupt tourism. Costs—or adverse effects—of travel involve:</p><ul><li>Massive carbon footprints produced by air travel</li><li>Changes in the clean environments due to human footprint</li><li>Degradation—or obliteration—of ecology because of travel</li><li>Climate change happening across the world—e.g., unpredictable weather, mounting sea levels, or land turning into deserts.</li></ul><p>Tourism Research by UK’s Devon County Council reveals that tourists were considerate of environment when booking their travel, and were willing to pay more for green tourist destinations. Tour operators, in turn, now regularly rank destinations based on their green services and products, and demand higher green standards from tourist resorts.</p><p>However, still a large majority of resorts, hotels, and tourist destinations fall behind in terms of environmental sustainability, green standards, and services. Some are only hinging on marketing tactics, glossy brochures, and eco-friendly language. These destinations are only eyeing near-term gains, and are at a high risk for draining their resources, environmental degradation costing fortunes to repair, and losing a sizable potential customer base.</p><p>Tourist destinations are facing critical environmental issues—e.g. clean water, carbon emission, protection of biodiversity, and waste reduction / disposal. These issues necessitate commitment from all stakeholders and having proper structures and systems—i.e. regulations, stakeholders’ education, funding, marketing, and public relations—to regulate and promote <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/sustainable-tourism-5947">Sustainable Tourism</a>.</p><p>Above all, confronting these issues demand a coherent, carefully-crafted <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/green-tourism-strategy-5957">Green Tourism Strategy</a>. The challenge to devising a Green Tourism strategy is the uniqueness of each destination—in terms of culture, ecology, resources. Thus, each destination warrants a bespoke strategy encompassing 3 key phases:</p><ul><li><strong>Appraising Environmental Health</strong></li><li><strong>Plotting the Green Journey</strong></li><li><strong>Implementing the Green Strategy</strong></li></ul><p><a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/green-tourism-strategy-5957"><img src="https://flevy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Tourism-Strategy.png" alt="" width="595" height="450" /></a></p><p>Let’s take a closer look at the first 2 phases.</p><h3><strong>1. Appraising Environmental Health</strong></h3><p>The first step to devising a Green Tourism Strategy entails carrying out a thorough baseline analysis of the existing environmental health status of the tourist location, to outline its strengths and weaknesses. This should encompass <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/benchmarking-primer-1976">Benchmarking</a> the site’s performance in comparison to global environmental best practices and defining what needs to be done in the near as well as long term (key initiatives), in the order of their importance for the destination.</p><h3><strong>2. Plotting the Green Journey</strong></h3><p>This phase entails defining the vision for Green Tourism and taking into account the objectives to realize that vision. The vision enables the policymakers to plan and choose the measures to be taken to maintain the sustainability of the destination. These measures fall into 2 categories:</p><ul><li>Preventive measures—meant to inhibit or avert any damage to the surrounding ecosystem of the destination. These initiatives are aimed at finding and employing cost-effective solutions and technologies rather than using modern technologies. These initiatives suit locations with limited funds.</li><li>Radical measures—meant for those destinations that are financially sound and want to maintain their status of being leaders in green tourism. These sites are always ready to adopt cutting-edge technologies to safeguard their eco-friendly status.</li></ul><p>Interested in learning more about the key phases of <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/green-tourism-strategy-5957">Green Tourism Strategy</a>? You can download <a href="https://flevy.com/browse/flevypro/green-tourism-strategy-5957">an editable PowerPoint on <strong>Green Tourism Strategy </strong>here </a>on the <a href="https://flevy.com/browse">Flevy documents marketplace</a>.</p><h3><strong>Do You Find Value in This Framework?</strong></h3><p>You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the <a href="https://flevy.com/pro/library">FlevyPro Library</a>. <a href="https://flevy.com/pro">FlevyPro</a> is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:</p><p>“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”</p><p>– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects</p><p>“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”</p><p>– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting</p><p>“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”</p><p style="text-align:right;">– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd</p></div>ESG and See-Through Economyhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/esg-and-see-through-economy2021-06-25T09:10:00.000Z2021-06-25T09:10:00.000ZEce Karelhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/EceKarel<div><p><iframe style="border:none;" title="Embed Player" src="//play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/19508660/height/200/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/ec1e3c/download/no" width="100%" height="200" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight:400;">In