The CSR Newsletters are a freely-available resource generated as a dynamic complement to the textbook, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation.

To sign-up to receive the CSR Newsletters regularly during the fall and spring academic semesters, e-mail author David Chandler at david.chandler@ucdenver.edu.

Monday, March 3, 2025

Strategic CSR - Greenwash

The articles in the two urls below offer contrasting approaches by different countries to the issue of preventing greenwash in finance. In the first article, the Swiss government (rather optimistically) is happy to trust the firms in its finance industry to self-regulate:

"Switzerland's finance sector can regulate its own members when it comes to combating the miss-selling of sustainability-themed investment products, the government said. The Federal Council had given banks, insurers and other finance firms until August to come up with an effective self-regulation framework on greenwashing."

In contrast, and employing a modicum of commonsense, the Australian government is proposing to introduce a new labeling system that will add substance to the ambiguous meaning of sustainable:

"The Australian government … will establish labels and disclosures for investment products marketed as 'sustainable,' including funds run by the superannuation industry, after a public consultation in early 2025, according to a sustainable finance framework released on Wednesday. The plan also calls for large businesses and financial firms to incorporate climate disclosures based on the Australian Accounting Standards Board's guidelines, which are due to be finalized in August."

The key to the difference is in the article headlines – while the Swiss will allow finance firms to "police themselves," the Australian government is planning to "crack down with new regulations." I wonder which approach will be the most effective in reducing the amount of misleading information and behavior that pervades all things sustainable?

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e 
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Swiss Say Finance Firms Can Police Greenwashing Themselves
By Bastian Benrath
June 19, 2024
Bloomberg

Australia Cracks Down on ESG Claims with New Regulations
By Ishika Mookerjee
June 19, 2024
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:21 PM

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Strategic CSR - L.G.B.T.Q.

The article in the url below, buried deep into last week's Sunday NYT, is heartening:

"Nearly one in 10 adults in the United States identifies as L.G.B.T.Q., according to a large analysis from Gallup released Thursday — almost triple the share since Gallup began counting in 2012, and up by two-thirds since 2020."

The graph accompanying the article demonstrates the dramatic shift in reporting patterns, over a relatively short period of time:
 

It seems that the increase is accounted for mostly by "bisexual women" and younger generations:

"Nearly one-quarter of adults in Generation Z, defined by Gallup as those 18 to 27, identify as L.G.B.T.Q., according to the analysis, which included 14,000 adults across all of Gallup's telephone surveys last year. More than half of these L.G.B.T.Q. young adults identify as bisexual. Among all respondents, 1.3 percent identified as transgender, up from 0.6 percent in 2020. That is higher than other large surveys have found in recent years."

Some additional detail:
 

Presuming the percentage of the population who are L.G.B.T.Q. remains constant, the higher reporting percentage must be due to a sense of security and confidence in people feeling they can be open about who they are, which is a welcome sign of progress in our society.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Survey Finds Rapid Increase in U.S. Adults Identifying as L.G.B.T.Q.
By Claire Cain Miller and Francesca Paris
February 23, 2025
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
15
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:13 AM

Monday, February 24, 2025

Strategic CSR - Coal

A quick update, in the article in the url below, on where the world is in terms of its coal consumption – spoiler alert, we are not in good shape:

"We're burning more coal than ever. … Coal is both the dirtiest fossil fuel and the biggest source of electricity, accounting for 35% of the world's generation [in 2023]."

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this sorry state represents progress:

"From 2006 through 2014, [worldwide coal consumption] was 40%-plus."

And, it does not look like we can keep the positive trajectory going:

"But even as scientists sound the alarm on dangerous climate tipping points, coal consumption is still growing. It's expected to hit a record in 2024, and is on track to be higher in 2050 than it was in 2000."

