December 2008

Species banking in the US

"Speciesbanking.com is the nation's first information clearinghouse for the species credit trading industry... Speciesbanking.com will initially focus on species credit trading in the United States; this includes credit trading under conservation banking agreements, as well as those species credits established under other legal instruments such as wetland banking agreements, memorandums of agreement, the Safe Harbor Act, and Habitat Conservation Plans."
    www.speciesbanking.com 

Greening the world's economy

On 1-3 December, UNEP launched the UN's new Green Economy Initiative in Geneva, Switzerland. Earthmind associates, Francis Vorhies and Sarah French, participated in the meetings and contributed to the panel discussion on biodiversity-based business.

    earthmind.net/bbb/gei.htm

November 2008

Greening supplies from the South
Greenbiz has released a timely report on greening supply chains. It "examines the definition and scope of Greening the Supply Chain initiatives, discusses the value they contribute to business, identifies selected key factors to success, presents an approach for managing successful GSC projects and reviews what remains to be done..."

     Greening the supply chain in emerging markets
     www.greenbiz.com 

Obama: A big win for sustainability!

The San Francisco Business Times reports that the Obama presidency "may signal good times for the sustainability industry -- solar power, electric cars and the like."
     Obama win may bring good times for sustainability
Also see the results of the BSR/Cone 2008 Corporate Responsibility in a New World Survey regarding Barack Obama and CSR:

      BSR/Clone 2008 survey

Colouring hotels green

IUCN has  released a new biodiversity guide aimed at all hotel managers and owners of small and large hotels, located anywhere, from cities to mountains and coastal areas.

     Biodiversity: My hotel in action

October 2008

Potential new IUCN/Danone partnership
In support of a new sustainability partnership between IUCN and Danone, Earthmind associates undertook a preliminary due diligence of the Danone Group which suggests that the benefits of engagement far outweigh the risks and that Danone is an appropriate partner for IUCN.
     Danone preliminary due diligence report (final as of 31 Oct 08)
     iucn.org/business

New study on governmental use of voluntary standards

Earthmind associate, Christine Carey, is the principle author of a comprehensive new set of reports for the ISEAL Alliance on the governmental use of voluntary standards. The overview report follows as well as the link to the ISEAL site with all of the reports.

     Overview report

     www.isealalliance.org/governments

And building biodiversity business at the World Export Development Forum 2008
Under the auspices of the International Trade Centre, the world’s leading trade policy and business experts are gathering in Montreux, Switzerland for the 10th annual World Export Development Forum. In the Forum's background document, there is an Earthmind article on biodiversity business.
     Biodiversity business: The value proposition [the article]
     Trade - What if? New challenges in export development [the full report]

     www.intracen.org/wedf

Building biodiversity business at the Ecosystem Marketplace

On the 3rd of October, the homepage of the online Ecosystem Marketplace featured the IUCN/Shell report on "Building Biodiversity Business." They also published an excellent summary article on the report.

     Article on the report
     Copy of the homepage

     For a copy of the report, go to: earthmind.net/bbb

     ecosystemmarketplace.com 

September 2008

Thinking beyond the Kyoto Protocol
Larry Karp and Jinhua Zhao's paper on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol  has won a research paper competition of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements. Their proposal includes an innovative escape clause that would give signatories the option to increase their emissions provided they pay a penalty in the form of a monetary fine or accept WTO-sanctioned restriction on their exports
     A proposal for the design of the successor to the Kyoto Protocol

Onwards to sustainability!
IUCN has released a thought-provoking new report, "Transition to sustainability: Towards a humane and diverse world,"

 on how we move towards a sustainable planet. For the Earthmind community, you will glad to see that the book builds on the original ideas of Kenneth Boulding!

     Transition to sustainability
     Earthmind on Boulding and sustainability

Markets, economics and business at the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress
The roles for economics and business will be a major theme of the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress. For an overview of some of the key markets-related events and issues, visit the following sites:
     earthmind.net/wcc
     iucn.org/news_events/events/congress/forum/journeys/markets/index.cfm 

Click here for previous updates