this week's blog post, we're sharing insights on our latest interview with Steven Minsky. Steven is the CEO and founder at LogicManager, which is a powerful risk management software. Especially during the pandemic, LogicManager has spent a lot of effort to create a relief package for their customers, to ensure their software and services can be used in innovative ways and create success stories and solutions that are available for everyone on their </span><a href="https://www.logicmanager.com/solutions/"><span style="font-weight:400;">website</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">. We had our first interview with Steven in January, and it was about Data Privacy and how regulations like GDPR are changing the game for businesses. This time we've focused on ESG Strategies and the effects of see-through economy.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>ESG Has Become More Important Than Ever</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">ESG (Environmental Social Governance) has been building up for a decade, and became an important factor for companies to enable a robust strategy on. At the moment, the awareness is at an all time high, and certainly a lot of global issues such as the pandemic, BLM and other social and environmental changes brought it to the levels we're seeing now. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">What's particular about ESG is that, even though it was something society has always aspired to do better, now it has also become a financial mandate. There's trillions of dollars of investment that are used for social causes. This is partially due to the see-through economy where everyone can share their stories and potentially become viral simply with a click on their phones. You can use this accessibility for everything, including attracting visitors to your organisation or if you're not careful, to expose the weaknesses in your organization which might make investors or customers flee away from your organization. </span><strong>Best strategy is to see the ESG changes as an opportunity while being mindful of the risks it might bring alongside the new regulatory requirements.</strong></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Implementing ESG in Your Organisation</strong></span></h2>
<p><strong>One of the biggest problems when it comes to implementation of ESG is identifying the actual stakeholders.</strong><span style="font-weight:400;"> Many organisations will make the mistake of thinking that ESG is only about the environment and deep dive into one simple aspect. What they need to do is take a step back and say, "What or who are my stakeholders?", "What industry am I in?", and "What is my relationship to my stakeholders within my industry?" </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">For example,if you're a cancer research facility, you've got to be looking at donors as your lifeline. You need to see what your donors value. And this is not even necessarily about cancer but rather about connecting to your donors and the interests of your donors. And only after that you can look into the environmental, social and governance aspects of cancer research and implement necessary steps or measures. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">The thought process should be relatively the same regardless of which industry you are in, because at the end of the day, the most important aspect and first step of it is to figure out your true stakeholders and what the need or value is. Keep in mind that stakeholders don't necessarily have to be your investors, it can very well be your customers or anyone that has the biggest impact on your organisation's financial growth. </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight:400;">After identifying, ESG is all about execution and value. It is important to take it as an opportunity but be well aware of the threats. For example, hiring a controversial celebrity can lead people to boycott your brand or make them buy more products from you. Even if the strategy, and stakeholders are the same, the way you execute a certain concept and show what you value makes a huge difference. Although a lot of people see ESG as an emotional component, you also need to look at it as a business component where you can use ESG aspects as a fact, justify and quantify in a way to use it for the good of your community and organisation.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Evidence and Disclosure of ESG Is Now Crucial</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">The solutions or the issues around ESG are quite dependent on the industry itself. However, the process could be made relatively simple and similar if it is based upon a model that can produce reliable results in a predictable period of time. In Steven's case, they use their risk maturity model, which provides the evidence. This is crucial because the FCC recently passed a new enforcement, where you are required to make a disclosure about ESG because of the investor interest. Because of the financial outcomes this is an important aspect to take into consideration. </span><strong>Making a misstatement in your ESG capabilities, your ESG strengths or weaknesses could be held equivalent to making a financial misstatement of your profits and losses, or the strength of your assets, and at the end might come back as a penalty.