As an indication of how far from where we need to be we currently are:

"To reach net zero by 2050, global coal use would need to fall by more than 90%, and what's left would need to be handled by plants capable of capturing and storing emissions."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Why We're Burning More Climate-Warning Coal Than Ever
By Will Wade
August 12, 2024
Bloomberg Law
 
Posted by David Chandler at 5:14 PM

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Strategic CSR - Larry Fink

This graphic produced by Bloomberg from the article in the url below is both interesting and frustrating:


It is interesting and frustrating for the same reason – because it reveals a superficial commitment to something that needs to be sustained and genuine. Fink had built a reputation for himself as someone who is committed to the sustainability cause. The chart reveals a superficiality to that commitment. I am all in favor of revealing the lack of thought that is invested in the latest term or acronym that gets the mainstream CSR conversation excited, but this very much suggests Fink is a victim of that superficiality, rather than having thought through what he was saying, and/or his and his company's ability to implement:

"[Larry Finnk's] 2020 letter mentions terms like climate, ESG and sustainability 46 times. But executives changed their tune after Texas and other US states launched attacks and legal action on the investment management company. 'Larry Fink used to talk quite a bit (in fairly short letters) about climate, sustainability, and ESG. … Now he does not.'"

Either way, it is another step backwards, when we need to be moving forward.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Wild Cards for the Green Transition
By Aaron Clark
February 3, 2025
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 4:06 PM

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Strategic CSR - Personhood

Following its groundbreaking law that granted legal rights to a river (see Strategic CSR – Personhood), New Zealand has taken another step forward in its recognition of the importance of the natural environment to its culture and heritage:

"A settlement under which a New Zealand mountain has been granted the same legal right as a person has become law after years of negotiations."

Specifically:

"It means Taranaki Maunga [Mt Taranaki] will effectively own itself, with representatives of the local tribes, iwi, and government working together to manage it. The agreement aims to compensate Māori from the Taranaki region for injustices done to them during colonisation – including widespread land confiscation."

While I appreciate the symbolic value of this decision, in terms of respecting the Maori culture, tradition, and perspective on the natural environment ("natural features, including mountains, are ancestors and living beings"), it is challenging to see the practical implications. What does it mean for a mountain to "own itself"? The value of treating corporations as legal persons is that they can own assets and be sued in a court of law. This underpins the law of contracts and property rights, which are fundamental to our economic system. Firms also form the apex of the stakeholder structure, so create value for others, rather than needing value to be created for them:

"[Government Minister] Paul Goldsmith acknowledged that … it had been agreed that access to the mountain would not change and that 'all New Zealanders will be able to continue to visit and enjoy this most magnificent place for generations to come.'"

In this case, the name of the mountain will be changed, which his meaning, but it is difficult to know how this fits into the strategic CSR perspective, given that the mountain cannot communicate discernable interests that can be met. Rather, anyone seeking to interact with the mountain will need to deal with the appointed human 'representatives' of the mountain (who no doubt have their own values and interests):

"It means Taranaki Maunga [Mt Taranaki] will effectively own itself, with representatives of the local tribes, iwi, and government working together to manage it."

Given that the mountain cannot communicate its interests to those representatives (as far as we know), we will have to rely on the genuine intent with which they interpret what is best for the mountain:

"The mountain is not the first of New Zealand's natural feature's to be granted legal personhood. In 2014, the Urewera native forest became the first to gain such status, followed by the Whanganui River in 2017."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


New Zealand mountain gets same legal rights as a person
By Kathryn Armstrong
January 30, 2025
BBC News
 
Posted by David Chandler at 12:29 PM

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Strategic CSR - Cotton + water

I knew that the production of cotton took vast amounts of water, but only a vague sense of how much. The article in the url below quantifies this amount in a very relatable way:

"For all the water you'll ever use to wash your cotton T-shirt over its entire lifetime, it will have taken 50 times as much water to grow the cotton that went into it."

In addition to the water used to grow cotton, large amounts of insecticides and pesticides are used; there are also challenges related to the harvesting and processing of this crop:

"Cotton uses about 2.3% of global arable land and accounts for 16% for all insecticide sales. And the fashion industry has been forced to reckon with allegations of forced labor and poor working conditions in certain cotton-harvesting regions."

