Serving people, planet and profit: An 'integrated bottom-line' approach to looking at business for entrepreneurs, activists, and decision makers
Welcome to Triple Pundit. Economy, environment, and society are interdependent. For too long business has thought of itself as separate. We aim to change that. If you would like to contribute by becoming a columnist or simply have some ideas to share,
3P is excited to be attending the 2008 Sustainable Brands conference in Monterey, CA this June. If you are responsible for your company's brand or sustainability strategy, there is no more important conference to attend this year. Please register for the conference here, and we'll see you there.
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Interested in viewing 3-D visualizations showing how climate change projections for the 2030s and 2050s will affect selected landscapes? Well, USAID, NASA, the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology, the University of Colorado and CATHALAC (Centro del Agua del Trópico Húmedo para América Latina y el Caribe) have just the thing for you. The development partners on May 2 announced the beta release of the Climate Mapper tool for SERVIR Viz, the Regional Visualization and Monitoring System.
Climate Mapper should “enhance vulnerability assessments as development planners consider adaptation strategies for projects,” according to the group’s press release.
Modeled data is based on monthly data averaged over the decades 2031-2040 and 2051-2060. Three models output data based on the models used in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report: the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model; the European Centre/Hamburg Model (ECHAM); and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Coupled Model.
These three models “were chosen because they represent the highest, middle, and lowest projections for changes in Africa in the Climate Moisture Index (CMI), a measure of the relative balance of precipitation and temperature and run using the A1B SRES scenario, a scenario of economic activity and carbon emissions that most closely represents the current or business-as-usual economic and carbon emissions trajectory,” according to the group’s press release.
In addition, the software renders historical temperature and precipitation for the 1961-1990 base period taken from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit database of monthly climate observations from meteorological stations interpolated 0.5° grid covering the earth’s land surface.
Initial complementary Climate Mapper data sets are available for Africa for ½-degree x ½ degree grid cells, which cover approximately an area of 50 square kilometers near the equator. Future data set releases are expected to cover the entire planet.
Both the Climate Mapper and SERVIR Viz can be downloaded here.
Lately our news feeds about the business sector, government and development activities in Latin America have painted a stark picture;...[read more]
The DoE's National Renewable Energy Lab announced MoU's for two public-private partnerships in the past two days: one on the Hawaiian island of Maui where it will work with UPC to research and develop wind energy resources in line with Gov. Lingle's Clean Energy Initiative, and a second with Conoco-Phillips and Iowa State U. to develop biomass-to-fuel conversion technologies making use of corn stalks, hardy grasses, fast growing trees and other non-food vegetable organic matter.[read more]
Looking to draw attention and redress the staggering fact that some 49% of the world's population lack access to basic sanitation and safe, sustainable water sources, the UN has launched a global financing mechanism, the Global Sanitation Fund, and is organizing World Sanitation Day events in Geneva and New York.[read more]
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has released the first of three reports assessing the potential risks climate change and land subsidence pose for the Gulf Coast region's transportation infrastructure and proposing ways that planners and government officials might adapt.[read more]
Lots of activity at WIREC 2008 (the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference), including more than 100 uni-, bi- and multi-lateral pledges from some 40 countries to increase renewable energy development and use.[read more]
HP’s been a big proponent of a range of more environmentally sustainable business practices for quite some time now. Welcome news is that it is finding ways of doing a lot more in the way of recycling, and in rapidly industrializing China. An initial 31 HP equipment drop-off centers have been established in Chinese cities and more are coming, making it easier for individual consumers and SMBs to do their part in closing the product lifecycle loop.[read more]
Being acquainted only indirectly and mostly through media snippets with James Lovelock and colleagues' work developing the Gaia Hypothesis, now Theory, I expected to learn a lot and be intrigued enough to dig deeper into the literature dealing with climate change, systems science and energy. I haven't been disappointed...but I unexpectedly have found a source of seemingly dispassionate insight into the issue of nuclear power...[read more]
Electrical utilities around the US are increasingly turning to net meters that enable customers to receive credit for unused or surplus electricity they put back into the grid. The two-way meters key parts of efforts to address the increasingly pressing need to build a nationwide smart electrical grid that not only ramps up management efficiency but promotes use of renewable energy resources.[read more]
The US DoE's National Renewable Energy Lab is playing a central and pivotal role when it comes to carrying out research, development and commercialization of promising alternative energy and clean technologies. As part of its outreach efforts, NREL on Tuesay pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 75% by 2009 as a member of the EPA's Climate Leaders program. [read more]
Mitigating the future consequences of global warming is an important aspect of our current response to climate change. As the...[read more]
It’s official. Global climate change is not our future. It is our present. It’s happening faster than scientists predicted, according...[read more]
The Robb Report is a lifestyle mag for the ultra wealthy that often pushes the "tackiness" envelope well past the...[read more]
I knew they'd be the last oil company to say anything remotely green and I have to admit a huge...[read more]
According to Costa Christ, director the Bar Harbor, Maine Chamber of Commerce and expert in international travel, tourism currently represents...[read more]
McDonalds, like Wal Mart is often scapegoated into a corner as an uncaring behemoth. I'm not going to debate that...[read more]
Plenty Mag's excellent blog alerted me to this very cool population projection map that was produced by Population Action International....[read more]
Check out this article on UW-Milwaukee's campus and Whitney Gould's suggestion to do away with surface parking in favor of...[read more]
We've reported earlier about Japan's zany "warm biz" program that encourages businesses to lower the thermostat in winter and get...[read more]
There's an amusing article in this weekend's SF Gate about the what many people see as quite a dillema -...[read more]
Wal Mart's grocery department will soon begin switching from petroleum based plastic clamshells to corn-based packaging. The potentially revolutionary news...[read more]
If you've read the book Cradle to Cradle by McDonough & Braungart, then you are aware of the philosophy that...[read more]
If NASA can do it, why not Singapore? Being a small island nation, self sufficiency is high on Singapore's list...[read more]
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