</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Now that the disclosure statement is at the same level as Sarbanes-Oxley Act, meaning that it doesn't matter whether the misstatements are fraudulent or negligent, organisations are forced to provide evidence of their ESG capability and statements. And this involves any disclosure whether it is formally or informally as long as it has financial ramification and it is something investors are relying upon, the same penalties apply.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">This enforcement has now spread to all of the regulatory agencies that have the add-on, as it was with Sarbanes-Oxley, following trade associations, state organizations, as well as to Europe and Asia, making it a hot issue. Together with the see-through economy where external people can create and spread false statements easily, it is easier for companies to be vulnerable. Especially in industries such as oil or petroleum products, this might end up being a big problem where decision makers and risk experts need to work hard on. Right now, one of the best things these companies can do is to acknowledge environmental risks and also address this vulnerability, as not addressing it itself might even be a penalty.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">In that sense, using models or solution packages allows you to make ESG disclosures and collecting evidence supporting your claims creates a safe, effective and efficient process which can greatly help your organization. LogicManager also provides solution packages which can help you tackle this issue.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Predictions and Potential Risks for ESG</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">To be able to talk about prediction, it's important to look at the data patterns, just as how it is in the rest of risk management. </span><strong>Risk management is about identifying trends and patterns early, and then imagining the unimaginable and preparing for those desirable and undesirable outcomes.</strong><span style="font-weight:400;"> If we can accurately look into and analyse these patterns, we will be able to seize the opportunities, or prevent potential threads just like we have mentioned previously. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">For more context, we can look into the recession of 2008. When this recession occurred, there was a massive shift in the risk management world. This is also where Sarbanes-Oxley came out, alongside more risk-based approaches and solutions. The current pandemic is doing the same right now. You can see for the next five years clearly what those risks or opportunities on the grounds are, based upon previous patterns caused after massive shifts. Regulatory actions might lag those risks and opportunities because of the see-through economy. For example, the pandemic has put a serious hole around the world and their trust in institutions. Accordingly, in the next five years across the board, you can expect reputation and trust changes, particularly around enforcement actions from a regulatory perspective, and the necessity to show evidence from your institutions to restore the trust investors' and customers. With the amount of bankruptcies and economic uncertainty we've seen due to the pandemic, it is understandable that the investment community is nervous, and they're going to want to see evidence. Even if your business is not interested in investors right now, you'll still need to gather this evidence because alongside them, the regulatory authorities and social and environmental authorities are also going to be asking for this evidence. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">In anycase, collecting the evidence and the data will also help you in the future, for internal changes such as a board member or decision maker change or adapting to new technologies, ultimately helping your organisation have an easier time with transition. One good example is Exxon. Exxon had always gotten it's way and most organizations have gotten their way on their board slate for elections. In this particular case, as an unprecedented evidence of the power of this see-through economy, two board members were outed and replaced by an activist organization that put forth a slate based on ESG. It's preferred directors were not hired at the end and Exxon found that they had a new boss. This comes back again to the power of ESG and the see-through economy, and where your company might be affected dramatically by the power of external sources. Accordingly, Exxon wasn't doing enough to change its business model, to be prepared for clean energy and that they weren't investing enough in diversifying from fossil fuels. As a result, they replaced board members to drive the organization, to invest more in clean energy and to ensure the dividends and performance of the stock into the next five years. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Although this is just one example, it seems to be a trend in various organisations around the world, and we can expect companies to make such changes to appeal further to ESG regulations and see-through economy. If you don't take the see-through economy seriously, and adopt a risk-based approach with fundamental data collection and analysis to rule out anything from the lack of action or pro-active new technologies, you are going to find a tremendous backlash that has unnecessary market and economic harm. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Takeaway Points</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight:400;">The biggest takeaway from this topic is to </span><strong>recognise the opportunities and potential risks that arise from ESG as it is an important aspect of our current risk management world.