The article proceeds to detail a "Boston-based startup Galy" that is developing a more sustainable alternative, which (if it can be commercialized and scaled – always huge barriers) addresses many of these challenging issues, for which the fashion/apparel industry is only now beginning to be held accountable (see Strategic CSR – Fast fashion), or perhaps not (see Strategic CSR – Shein + Boohoo):

"Galy takes cells from a cotton plant, adds them to a large vat and feeds them sugar. After they have sufficiently multiplied, Galy technicians use their genetic understanding of the plant — which has been developed over decades of research — to activate certain genes and deactivate others. The result is the cell transforms and elongates into a cotton fiber. So far, Galy has only been able to make a few kilograms of vat-grown cotton. If it can make more at scale, the company has big dreams to also make lab-grown cocoa and coffee powders."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Fast Fashion Bets on Greener Lab-Grown Cotton
By Akshat Rathi
September 3, 2024
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 7:22 AM

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Strategic CSR - Coal

Here is a tale of two trajectories for coal that are heading in opposite directions (at least, in the short term). First, the article in the first url below reports that Duke Energy has announced its intention to change its plans for its largest coal-fired power plant. The company had originally planned to close all its power plants that use "the dirty fuel" by 2035, but that has now changed:

"The utility said it plans to operate its massive Gibson Station in Indiana through 2038, according to a presentation about its resource plan for that state posted on its website Thursday. The company previously said it would shutter the plant by 2035, in line with its broader plan to be entirely coal-free by that year."

What is interesting is that the article (pre-DeepSeek) blames A.I. for unpredicted electricity consumption, which is causing utilities to alter their plans of how they will be able to meet that growing demand:

"Some US utilities are struggling to meet ambitious climate goals set before electricity forecasts began spiking amid tech giants' move to build new data centers for artificial intelligence."

Similarly:

"FirstEnergy Corp. announced earlier this year it was abandoning its 2030 target for slashing greenhouse gas emissions because it couldn't replace some coal plants in time."

In contrast, the article in the second url below reports that the UK closed its last coal-fired power plant, in early October last year, in what is being framed as a risky experiment to meet its previously announced GHG emissions goal:

"By closing the 2,000 megawatt (MW) coal plant in Nottinghamshire, Britain has become the first G7 country to end coal-fired power production and make significant progress against energy transition and pollution reduction targets."

The key is that the UK is not self-sufficient in terms of LNG, which means it will need to rely on imports, paying the market rate that is heavily influenced by geopolitics:

"UK gas consumption has exceeded domestic gas production for the past 20 years, according to the 2024 Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy. … Between 2018 and 2023, UK LNG imports jumped by 171% from 7.2 billion cubic meters (BCM) to 19.4 BCM, according to the Energy Institute."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


How is the energy transition going?
By Brian Kahn
October 4, 2024
Bloomberg Green

UK's last coal plant shutdown bodes well for US LNG export
By Gavin Maguire
October 1, 2024
Reuters
 
Posted by David Chandler at 7:38 AM

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Strategic CSR - Mirrors

Here is a heartening quote from the EU that was in the Green Daily newsletter by Bloomberg, last summer:

"32.5%: How much pollution has dropped in the EU from 1990 to 2022, even as the economy grew by 67%."

It counters the unhelpful narrative in the article in the url below, that economic growth and climate damage are positively correlated. In reality, what is important is the collective set of values and priorities in our societies. That is what will determine the behavior of corporations – if we want sustainability, then companies will deliver it for us; if we don't, then we cannot blame companies for more damage. We love to anthropomorphize organizations, but it is only humans who are capable of making complex decisions, weighing up multiple variables (including future consequences) – companies are mirrors that reflect those decisions. We get the companies we deserve; just like we get the politicians we deserve – they are functions of the decisions that we make.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e 
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Shrink the Economy, Save the World?
By Jennifer Szalai
June 11, 2024
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
C1, C4
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:21 AM

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Strategic CSR - Aviation

I have been looking into the aviation industry, recently (see here). Thinking about how sustainability works in this space has been part of that inquiry. Along these lines, I found the article in the url below, which suggests we are nowhere near developing a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and that any headline you might have seen suggesting the opposite is misleading, at best:

"IPS report says replacement fuels well off track to replace kerosene within timeframe needed to avert climate disaster."

Even worse:

"Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned."

Specifically:

"There is currently 'no realistic or scalable alternative' to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted 'sustainable aviation fuels' are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, found."

As with many good ideas in the sustainability space, the idea in theory is possible; in practice, scalability is the challenge:

"Chuck Collins, co-author of the report, said: 'To bring these fuels to the scale needed would require massive subsidies, the trade-offs would be unacceptable and would take resources aware from more urgent decarbonization priorities.'"

What are some of those potential tradeoffs?

