CA Community






This Blog
Syndication

December 2008 - Posts

What is Green Governance?

Published: December 22 2008, 12:15 PM | no comments
by Terrence Clark

Organizations often talk about the importance of the environment.  They want to become greener, and they also want to improve the bottom line by becoming more efficient when using energy and other natural resources. In reality, this can be often much easier said than done. A number of initiatives work, but many fail. Some achieve marginal results where the efforts far exceed the benefits. Others are counterproductive; they just transfer a green problem from one place to another, or they are hard to align with demanding business goals.   
    When looking at your organization’s green program it is important to take a systematic approach to managing it.  This is what we call Green Governance.  Green Governance is a systematic life-cycle to help an organization drive towards overall sustainability.  The life-cycle focuses on continuous improvement and encompasses the following areas:
      • Strategy
      • Risk Management
      • Compliance Management
      • Idea Management
      • Portfolio Management
      • Project Management
      • Performance Management & Stakeholder Reporting
    Organizations will greatly improve their overall performance if they:
        • Clearly articulate a strategy with defined objectives and goals
        • Understand the risks in meeting those objectives and goals
        • Comply with both required regulations and the organization’s internal policies
        • Solicit ideas from key stakeholders on what can be done to meet the objectives and goals
        • Comprehensively evaluate the portfolio of possible initiatives
        • Focus on efficiently and effectively managing  the initiatives the organization chooses to implement 
      A few questions that organizations should be considering:
          • Given these economic times can we afford to choose initiatives that aren’t aligned to our overall objectives?  Do we even have defined objectives?
          • How do we monitor the effectiveness of the initiatives we choose?
          • With environmental regulation increasing around the world what are we doing to prepare for it?
          • As boards, consumers, investors, employees and NGO’s look for more information about our green efforts, how do we efficiently track and manage all of them in a comprehensive fashion to report results to these stakeholders?
        Those are just some key questions areas that an organization should consider when it is executing its green strategy.
          How does your organization manage its green initiatives?  Are these things you are considering?  Are there other considerations?  
            Let me know your thoughts…
                    Share this post:  EmailEmail
                    ShareShare
                    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
                    Leave a comment

                     

                    By: Terrence Clark
                    Terrence Clark is a senior vice president and general manager heading up CA's ecoSoftware Business Unit at CA. His vision is to help organizations evaluate their portfolio of green choices, while showing them how they can reduce their carbon footprint, save costs, seize on opportunities and be both...
                    Read More..

                    More Posts