</strong><span style="font-weight:400;"> It is crucial to recognise your stakeholders, their values and what they are focusing on, especially when it comes to current environmental and social challenges, and adapt accordingly to the changes. Organisations shouldn't be afraid of current changes, and analyse data patterns where similar global shifts occurred when it comes to risk management. Introducing new things to create more opportunities for your company, to adapt to the new norms will become a great asset in the upcoming years. For example, updating the certifications of risk management professionals and giving the staff proper training to accommodate new designations or the new trends on risk-based approach could already make your company be more prepared for the challenges ahead, and in general give a new insight on understanding of the complex world of risk management.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Closing Words</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">For now, this sums up the key points of our interview. As the Global Risk Community team, we once again thank Steven Minsky for his insight on ESG and see-through economy. More information about this topic is available in our original interview, which is accessible </span><a href="https://globalriskcommunity.com/video/how-can-erm-help-facilitate-esg-strategies-with-steven-minsky"><span style="font-weight:400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight:400;">.</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /> </span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /> </span><strong>#risk #ESG #social #environment #economy #governance</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>Life Capital, not Marxism is the Solutionhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/life-capital-not-marxism-is-the-solution2016-04-22T02:11:40.000Z2016-04-22T02:11:40.000ZEnrique Raul Suarezhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/EnriqueRaulSuarez<div><p></p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028247883,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028247883,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="400" alt="8028247883?profile=original" /></a></p><h2 style="text-align:center;" class="center"><strong>Beyond the Empire of Chaos: Building Ecology into the Economy. Life Capital Value, Base and Measure</strong></h2><p class="center"><strong> </strong></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"><span class="font-size-3">By:</span></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"><strong><span class="font-size-3">Prof. John McMurtry</span></strong></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"><span class="font-size-3">Global Research, April 18, 2016</span></p><p style="text-align:center;" class="center"></p><p><em>Ecological and social science research increasingly demonstrate that ‘globalization’ is not what it seems. It does not produce more prosperity and reduce poverty for the world, but just the opposite. Ever more powerful transnational corporate money sequences multiply through organic, social and ecological life hosts looting and polluting them. </em></p><p>But what can the social alternative be?</p><p>Philosophers across schools reject any ultimate common value, and no political party has any unifying solution. Meanwhile a Hobbesian imperative rules – that all must compete harder in this end-game to survive. The cumulative consequence is that common life capital bases are increasingly depredated and stripped to further enrich the corporate rich. Business statistics themselves show that the poorer half of the world has lost <em>over 40% of its wealth in the last five years</em>, while less than one-tenth of one percent of the world’s population has multiplied its private wealth. Yet the World Bank still claims ‘global poverty reduction’, elite voices blame ‘overpopulation’, and games spectacles capture most attention.</p><p>With even the opposition repeating masking slogans of “neo-liberal”, policy drivers to reclaim the life capital of humanity are not conceived. ‘Liberal’, ‘Conservative’, ‘Keynesian and ‘Marxist’ theories lack any life capital base or measure. All acceptable economic schools assume priced commodity-cycles as an end in themselves. So-called ‘neo-classical economics’ has no life coordinates, while political leaders assume this economics in a world of invisible-hand rule.</p><p>Even ecological economics remains confined to raw material replacements so that board-foot plantations and biodiverse forests are not distinguished in value. One welcomes counter-evidence to this profile across parties and schools, but none is shown. As in the past, few in favorable positions want to move out of the value system that rules. There is fiddling at the margins, but the ruling paradigm works ever more systemic oppression and ruin on the ground.</p><p>Keynesianism is the favorite alternative of progressive economists in the press, but it too is life-capital blind. Keynes himself only questioned the Supply = Demand equation, arguing it could also be the reverse with Demand leading the productive cycle (ie., by government spending, even if it were only “holes in the sand”). This is about as far as the ‘alternative’ goes, with military, PPP, green-wash schemes and bank handouts spending trillions of public wealth to keep the big corporate money-sequences going.</p><p>‘Growth’ is the panacea, that is more priced commodities. The life-coherent idea that the demand of the economy is ultimately the <em>demand of life systems for life goods</em> is completely repressed. Money-exchanges alone compute even if the ice-caps melt, more billions are malnourished and ever more species go extinct.