Newsletters
Corporations And Stakeholders
May 2009, Volume 5, Number 1
In This Issue:
- Feature Article: Climate Solutions Must Be Real, Not Just Perceived by Bill Shireman, President & CEO, The Future 500
- Future 500 News: Updates on our work
- Future 500 Global: Reports from our offices in Tokyo and Beijing
- Coming Events: Monterey, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Saratoga Springs, NY; New York, NY
- Meet the Team: Find out more about who we are. This month: Senior Director, Global Stakeholder Initiative - Juliette Terzieff
- Donate to The Future 500
- Previously Featured Articles
Feature Article
Climate Solutions Must Be Real, Not Just Perceived
by
Bill Shireman
As Congress moves to enact the nation’s first comprehensive climate protection law, economist Paul Krugman asks that advocates not make “the perfect the enemy of the good.”
But there is another concern: Let’s not make perception the enemy of reality.
To pass its first legislative hurdle, Waxman-Markey was amended so that it would reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions only 4 to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 — well below the minimum 20 percent cut called for by scientists. Renewable electricity standards were significantly weakened. And the cap-and-trade system was structured in ways that invite industries and countries to game the system, creating the perception that emissions are being cut even while they increase.
These compromises prompted major environmental groups like Greenpeace to oppose the law. Their public break from the House legislation hinted at even greater concerns by environmentalists that the measure is at risk of further compromise. Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope worried that special interests “will continue to try to riddle this legislation with loopholes, water it down and load it up with hundreds of billions of dollars in giveaways.”
America has seen this scenario before.
In 1975, Congress had the opportunity to drive energy efficiency across the economy with a simple fuel surcharge. Instead, they passed the first Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for U.S. auto manufactures, creating the perception that Washington was establishing a firm cap on fuel consumption in the auto sector.
The reality was different, however. While Chrysler chose to work to meet these new federal standards, General Motors and Ford chose, instead, to direct their lobbying efforts toward thwarting them. By the early 1980s, Chrysler was the only manufacturer to have met the original CAFE target, while other manufacturers were successfully making deals with Washington to lower the standards.
Automakers devised an array of steps that enabled them to game CAFE regulations. One loophole — exempting trucks from the fuel standards set for cars — was so big that Detroit could have driven an SUV through it. And they did.
A straightforward tax could have written a different history for Detroit, consumers and the environment. In addition to incentivizing auto manufacturers to build cleaner products, a direct tax would have encouraged consumers to buy new, more-fuel-efficient vehicles, and rewarded fuel efficiency across the economy. In 1992, the Congressional Budget Office reported: “That change would not only reduce gasoline consumption, but it would also lower other social costs of driving, such as traffic congestion and the frequency of accidents. In contrast, higher CAFE standards would tend to encourage driving (by lowering the per-mile cost) and would thus increase those social costs.”
Congress shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Washington can ensure that our U.S. emissions policy is the best possible solution by focusing on a few critical points:
- Reductions must be real: Rather than setting illusory “caps” more than a decade away, the legislation needs to drive real, immediate change by incentivizing better behavior from industry and individuals.
- Fees must be direct: Volatile carbon prices — like the 17.5 percent per month fluctuations we see in the European Union’s carbon market — create profits for the finance sector, but discourage companies from investing in efficiency, by jacking up risk and the cost of capital. Instead, U.S. climate policy must set a clear, predictable price signal on greenhouse gas emissions.
- Change must be legitimate: If U.S. emissions can be offset by purchasing credits from companies in distant provinces in China, it’s anybody’s guess whether those credits will be real. Opportunities for large-scale fraud must be closed.
- Vulnerable communities must be protected: Low-income and minority communities can’t afford to subsidize power plants that have successfully lobbied politicians for free CO2 permits and offsets.
By operating under a steady price on CO2 emissions, businesses will able to plan and invest in new energy technologies. In turn, consumers will be able to choose from an increasing array of options to increase their energy efficiency. Emissions of greenhouse gases will decline in all communities. And the United States will achieve the real reductions needed to meet the greatest environmental threat we have ever faced.