"Burning sustainable aviation fuels still emits some carbon dioxide, while the land use changes needed to produce the fuels can also lead to increased pollution. Ethanol biofuel, made from corn, is used in these fuels, and meeting the Biden administration's production goal, the report found, would require 114m acres of corn in the US, about a 20% increase in current land area given over to the crop. In the UK, meanwhile, 50% of all agricultural land will have to be given up to sustain current flight passenger levels if jet fuel was entirely replaced."

The conclusion, due to the unique challenges of getting heavy airplanes off the ground:

"Phil Ansell, director of the Center for Sustainable Aviation at the University of Illinois, said the aviation industry had been faced with a much steeper challenge than other sectors to decarbonize. 'There's an under appreciation of how big the energy problem is for aviation. We are still many years away from zero pollution flights,' he said. … 'We are now trying to find solutions, but we are working at this problem and realizing it's a lot harder than we thought. We are late to the game. We are in the dark ages in terms of sustainability, compared to other sectors.'"

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e 
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


'Magical thinking': hopes for sustainable jet fuel not realistic, report finds
By Oliver Milman
May 14, 2024
The Guardian
 
Posted by David Chandler at 4:05 PM

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Strategic CSR - Oil vs. plastic

The article in the url below is one of the best arguments I have heard as to how we will, realistically, transition away from fossil fuels. Since no one appears willing to impose a meaningful carbon tax that would encourage such a move, we will need to rely on market-based arguments to understand whether and how quickly such a shift will take place. The article in the url below hints at what that argument might look like.

First, it makes the case as to why demand for oil will inevitably drop:

"As people switch to electric cars, or at least buy more fuel-efficient versions of traditional vehicles, energy companies will have too much oil on their hands. Transport currently accounts for over half of global oil demand. Ciarán Healy, an oil market analyst at the International Energy Agency, points out that even without a further uptick in EV sales, efficiency improvements in internal combustion engine cars mean the same amount of driving will be done with less gas in the future. The IEA thinks the world is on track to have eight million barrels a day of excess oil capacity by 2030."

Second, it outlines the oil industry's best response to prop-up oil consumption – and it centers on plastics:

"London-listed BP thinks growth in petrochemicals will offset fuel declines for another decade. Crude oil and natural gas are turned into petrochemical feedstocks such as naphtha or natural gas liquids in a gas-processing plant or at an oil refinery. They are then 'cracked' into the building blocks of common plastics. … Today, 15.4% of global oil demand is driven by petrochemicals, according to data from Wood Mackenzie. The share is expected to rise to 19.1% by 2035 as emerging markets become wealthier and swelling middle classes spend more on synthetic clothing and do their grocery shopping at big supermarket chains, where food is more likely to be wrapped in plastic to prolong its shelf life. Advanced economies like the U.S. use up to 20 times more plastic than developing nations on a per capita basis, according to the IEA. Big Oil's bet is that shoppers in emerging markets will close at least part of that gap."

Third, it questions whether this will be the solution the oil companies are hoping for:

"Energy companies are pouring billions of dollars into petrochemical facilities, notably in China where ethylene capacity has almost doubled since 2019. Capacity is also rising in the U.S. and Middle East. Saudi Arabia wants to invest $600 billion into petrochemicals by the end of the decade to secure nonfuel uses of its crude oil. But the global petrochemical industry is already saturated and capacity is expected to outstrip demand until at least 2030. This points to weak profit margins and less-than-ideal utilization rates at petrochemical facilities."

Equally, it suggests why it is not a good response, strategically (from the oil companies' perspective):

"Pumping money into petrochemicals as governments are trying to solve the problem of plastic waste feels risky. [In December], countries that rely on oil exports for a large share of government revenue, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, torpedoed a global treaty that proposed curbs on plastic production. But tighter regulations are in the works anyway. More than 100 countries have introduced restrictions on plastic, including a ban on single-use plastic in the European Union."

The conclusion:

"The oil industry is resigned to slowly losing its grip on road transport. Turning to an oversupplied and wasteful petrochemicals sector for shelter is a risky strategy."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Big Oil Frets Over Demand for Plastics
By Carol Ryan
December 26, 2024
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B12
 
Posted by David Chandler at 1:22 PM

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Strategic CSR - Trees

The article in the url below presents what seemed like a good idea on the surface:

"A few years ago, software billionaire Marc Benioff launched a wildly ambitious plan: Plant or protect 1 trillion trees by 2030."

