By Anthony Dane (21 Sept 2011)

Yesterday I attended the Western Cape Climate Change Summit in Milnerton Cape Town. The outcome of this conference is intended to be the “voice of the Western Cape”, which will feed into the Department of Environmental Affairs’ programme for the COP17.

The summit started off disappointingly as we were informed that Ms Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, and Ms Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, could not attend. The morning’s presentations, however, were informative and well worth attending.

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By Nicola Robins (25 Aug 2011)

Toby Webb (whose blogs are intelligent and informative), has changed the name of his blogsite from “Ethical Business Blog” to “Smarter Business Blog”. Now that might not sound wild to you, but it is quite a move in our terms. It reflects a timely breakthrough struggling to be heard over the ethical/ green focus that dominates the popular media, validating the fact that most SA analysts still see sustainability as fuzzy and marginal.

My comment on Toby’s latest blog Why I’ve changed the name of this blog: (more…)

By Lauren Hermanus (11 August 2011)

Confronting the question

I think it is a complex muddle in which all these elements are inextricable linked. There often are stories of entrepreneurship, innovation and compassion that shatter my middle class comfortable cynicism regarding our troubled society. But, to be real, we need to recognise that a range of social problems are concentrated at the base of our social pyramid. (more…)

By Anthony Dane (8 August 2011)

I attended a discussion on Friday at the University of Cape Town (UCT) hosted by the Environmental Policy Research Unit. The focus of the discussion was on what to expect from the 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP-17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Durban at the end of this year. The key speaker was Harald Winkler, an Associate Professor in the Energy Research Centre at UCT and a member of the South African delegation to the negotiations under the UNFCCC.

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By Nicola Robins (28 July 2011)

In Why you shouldn’t have a sustainability strategy, Eric Lowitt argues in favour “sustainability-infused competitive strategies”, citing Starbucks, UPS and Hitachi as examples of this integrative trend.

Many of our clients who get sustainability ask this question at some stage. Why not simply ensure the business strategy is informed at a fundamental level by sustainability thinking?

In a sustainable society, this is clearly how things will be. However, until such time, our experience suggests that it is more useful to have a separate sustainability strategy, the task of which is to interrogate the business strategy. (more…)

By Anthony Dane (25 July 2011)

I read an article in the Business Day recently about how the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ordered Shell to withdraw “unsubstantiated” and “misleading” claims it made in a series of full-page print advertisements – Dialogue on the Karoo – about its aim to use the controversial gas extraction technique in a 90,000km² area of the unique Karoo biome. (more…)

By Nicola Robins (6 July 2011)

That Unilever can be named sustainability leader of the year and two days later get fined, along with P&G, for fixing washing powder prices in Europe is a cautionary tale. But it is a useful one: it helps us to draw the field of sustainability further away from the naïve assumption that companies that take sustainability seriously are immune from greed. They are no more immune from greed than the rest of us. It also helps to reflect on another pervasive myth: that companies branding on being ‘good and green’ actually think that way all the time. They don’t.

It is generally accepted that a company’s marketing message is distinct from their business strategy. So, why do people confuse the two when it comes to sustainability? In fact, it’s not uncommon for companies to confuse their ‘good and green’ marketing for a sustainability strategy themselves. (more…)

By Lauren Hermanus and Georgina Combes (28 June 2011)

A problem of perception

Africa is a diverse continent with lots of different stories. But unfortunately what happens far too often – in both well-meaning and not so well-meaning ways – is that Africa’s problems are lumped together in one undifferentiated picture. This picture is regularly a cliché for which the description, prognosis and solution is as un-African as a white Christmas.

Sustainability in Africa is not about being green. We know because we work with companies who are grappling with sustainability issues here. Rather, it is about addressing all the challenges impacting on human lives, social structures, and economic disparity within ecological limitations. So green is part of the picture, but that picture is complex. Many companies, including mobile operators have, in the past few years, found interesting and innovative ways of responding to challenges on the African continent. (more…)

By Georgina Combes (7 June 2011)

I’m a visual person. I can imagine and remember things much more easily if I can see them in my mind. And I’m all for a nice aesthetic.

So these images by locally-based Chip Snaddon of a future, climate smart Cape Town really appeal to me. Commissioned by Sheryl Ozinsky from the City Of Cape Town, the illustrator’s brief was to communicate the city’s ‘Smart Living’ vision of a dynamic, environmentally sustainable, future Cape Town. This includes the use of renewables and smart technologies, integrated public transport, recycling, green spaces, housing densification, water conservation and people-friendly planning. (more…)

By Lauren Hermanus (27 May 2011)

Motorola’s new corporate responsibility report – Innovating for a sustainable future – was released earlier this month. While I believe there are some strong points, there are also points of critique that could be considered. I have noted my reflections here, based on comparisons to other reports in the sector, globally, and on my experience of having advised leading firms in the South African ICT and telecommunications sector.

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