Future 500 News
- We're thrilled to welcome Dr. Robert Shapiro to our corps of Senior Fellows. Shapiro's rich experience in the field of economics and public policy, and his reach into an extensive network of advocates & activists has enriched our efforts to proactively understand impending climate policy changes and the effects it will have on the way business is conducted.
- Future 500 President & CEO Bill Shireman is now a regular blogger at Huffington Post. You can read and comment on past entries in Bill's archive. To make sure you receive alerts for all new posts, be sure to become a fan on Huffington Post and follow Future 500 on Twitter.
- We are pleased to announce the continuation of our successful partnership with The Conference Board. For our third annual working group series with TCB, we will be launching an examination of remaining competititve when carbon has a price, and a second group focused on successful engagement around global events.
- Our Labor & Transparency project has moved into the next phase as we look to develop a multi-stakeholder supported framework to better promote worker protections along the supply chain. If you're interested in knowing more about how our work in this arena can assist you, please contact MaryAnn McDonnell.
- We are readying a multi-stakeholder alliance to develop key principles, to address systemic water challenges in North America and globally. For more information on our Water Initiative, please contact MaryAnn McDonnell.
Future 500 Global
Future 500 Japan's Director Tachi Kiuchi was invited to be one of three panelists discussing the future of sustainable agriculture at the two-day Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference in Paris.
Future 500 Japan has launched a new informational campaign about the Ecological Growth Economy. A full paper will be released in early June.
Working with the Center of Future Research, a Chinese translation of the "Sustainable Agriculture Survey", a project launched by Future 500 (Japan) and E-Square Inc. was published and released by Xinhua Publishing House.
Future 500 China Director, Dr. Zhouying Jin participated in the Agenda for the New Millennium meetings which took place in parallel to the World Future Energy Summit. The meeting brought together 20 leading thinkers from different disciplines worldwide in order to develop an informed and holistic assessment of the major risks and challenges facing humanity, and the most compelling actual and possible common projects.
Six Future 500 China staff members visited Japan in early April. During the trip, they observed sustainable agriculture and nursing homes for elders in Japan, met with Future 500 Japan staff and participated in the Eco-environment Business Network initiated by Future 500 Japan.
Coming Events
Sustainable Brands International
May 31 - June 4, 2009, Monterey, CA
May 31 - June 4, 2009, Monterey, CA
The Sustainable Brands Conference is the preeminent event for discussing the rapid rise of sustainability as a driver for revenue growth and brand equity in the 21st Century. SB'09 amplifies business success surrounding innovation for sustainability, and educates business leaders throughout an organization about how you can contribute to a more sustainable brand, and to grow the market for business solutions that help your company reduce its environmental impact and continue to play a positive role in the lives of your stakeholders.
Simply put, SB'09 inspires and equips the next generation of business leaders who are at the forefront of creatively rethinking the businesses and brands of the future.
Forward-looking business thinkers, brand strategists, designers, sustainability executives and communications experts at market-making companies including Aveda, Coca-Cola, Clorox, GE, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle/Purina, Office Depot, PepsiCo, Proctor & Gamble, Seventh Generation, Toyota, Wal-Mart and others will be on hand for inspiration, insight and challenge from change makers who are leading the way.
Full tracks of "how to" dialogues led by those on the front lines on:
- Changing Market Drivers & Successful Strategic Response
- Breakthrough Business, Product, Packaging & Materials Re-design
- Positioning & Communicating a Sustainable Brand in an Economically Strapped, Web 2.0 world
- Supply Chain Solutions for Reduced Risks and Costs, and Positive Brand Impact
- Strategies and skills in partnering for success, measuring sustainability, igniting inspiration in skeptics and more
The Auditing Roundtable: From Compliance to Sustainability
June 9, 2009, San Francisco, CA
June 9, 2009, San Francisco, CA
Much of the program this year will focus on climate change, energy, sustainability and the roles and expectations of auditors. This year we will be offering a one day EHS auditing skills course in conjunction with the meeting that will take place on June 8. All those participating in the training will be able to attend the meeting the following day at no cost.