As a result, there has been a lot of traction:

"The initiative, 1t.org, has gotten some of the world's biggest companies and governments to promise to spend time and money planting trees and saving forests."

But, as experience tends to demonstrate (and so often seems to be the case with attempts to combat climate change with a silver bullet) – good ideas are easy; it is implementation that is difficult:

"But four years (and one pandemic) later, the number of trees pledged to 1t.org amounts to less than 15% of 1 trillion."

The result:

"… with flexible rules on who can pledge what, and little accountability, it's impossible to know how many trees the project has actually planted or saved so far."

Good intentions alone will not be sufficient to get us out of this mess.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e 
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


A Billionaire Wanted to Save 1 Trillion Trees by 2030. It's Not Going Great
By Sophie Alexander
May 3, 2024
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:03 AM

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Strategic CSR - Cows


Welcome back to the Strategic CSR Newsletter!
The first newsletter of the Spring semester is below.
As always, your comments and ideas are welcome.
 

This statistic blew my mind when I read it in the article in the url below:

"The average dairy cow in America produces 30 litres of milk a day; a cow in Africa, only 1.6."

Such a disparity speaks volumes, in my mind, of the power of the market to deliver societal progress. As the article continues:

"This 19-fold difference—call it the dairy divide—has enormous consequences. Closing even some of it would ease poverty, help children grow up better nourished, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and perhaps even make civil wars less likely."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Bridging the dairy divide
December 14, 2024
The Economist
Late Edition – Final
50
 
Posted by David Chandler at 7:02 AM

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Strategic CSR - Plastic

 
This is the last CSR Newsletter of the Fall semester.
Happy Holidays and I will see you in the new year!

The article in the url below announces the start of negotiations trying to secure a "global plastic treaty" that were hosted recently in South Korea. Needless to say, there are many barriers to progress:

"The final round of United Nations-brokered talks aimed at tackling plastic pollution opened in South Korea with deep divisions over the need to stem the rising flood of the material, a rift that threatens to scupper a two-year long quest for a deal."

But, what stood out to me were the projections for plastic production that were used to frame the start of the negotiations:

"Plastic production will jump 70% to 736 million tons a year by 2040, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, dramatically increasing volumes as research shows how toxic the materials are as they accumulate in the natural environment and in human bodies."

The graph on the OECD website that these data were taken from is equally concerning, reinforcing the idea that we are not very good at reducing our consumption of plastic – if it happens at all, it seems that a global economic recession is required:


This explanatory text accompanies the chart:

"Plastics production doubled between 2000 and 2019, from 234 to 460 million tonnes (Mt). … Recycled plastics will continue to make up a mere 6% of all plastics produced in 2040. As plastic volumes balloon, mismanaged waste will increase by 47% and plastic leakage to the environment by 50% by 2040 (from 2020 levels), threatening ecosystems and the people that depend on them."

However useful plastic is (and it is very useful), something needs to give. It is hard to see how we can keep pumping toxic waste into the natural environment.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Can the World Unite to End the Plastic Pollution Crisis?
By Leslie Kaufman and Aaron Clark
November 24, 2024
Bloomberg

Posted by David Chandler at 4:28 PM

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Strategic CSR - Love + grief

I was listening to an interview on NPR, the other day, and an insightful singer/song-writer concluded the point he was making with the thought that "the price of love is grief."

This stayed with me and, among other things, got me thinking about sustainability. I wonder if the price of caring about the environment and a sustainable business model is greater frustration that humanity (collectively) is ignoring the warning signs – we could be doing so much more than we are.

As COP29 wrapped up over the weekend (and without questioning the effort of the majority of participants), I remain immensely frustrated by the woefully inadequate achievements that have been made since Rio in 1992. Of all the many terms I can think of to describe our collective response to the mess we have made, 'meaningful progress' is not one of them (see Strategic CSR – Climate inaction; see also, Strategic CSR – Evolution).

I think it is likely that the more invested someone is in producing change, the more frustrated they are when that change fails to appear, or does so too slowly. When so many people in the U.S. this week are so thankful, I find that a consequence of working in sustainability is grappling with such a wide gap between what is possible and the reality we face.

