THIS is What "Serious About Sustainability" Looks Like

If you are a company who wants to do business with the big guys, you often to have do it their way. Today, that can mean doing business sustainably.  Large companies are held accountable for the impact of their suppliers.  So, those suppliers must play by the new rules of the game. 

In other words, it just got serious.

As a sustainable investor, you may feel good knowing that your portfolio companies are moving the needle on environmental issues.  But have you considered the risk that your small cap investments may become increasingly uncompetitive if they can't meet these increasingly higher standards? 

There is a real risk that the measurement and documentation of these issues may render some firms "out of the loop" when it comes to earning the business of a Procter and Gamble or a Microsoft.

Boardwalk Portfolios: Top Rankings for Ethics and Climate

Last month, global watchdog Ethisphere released its World's Most Ethical Companies list.  This month, research firm Maplecroft disclosed its Climate Innovation Index.  In both cases, Boardwalk's model portfolio holdings were well represented.

Among those considered most ethical, General Electric and Starbucks have made the grade for all six years of the study's existence. 

UPS, Cisco, Intel, Alcoa, and Pepsico were also among the domestic honorees in our models, while Accenture (Ireland), National Grid (UK) and Westpac Banking (Australia) were among the foreign holdings recognized.

The Carbon Innovation Index recognizes companies who "successfully innovate and manage climate-related opportunities and risks and are better equipped to operate in this future growth environment." Many of the same "ethical" companies are also making a serious effort to prepare for climate change.  Boardwalk holdings GE, Alcoa, Intel, Hess, Praxair and Ford are among the top ten ranked firms.

For more on the Boardwalk model portfolios click Global ESG Titans or ESG 50 USA.

Mounting Challenges for the World's Food Supply

With an expanding and increasingly urban, meat consuming world population, how will farming co-exist with climate change and water/energy/land scarcity?

Agriculture already consumes 70% of the world's water supply.  And by 2030, farmers will need 45% more water to feed the almost 9 billion people on the planet by then.  Where will it come from? 

Meanwhile, food production, and getting food to the consumer, both use vast amounts of energy.  And traditional energy sources aren't getting cheaper.  These inputs, and more volatile weather, are resulting in large fluctuations in food prices.  And as the author points out, this has often been associated with social unrest.

As a society, how will we deal with this issue?

There is much food for thought in the attached article from Environmental Leader.  Well worth a read.

Companies are Climate Change Believers (even when politicians are not)

Without question, some companies stand to be harmed by climate change. Yet there are many firms who could benefit and are already seizing new opportunities.

Others worry of being impacted by a raft of regulatory changes that seem increasingly likely -- and are lobbying furiously to delay or derail these efforts.

While the impacts will surely vary, no company will be untouched by this issue that sustainable investors increasingly study...

Intel Takes Green Mindedness to the Bank

One never knows where they will find evidence of good corporate citizenship, operational excellence and environmental stewardship.  This time, it's the lawyers...

Law.com/Corporate Counsel magazine recently interviewed several corporate attorneys at Intel, revealing much about the depth and breadth of the sustainability programs at the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips.

15 Companies Tell Congress To Renew Key Wind Power Tax Credit

In a recent letter to Congress, fifteen of the country's largest consumers of alternative energy, including Starbucks, Yahoo! and Campbell's Soup, voiced their support for renewing the Production Tax Credit, (PTC) set to expire in December 2012.

The letter states that the "PTC has enabled the industry to slash wind energy costs by some 90% since 1980..." 

Solar surge drives record clean energy investment in 2011

Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of $260bn in 2011, up 5% on 2010 and almost five times the total of $53.6bn in 2004. The largest single type of investment was the asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects.

Investment in solar far outstripped that in wind, and perhaps of most note, US clean energy investment moved back ahead of China for the first time since 2008, according to the latest authoritative data from analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Last year also saw the one trillionth dollar invested in clean energy globally since the company started compiling data in 2004.

Read more at Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Leveling the (Carbon) Playing Field

The International Energy Agency’s annual World Energy Outlook, released in November, sent a stark message to the participants at the climate negotiations in Durban:  "The world is locking itself into an insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system. And time is running out to take action before changes become irreversible".

While such talk of "irreversible changes" may be subject to debate, no one is questioning whether or not a lower carbon future is preferable.  All things equal, clean energy sources lack the emission, national security and trade balance challenges of higher carbon alternatives.


Europe has blazed the lower carbon trail, but China and Brazil are both working to contain CO2 emissions.  And last year, Australia became one of the first countries to enact a carbon tax on its largest emitters, with the proceeds being used for tax cuts and pension enhancements for the population at large.

The concept of "polluter pays" is well established in solid waste (ask any construction company about the cost of landfill access).  Now it is merely being applied to gaseous pollutants. 

In the United States, The Save Our Climate Act (H.R, 3242) was introduced last year to place a revenue-neutral tax on carbon at the source (with these funds then returned to each citizen in the form of a "dividend".)  The affect of such legislation would be to provide businesses and consumers with a predictable carbon cost on which to base decisions.  Lower carbon choices become relatively less expensive to investors and consumers, and carbon dioxide levels would eventually decline from the inevitable behavioral shift.

The benefits to the USA of such legislation are potentially numerous.  The American Solar Energy Association estimates that carbon legislation of this type would add 4.2 million new jobs to the US economy over ten years. Technological leadership would more easily follow from clear and transparent policies.  And any reduction in the $200 billion spent annually on imported oil would improve our national security and trade deficits.

While the likelihood of such legislation being enacted in an election year is quite modest, the direction is clear:  A lower carbon future awaits.

Google Invests $94 Million in Solar Energy

Dispense with your concerns that Google's interest in alternative energy is waning.

While the firm did recently close a high profile energy research group, Google just announced it has made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic projects currently under construction by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, CA.

“This investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes”, Google said on its blog.

The internet giant said this new investment brings its total alternative energy investments to more than $915 million. In 2011 it helped more than 10,000 homeowners to install solar PV panels on their rooftops.

Read more at CleanTechies.com

Buffett Buys Second Solar Project

Just a week after its first foray into solar, Warren Buffett's energy utility is acquiring another big solar project, also being developed by First Solar. MidAmerican Energy says it's buying a 49 percent stake in the 290 megawatt (MW) Agua Caliente project in Arizona. The plant is owned by NRG Energy and supported by a $967 million Dept of Energy loan guarantee. First Solar is expected to complete the $1.8 billion project in 2014.

Last week, MidAmerican announced it would buy its first solar project, the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm in California. "We are aggressively pursuing opportunities to expand our presence in the renewable energy sector," says Greg Abel, MidAmerican CEO.

Utility-scale solar plants offer good, stable returns with little downside risk, since all the power is sold to utility PG&E, and they offer valuable tax credits.

Procter & Gamble: Sustainability Competition Pays Dividends

Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald declared a bold vision -- one that includes making all products and packaging with recycled or renewable materials, and ensuring that no waste from P&G products touches a landfill. Prominent in the vision, too, is powering all plants with renewable energy. Because all of this will take decades to achieve, P&G also declared a series of shorter-term, 10-year goals to guarantee that the company is making progress. The 2020 renewable energy goal is to power 30% of P&G's energy needs for 180 plants worldwide with renewable sources.

The challenges of such an undertaking were immense, so P&G created a tournament and included outsiders for their energy, expertise and imagination. The fruits of their labor will be seen over many years but the process and initial results are fascinating. Read more here.