Future 500 President & CEO, Bill Shireman will be participating in a panel discussion on Sustainability Metric Reporting.
Other topics will include:
- California Environmental Regulatory Update
- California Health & Safety Regulatory Update
- Auditing from the Law Firm Perspective
- Enforcement Under the Obama Administration
- Sustainability Messaging
- Energy Auditing Success Stories – Climate Change Auditing
Action for a Sustainable America
June 10 - 11, 2009, Seattle, WA
June 10 - 11, 2009, Seattle, WA
US corporations are increasingly feeling the pressure from regulators, consumers, investors and communities on a variety of environmental and social issues – GHG emissions, water usage, waste management, environmental impact and so on.
Corporate leaders with vision and foresight now realise that isolated programs of incremental improvements through eco-efficiency, public relations, carbon management, public philanthropy or publishing reports cannot fully address the major issues that sustainability present.
What is needed is a new agenda for sustainability that will provide a framework for companies to become fully responsible, to build profit and value without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Forward thinking companies realise that sustainability is an opportunity to show leadership, it is an opportunity for innovation and invigoration that will develop better managed, more successful and profitable enterprises.
Action for a Sustainable America is a conference at which sustainability leaders meet to examine how they are using sustainability to redefine corporate strategy and drive management practice. The aim is for these companies to develop the systems, strategy and frameworks that will successfully equip them for the challenges and opportunities now being presented by regulation, resource scarcity and climate change.
CEOS and leading sustainability innovators participating include: Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Lafarge, New Belgium Beer, Kettle Foods, The Holland Inc, Spud, Portland General Electric, End Footwear, The Port of Seattle, Salt Spring Coffee, Gray’s Harbor Paper, Nestle Waters North America and many more.
Future 500 Director of Operations, Erik Wohlgemuth will be moderating a panel on "Involving Non-traditional Sources in Corporate Strategy". Erik will be joined by Conrad Mackerron, Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Program at As You Sow and Brian Flaherty, Director of Public Affairs, from Nestle Waters to discuss their dialogue on recycling policy and product stewardship.
Other sessions include:
- A working definition of sustainability – what stakeholders expect
- Aligning sustainability priorities with business priorities
- Developing a structured approach to balancing risk and opportunity
- How do you make sustainability scalable?
- Developing corporate strategies that anticipate regulation
- Driving value from sustainability in a downturn
Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement
July 15 - 16, 2009, New York, NY
July 15 - 16, 2009, New York, NY
Drawing on real-world examples from insightful corporates and major stakeholder groups, this conference will highlight best practices in the complexities of multi-stakeholder engagement. This two-day, high-level event will chart a course for the next generation stakeholder communication necessary for a sustainable corporate America.
Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement offers the latest innovations in corporate sustainability engagement with multi-stakeholders including this ground-breaking session on using social media to build corporate green credentials. Attendees will find out what works and what doesn’t work when companies engage with consumers, investors, NGOs, special interest groups, communities, and employees on sustainability issues.
This event program includes two excellent keynotes from Denis Abrams, President and CEO of Benjamin Moore and Jeffrey Hollender, President and Chief Inspired Protagonist of Seventh Generation – and over 20 other experts in sustainability engagement including representatives from:
Nestle Waters * AFL-CIO * Sierra Club * Whole Foods * ITT * Sprint * SAP * Environmental Defense Fund * The Brand Architect * Virgance * MeadWestvaco * Sharp * Climate Counts * Wallace Partners * Trucost * NFL * The Stakeholder Score * Corporate Citizenship * and more
When registering, enter the code FNY20 to receive a special Future 500 discount of 20%.
Meet The Team
Senior Director, Global Stakeholder Initiative - Juliette Terzieff
As the Senior Director of Future 500's Global Stakeholder Initiative, Juliette Terzieff tracks the human rights, labor and environmental issues that affect multinational companies and then provides multiple perspectives on each issue.
Towards this end, Terzieff works to ensure that participants "can see who is saying what and who is truly looking for solutions."