Happy Thanksgiving
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
 
Posted by David Chandler at 6:13 PM

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Strategic CSR - World Toilet Day

The article in the url below caught my eye. After all, how many of you had November 19 circled on your calendar as World Toilet Day (see also, Strategic CSR – World Toilet Day)?

"There truly is a World Toilet Day — and its goal is not to boost loo sales. Rather the U.N. declared the day in 2013 to promote public health and 'raise awareness about the lack of access to safe sanitation and toilets for billions of people worldwide.'"

As the normally staid people at NPR put it:

"At a time when toilets can heat their seats, spray your butt with water and I dunno probably play songs like 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,' how can so many people be 'toilet insecure'?"

In reality, this is a much bigger problem than is generally understood:

"In fact 3.6 billion people have no potty at home and no easy access to affordable public toilets (which often charge a usage fee). What's more, a joint report by WHO and UNICEF says 673 million people engage in open defecation, delicately defined as 'squatting outdoors.'"

So, in essence, half the world's population face all kinds of health, social, and environmental challenges by not having safe and easy access to a toilet:

"The world's dramatic lack of toilets means that people suffer a loss of privacy and dignity. But there's a huge public health consequence as well. Human feces are rich in pathogens. When fecal matter infiltrates the soil, children who play in the dirt can come in contact with it. And when it enters the water stream, that's a recipe for disease spread."

There are many other details in the article, for your reading pleasure – you will appreciate your toilet more than ever. This is an important issue – one that The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (as it was named, at the time) has been working on this for years (see Strategic CSR – Toilets).

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


We've got a lot of ways to go: Thoughts on World Toilet Day
By Marc Silver
November 19, 2024
NPR
 
Posted by David Chandler at 7:34 AM

Monday, November 18, 2024

Strategic CSR - Trees

The article in the url below reports on an encouraging application of science by a U.S.-based nonprofit (World Forest ID) to solve a specific supply chain challenge:

"Scientists are embarking on an effort to keep sanctioned Russian timber out of Europe by mapping the unique chemical fingerprints of trees, a process that could be used to vet corporate supply chains for other banned commodities."

In this case, the technology was used to enforce economic sanctions, but it is a small step to imagine how it could be used to verify the source of other rare and/or protected raw materials:

"The project aims to bring science to bear in a fight by companies and governments to stop illegal wood from seeping into timber supply chains—complex, difficult-to-police networks of logging companies, sawmills, wood manufacturers and traders."

It is encouraging to see that some companies see the potential application:

"Although work on the database is ongoing, furniture giant IKEA has already used it to vet suppliers for sanctioned timber after the war forced it to revamp its supply chain. Belgian authorities have also employed it to seize more than 260 tons of illegally shipped Russian timber."

And, the potential seems clear:

"If scaled up, the project could have broad implications for how companies source a range of other agricultural commodities, such as cotton and cacao, which have been linked to environmental and human rights abuses."

The science, with the aid of artificial intelligence, is logical in its approach:

"World Forest ID currently uses two tests to identify the chemical composition of wood samples. One measures the ratios of stable isotopes, which vary based on factors such as rainfall or temperature. The other test measures trace elements such as magnesium and copper, which vary based on the soils in which trees grow."

The results are encouraging:

"World Forest ID's model identified false origin claims in 40% to 60% of cases. … [Victor Deklerck, World Forest ID's head of science] said the test was designed to be conservative to minimize the chance of incorrectly identifying shipments as illegal."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e 
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


Science Used to Police Banned Russia Timber
By Dylan Tokar
June 11, 2024
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B1, B4
 
Posted by David Chandler at 6:48 PM

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Strategic CSR - COP 29

I am interested in scale. It is central to meaningful change, in whatever topic you are discussing. But, it is particularly relevant to the sustainability discussion, partly because of the size of the challenge, but also given the time constraints we are working within.

It is in this light that I saw this quote, from the article in the url below, discussing the effort at COP 29 to generate sufficient financing (from developed to developing economies) to begin tackling climate change worldwide:

"Getting from billions to trillions is a big deal. To give you an idea, one billion minutes will take up just over 1,900 years. One trillion minutes lasts for nearly 2 million years."

No matter how many times I read that, it still blows my mind.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/


COP29: Searching the Seat Cushions
By Siobhan Wagner
November 13, 2024
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:50 AM
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