</p><p>Read the rest of this extraordinary article in the link below:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/beyond-the-empire-of-chaos-building-ecology-into-the-economy-life-capital-value-base-and-measure/5520668" target="_blank">Article Link</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>“Everyone Is Doing It”: How Carmakers Manipulate Emissions Test Resultshttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/everyone-is-doing-it-how-carmakers-manipulate-emissions-test2015-10-04T15:25:14.000Z2015-10-04T15:25:14.000ZEnrique Raul Suarezhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/EnriqueRaulSuarez<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236674,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236691,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236472,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236472,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8028236472?profile=original" /></a></p><p style="text-align:center;"></p><p style="text-align:center;">Enrique Suarez Presenting:</p><p style="text-align:center;"></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>“Everyone Is Doing It”: How Carmakers Manipulate Emissions Test Results</strong></span></p><p></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236691,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a></strong></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;">Source:</p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/tyler-durden" target="_blank">Tyler Durden</a>Global</p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"></p><p class="center" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-03/everyone-doing-it-how-carmakers-manipulate-emissions-test-results" target="_blank">Zero Hedge</a> 3 October 2015</p><p></p><p><em>With Germany’s <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-22/why-volkswagen-systematically-important-germany-and-europe" target="_blank">largest company by revenue</a>, Volkswagen, deep in damage recovery mode, and the market still unable to decide just how <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-22/why-volkswagen-systematically-important-germany-and-europe" target="_blank">systemic </a>and profound the fallout will be from the emissions scandal which has already cost the job of VW’s CEO and which according to some will impact the GDP of Hungary and the Czech republic as much as -1.5%, many are still trying to determine not if but how many other companies – whether “clean diesel” focused or otherwise – will be impacted by the crackdown on emissions fraud.</em></p><p>We don’t know the answer suffice to speculate that it will be “many” for one simpler reason: there are dozens of ways to manipulate emissions tests in both the lab and on the road, and with the temptation to “reduce” emissions all too great for management teams laser-focused on boosting profit margins, one can be certain that in this particular case not only is there more than one cockroach, there are dozens.</p><p>The chart below <a href="http://www.transportenvironment.org/sites/te/files/publications/CarTest_general.3.pdf" target="_blank">from Transport and Environment </a>shows some of the traditional ways in which carmakers manipulate CO2 emissions tests to make their cars appear more efficient:</p><p class="center"></p><p class="center"></p><p class="center"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236674,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="600" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236674,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8028236674?profile=original" /></a></p><p class="center"></p><p class="left">Worse, according to a follow-up report, it is only a matter of time before far more widespread crackdowns take place within the auto industry where emissions fraud now appears as systemic as that of the global banking sector.</p><p><a href="http://www.transportenvironment.org/press/some-mercedes-bmw-and-peugeot-models-consuming-around-50-more-fuel-official-results-new-study" target="_blank">As reported earlier this week, </a><strong>the gap between official test results for CO2 emissions/fuel economy and real-world performance has increased to 40% on average in 2014 from 8% in 2001</strong>, according to T&E’s 2015 Mind the Gap report, which analyses on-the-road fuel consumption by motorists and highlights the abuses by carmakers of the current tests and the failure of EU regulators to close loopholes. T&E said the gap has become a chasm and, without action, will likely grow to 50% on average by 2020.</p><p> By exploiting loopholes in the test procedure (including known differences between real-world driving and lab simulations) conventional cars can emit up to 40-45% more CO2 emissions on the road than what is measured in the lab. But the average gap between test results and real-world driving is more than 50% for some models. Mercedes cars have an average gap between test and real-world performance of 48% and their new A, C and E class models have a difference of over 50%. The BMW 5 series and Peugeot 308 are just below 50%. The causes of these big deviations have to be clarified as soon as possible.</p><p>Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at T&E, said: “Like the air pollution test, the European system of testing cars to measure fuel economy and CO2 emissions is utterly discredited. The Volkswagen scandal was just the tip of the iceberg and what lies beneath is widespread abuse by carmakers of testing rules enabling cars to swallow more than 50% more fuel than is claimed.”