"There are those on both sides [companies and activist groups] who only want their PR coup, and others who really want solutions," Terzieff explains. "Some corporations are extremely willing and able and are very proactive, but others are mired in Wild West mentality, just looking out for themselves. Some stakeholders are noble, while others would rather be martyrs than effective advocates.”
"Helping both sides to build trust and reach agreement can be challenging. The objectives may be the same but agendas usually aren't," says Terzieff, whose job is to open dialogue and find solutions that advance both social and economic ends.
Bridging the Chasm
One of the biggest challenges in bridging the chasm between these disparate stakeholder groups is understanding cultural, linguistic and societal differences. Her background has prepared her well for this mission.
Before going to work for Future 500 in July of 2007, Terzieff reported on conflicts in Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan for Newsweek, the San Francisco Chronicle, CNN International and the London Sunday Times.
"My time in conflict areas taught me the importance of opening yourself to all sides of an experience," says Terzieff.
It also honed her journalistic skills at finding the truth.
"We live in the age of disinformation...where a flashy video on the Internet is perceived as truth. My key goal is to provide the most accurate information, and help all sides move beyond demonizing each other, to find mutual solutions."
"I see a situation, I look for a way to make it better and I find a way to make it happen," says Terzieff. "It is incredibly gratifying when you help others find a solution that makes everybody happy – it is an ‘ah-hah’ moment that gives you a sense of lasting satisfaction.”
After earning her degree in political science from Niagara University, New York (she grew up in Buffalo), Terzieff volunteered with the Peace Corps from 1994 to 1995 in the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan. She went on to spend 12 years covering complex political, environmental, and rights issues in hot spots and war zones worldwide. During this time she generated more than 300 stories, including 60 front page features and an unprecedented six-part series from Pakistani tribal areas.
Making the Connection"I always lived with the families...and so I gained a rudimentary understanding of the language...It's more than the connections you make to people," says Terzieff. "It's understanding the issues that are important to them. "For corporations, they need to have the same kind of experience. Let's say Corporation A is sitting in a New York headquarters, and their manufacturing plant is in the Pearl River Delta. Decisions can be made in New York without truly understanding what it means to the workers, clients, and people who live in China. Subcontracted companies may be using child labor or spewing pollution into the water..."
Terzieff's coverage of Middle East and Eastern European conflicts ended soon after she met her future husband in Pakistan. After marrying in 2003, they moved to Tampa, Florida where he works as a banker. The couple has a one year old son.
In 2008, Terzieff saw her first book published, Women of the Court, a profile of the Women's Basketball Association she wrote after being approached by the publisher who was impressed with her reporting on women's issues. While her knowledge and passion for human rights stems from living with families in war torn and conflicted countries, her concern for the environment stems from her love of animals.
Her father was the one the neighbors called to help with a hurt animal, a raccoon trapped in a trash can, an injured bird, she explains. "My father passed this on to me. I think this is why I get so upset about extinction of species," says Terzieff. "And my concern for human rights comes out of what I did in countries I lived in."
Stricken by what she saw happening to women and children, she stayed longer and learned more about the broader issues.
"I saw that humans...we care so little for the sanctity of life. I just want to make it better."
