CarbonFeet

There are big roadblocks ahead in terms of both potential legislative action and harm to an organization’s reputation if the principles of corporate sustainability are not understood and employed. Pollution in any form is not acceptable, nor is an excessive use of energy or other inefficiencies. Proactive action will be required and each business will be required to become a far better corporate citizen.

Senior management within the boardroom are responsible for the implementation of a corporate sustainability program. All members within the organization must adhere to these principles and not treat it as if it were a public relations gimmick. Across the board, every aspect of a business must be analyzed to ensure that it is contributing to the issue.

The issue of corporate sustainability landed fairly and squarely on the desks of every single federal agency boss recently, when Pres. Obama delivered a far-reaching executive order. This order is likely to mirror some of the consequences ahead for business organizations as more focus is placed in this area.

It is not advisable to issue a corporate sustainability report in a hurry or in any process or panic. The organization that does not take time to analyze and understand its position fully will open itself to claims of “greenwashing,” as the information that it releases may be subsequently found to be inadequate or incorrect.

Organizations are required to look at their carbon emissions from three different perspectives. These areas are also known as scopes. Energy production and associated use can be categorized as falling within scopes one and two from an emissions perspective. These are fundamental to the majority of organizations, while scope three refers to a variety of different emissions linked to supply chain, usage, waste and end of life actions.

Corporate sustainability is merely a goal without an adequate interpretation of an organization’s lifecycle analysis. This must be fully defined before any programs can be undertaken and an overall goal of energy reduction and efficient resource usage achieved.

One of the surprising realizations associated with the full implementation of a corporate sustainability program is that the organization did not have a full feeling for the cost of each asset in its possession. Thus the byproduct of this program can reveal the true costs of doing business and a better return on investment can be anticipated.

No longer is it sufficient for an organization to present its financial reports at the end of your alone. More so, the concept of “triple bottom line” reporting dictates that social and environmental considerations are also detailed and corporate sustainability data will be even more important.

Daniel Stouffer has a great deal of information about corporate sustainability and how a visit to www.verisae.com will be of use to you.

Critics of government action which would force corporate attention to focus on environmental change, point to the fact that the federal government does not lead by example. The burgeoning organization is often touted as the country’s largest polluter and seems slow to accept its responsibilities and publish the size of its energy footprint.

There are many hundreds of individual departments and divisions within the government, operating largely independently. Some act with each other and interact regularly, but there is no central approach when it comes to common resource usage and agency emissions continue unabated.

It has long appeared that the US government puts corporate profits ahead of any responsibility toward the environment. The government’s published position on issues such as the Kyoto Protocol has been that each country must accept its fair share of responsibility or there is no point in any one country doing anything.

When Pres. Obama came to power promising change, sustainability, energy efficiency and direct action seemed inevitable. One of his first actions was to lead by example and issue an executive order centered on agency emissions. Each agency must calculate the size of its footprint and determine how it would be reduced.

No one appears to know the size or scale of agency emissions. Unlike other major organizations around the world, the US federal government has not owned up to the size of its carbon footprint, nor has it issued significant plans to curtail its energy usage. The former administration paid lipservice to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, but this latest executive order is far more focused.

Although the president did not set a specific goal for carbon reduction, he nevertheless made it clear that the position should be calculated and action taken. This will require agencies to scrutinize the performance of each of their assets, understanding all performance implications and raising a question as to whether they will in fact be able to control their own agency emissions.

While the president set a 10 year deadline, agency chiefs will first have to work out how they are going to calculate their emission inventories and how they are going to be able to initiate any significant reductions.

Many forward thinking organizations realize that they must take accountability for their energy use, down to the last detail. They realize that they can have a competitive advantage if they are proactive and show a discerning client base that they are “green.” The federal government will have to determine how to control its own agency emissions even as Congress debates overall legislation.

Daniel Stouffer has a lot of data about agency emissions and how a visit to www.verisae.com can be of use to you.

Through the release of an executive order, energy reform and emission reduction has gained a significant spotlight around the country. President Obama’s latest EO may have been received with little fanfare in the populist media, but is likely to have a very significant effect on overall energy use in the United States.

Pres. Obama has received some criticism for not being more vocal in his support for climate change, for not recognizing that the USA must take a lead in environmental issues. After signing his latest executive order, energy change advocates granted him some credibility for at least taking a step to curb the carbon emissions of the country’s largest polluter, the federal government.

Obama’s predecessor, President Bush, was far from one of the most staunch advocates of climate change and energy restrictions in general. His own executive order on the subject only brushed over the concept of carbon reductions.

Within the details of Obama’s executive order, energy use must be analyzed at the federal level by a comprehensive process of determination. The agencies have been instructed to develop a 10 year plan and determine their own levels of reduction, as indicated by a percentage figure. This will require each agency to devise a system and once approved to ensure that it is initiated.

The details of the executive order, energy reduction concepts and overall reporting requirements pose a significant challenge for agency chiefs. The size of the federal carbon footprint has never been determined before, yet now each agency has to determine the size of its own greenhouse gas inventories.

As the largest consumer of energy in the country, the federal government must take the lead when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases. Due to to the sheer size of the government and its many employees, there is bound to be an additional effect as these measures become widely interpreted and adopted by suppliers and communities.

As indicated by the executive order, agency officials must work with each other to try and establish best practices. The federal government may not be known for its ultimate efficiency and as it will now be necessary to analyze the output of each individual asset, solutions must be sought to assist in the gathering and interpretation of this data.

Copenhagen will be the setting for a gathering of world leaders as a new international climate change protocol is debated. With legislation stalled in the U.S. Congress, Pres. Obama’s new administration and his latest executive order will be closely scrutinized as their stance on overall environmental protection is judged.

Daniel Stouffer has a lot of information about executive order energy issues and how a visit to www.verisae.com will aid you.