</p><p class="left">Greg Archer concluded: “This widening gap casts more doubt on how carmakers trick their customers in Europe to produce much better fuel efficiency in tests than can be achieved on the road. The only solution is a comprehensive investigation into both air pollution and fuel economy tests and all car manufacturers to identify whether unfair and illegal practices, like defeat devices, may be in use. There must also be a comprehensive overhaul of the testing system.”</p><p>Who are the biggest European culprits.</p><p class="center"></p><p class="center"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236691,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="600" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028236691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8028236691?profile=original" /></a></p><p class="center"> </p><p class="left">The cost: distorted laboratory tests cost a typical motorist €450 a year in additional fuel costs compared to what carmakers’ marketing materials claim, the report finds.</p><p>Now multiply that by tens of millions of cars and you get a sense of the potential industry liability, especially since can be absolutely certain Europe’s US carmaking peers are just as guilty of emissions manipulation.</p><p>Finally, to paraphrase Dr. House, everybody lies.</p></div>The Purpose of an Organizationhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/profiles/blogs/the-purpose-of-an-organization2015-04-20T02:17:13.000Z2015-04-20T02:17:13.000ZEnrique Raul Suarezhttps://globalriskcommunity.com/members/EnriqueRaulSuarez<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8028231890,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="720" height="420" class="align-center" style="width:475px;height:255px;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8028231890,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8028231890?profile=original" /></a>Henry Ford</p><p style="text-align:center;"></p><p>Edwards Deming described the purpose of an organization in New Economics, on page 51, as:</p><p></p><p>"The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain - stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment - over the long term."</p><p></p><p>Like so much of what Deming said that makes sense to me. It is my sense the "conventional wisdom" would state something more along the lines of the purpose of a company is to make money. I would not agree. Rewarding the owners is important, but other stakeholders should be included in the purpose. Even with a strictly legal argument it is not true that a company exists only to make money. The company enters into legal obligations to employees, suppliers, customers and communities.</p><p></p><p>Conventional wisdom agrees that a company must comply with the law. Many of those laws are requirements society has put in place to ensure that companies focus on obligations to their customers, community, suppliers and the environment (over the long term).</p><p></p><p>Some might chose to view those legal requirements as only a means to make money. That a company exists to make money and that so long as a law doesn't require something else; any decision should be based only on long term financial benefit. I would not agree. The laws are a manifestation of the belief of the society that other important considerations exists that must be considered.</p><p></p><p>In the early stages of capitalism the business world was largely seen as amoral. That is no longer the case (again as I see "conventional wisdom"). Most, though not all, believe that companies have moral obligations to the environment, community, customers and employees. Many of these obligations have been turned into laws (just as there are laws that require the interests of the shareholders to be cared for). Those laws set the minimum legal limit that must be met. And they seem to pretty clearly express the decision society has made that companies exist within a society and have a larger purpose than making money for the owners. One benefit of companies is that they reward those who invested in them. They also provide jobs to employees and products and services to customers.</p><p></p><p>How those interests are balanced is not such an easy issue to address. I think Deming's quote is a good starting point for discussion. Right now we have the balance pretty heavily in favor of the owners (and making profit). I personally, think it makes sense to have that as a very important factor, though I favor increasing the focus on some other factors than is the current normal practice. Most importantly, I believe we need to increase the importance of the purpose of providing good jobs for employees.</p><p></p><p>The marketplace does a pretty good job of asserting the importance of customers and suppliers. Even so, regulation and law enforcement are necessary actors in those instances where the free market is insufficient. The changes in the world are making it very difficult for the community interests to be respected. And I think that this trend with likely increase. I plan to think more about what this will mean going forward.</p><p></p><p>There is an important difference between those that see the only true purpose of a company is making money and those that see a variety of purposes that must be balanced. I hope we can move the conventional wisdom to a more balanced view of the importance of the various stakeholders from what I see now as the current unhealthy focus.</p><p></p><p></p></div>