Previously Featured Articles
August 2008
Ecology, Economy, and Energy
The relationship between economy and ecology is determinative, because "ecology" is the most immediate measure of the planetary ability to make productive use of current solar income... READ FULL ARTICLE
June 2007
How to Win the War Against Hate
We are experts on hate. We work with people who hate every day:...corporate executives and activists who hate each other across the developed and developing world. Our job is to decimate hate - to destroy it, and the counterproductive actions hate justifies, so that we clear a path for rational, sensible, effective behavior. Once this is done, solutions can come forward... READ FULL ARTICLE
February 2007
Multinationals and Their Stakeholders Set Plans For a More Harmonious 2008 Olympics
In August 2008, when three billion people turn to their televisions or the Internet to watch the Olympic Games in Beijing, it won't just be the athletes commanding the attention. China itself, and the many multinational corporations operating there, will also be center stage. They won't be judged for their athletic prowess, but for their performance on issues like chemical spills, child labor, democracy, and press freedom... READ FULL ARTICLE
November 2006
Turning Conflict Into Cooperation
Ten years ago, top executives at three Mitsubishi companies were suddenly faced with a protracted consumer boycott campaign waged by activist NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN), which sought to tarnish the company's brand to force it to change its business practices. Instead of fighting RAN, the companies did exactly the opposite of what its lawyers, public relations experts, and crisis professionals advised: They sat down and engaged the group's leaders in dialogue... READ FULL ARTICLE
February 2006
Toward A Framework for Supply Chain Leadership
This document represents a first step toward a potential framework for supply chain leadership. It is based on interviews of companies conducted before the Working Group (October 2005), literature searches and reviews of thirteen companies and ten independent supply chain initiatives, and discussions among executives during the Working Group. It is a project of the Working Group on Global Corporate Citizenship and Risk Assessment, and is prepared by The Future 500 and The Conference Board...READ FULL ARTICLE
October 2005
PET Peeve
In the face of continued declines in plastic recycling rates, a handful of PET industry advocates have hit upon a new strategy: prevent new more sustainable alternatives from entering the market. Their approach is just plain wrong. Better alternatives are the key to the success of plastic recycling, and may represent the future of the companies now devoted to PET.... READ FULL ARTICLE.
July 2005
Avoiding Survey Fatigue
It is an old truism that wise investing depends on good information. While there are well-developed, government-regulated mechanisms for collecting and disseminating accurate and relevant financial information from publicly traded companies, the means for gathering and distributing non-financial information are relatively early in their development. But the demand for non-financial reporting is growing...issues like greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental and social liability potential. Many companies have responded by... READ FULL ARTICLE.
March 2005
The Stakeholder Imperative, Part 2
In this article, we outline a three-phase stakeholder engagement process. These phases (and the steps or tasks that comprise each phase) build a sequence of activities that can create the foundation for an effective stakeholder engagement process, guide the business strategic planning agenda, and increase a company's ability to be robustly competitive in a changing business environment... READ FULL ARTICLE
October 2004
The Stakeholder Imperative, Part 1
Today's companies serve not just shareholders but an increasing array of 'stakeholders' including employees, customers, community groups, governmental regulators and environmental advocacy groups...What are the features of this new environment for business? READ FULL ARTICLE
July 2004
Jumpstarting California's Hydrogen Economy
Governor Schwarzenegger's recent announcement to commit 0 million to create a California hydrogen highway by 2010 positions the State as leading this technological transformation in the U.S. But several states - Ohio, Michigan, New York, Texas - are competing for this title... READ FULL ARTICLE
April 2004
Dogged By Dozens of CSR Standards
The surge of standards for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is creating tremendous challenges and opportunities for leadership companies... READ FULL ARTICLE
Future 500's stakeholder engagement methodology is based on feedback and adaptation. In this spirit, we encourage you -- our stakeholders -- to share your ideas below.
Easily unsubscribe from the newsletter
We really want all of our newsletter subscribers to thoroughly enjoy the advantages of the information we provide. However, if at any time you‘re not happy with your subscription, you can easily unsubscribe. Every email we send includes simple instructions on how to unsubscribe.
Privacy - We will not share your email address with anybody!
We respect your privacy, and we take this matter very seriously. We won’t share your email address with anyone, and you'll only receive the Future 500 newsletter as scheduled.
Subscribe
Sponsorship/Advertising
The Future 500 newsletter Corporations & Stakeholders goes to our list of over 12,000 subscribers - business people, NGOs, activists, governmental workers, academics, foundations, media - who share a common interest in stakeholder engagement and corporation social responsibility. In the past, NGOs, businesses, and governmental agencies have sponsored our newsletter to promote a conference, a job listing, a new sustainable product offering or initiative.
For more information on our rates and demographic data, download our Rates & Information (PDF) or contact , our newsletter manager.
Design, Development, and Maintenance by LoginIncluded and PapayaSoft