Asia’s social and economic performance over the past three decades has been the most important development in the economic world, and in the 21st century, it has become the powerhouse of the global economy. With this in mind, the prospect of developing Asia-oriented institutions designed to tackle some of the region’s most pressing challenges (more…)

The World Bank and IMF have convened their annual meeting this week to discuss strategies for strengthening holistic economic growth, and facilitate poverty eradication in developing areas of the world.

One of the key topic areas being discussed by World Bank and IMF leaders will be energy poverty, a core (more…)

With the United Nations Rio+20 summit on sustainable development set to open next Wednesday, negotiators from developing nations walked out of a key working group over disagreements with wealthier nations about funding environmentally responsible development and the transfer of green technology. (more…)

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has vetoed critical revisions to the nation’s Forest Code that environmental advocates said would lead to rampant deforestation of the Amazon.

Speaking to reporters, government officials said Rousseff had vetoed 12 of the 84 articles in (more…)

Margaret Mead once said, ‘The only person who likes change is a wet baby’, to which Hunter Lovins added ‘and the baby squalls all the way through the process.’ So change is never easy, especially on the big issues of sustainability. In thinking about this, I have found Richard Beckhard and David Gleicher’s Formula for Change rather useful: D x V x F > R. This means that (more…)

While business sustainability and economic growth are the ultimate goals of most companies, evidence shows that these effort are best served by a strong and stable work environment. Our sustainability consulting finds that successful business sustainability cultures focus on communication and (more…)

New Zealand is quietly becoming an alternative energy powerhouse. Industrial Info, a provider of global industrial market intelligence, currently tracks 25 local renewable energy projects in the planning and engineering phase that are scheduled to begin construction from 2012 onward. The projects total more than US$4.87 billion in investment value and (more…)

Twenty years ago, an historic environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro produced groundbreaking treaties and high hopes that pressing issues would be addressed. But as organizers prepare for the Rio+20 conference in June, there is little on the agenda to suggest any substantive action will be taken. (more…)

It’s been quite a couple of weeks for the sustainability movement in Canada, since Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s comments about “environmental and other radical groups” and their opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline project.

The unfortunate result of the government and (more…)

In 1999, fewer than 500 companies issued sustainability reports. That number is now over 3,500. Once only a concern for a few niche companies with sustainability as a core value and brand differentiator, corporate sustainability has moved categorically into the mainstream. (more…)