Published:
June 29 2012, 10:13 AM
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Cynthia Curtis
The one upside of a 24 hour trip home from Rio+20 (filled with delayed flights, missed connections, mediocre airport food and a vicious oncoming head cold), is that you have plenty of time to reflect. While my head was increasingly fuzzy, my thoughts were crystal clear: I came away from this conference (The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development) optimistic, more so than I was after the Cancun Climate Change Conference in 2010. Surprised? Me too, actually. Let me explain. In 2010, governments didn't accomplish anything substantial to combat climate change and promote sustainability (not that anybody was expecting them to) and businesses, while interested and engaged, were still vainly waiting for governments to provide leadership...
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By: Cynthia Curtis
As vice president and chief sustainability officer, Cynthia oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Cynthia also meets with customers looking to use IT management solutions to further their sustainability...
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Published:
June 25 2012, 04:12 PM
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by
Cynthia Curtis
There are a number of what's called ‘side events' here in Rio, that are officially sanctioned by or in conjunction with the UN. One such side event was " Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD) ," a well-organized day that brought together industry luminaries, and covered topics from transportation and water to cement and power utilities. The theme of the conference was Scale Up ; point being that we need solutions to address climate change that scale. In the opening plenary it was stated that even if we execute on all of the commitments being made in Rio, we'll still miss the mark needed. What is necessary are different business models, a different way of thinking and a commitment to keeping the human element...
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By: Cynthia Curtis
As vice president and chief sustainability officer, Cynthia oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Cynthia also meets with customers looking to use IT management solutions to further their sustainability...
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Published:
June 21 2012, 12:43 PM
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Cynthia Curtis
Another very interesting session I thoroughly enjoyed attending was about Sustainia . According to their website: Sustainia is a concept for communicating a sustainable future based on concrete and tangible know-how and technologies - a global collaborative platform for building a model and vision for a sustainable future. The model of Sustainia represents best practice, knowledge and technologies that already exist. It is inspired and designed by world leading companies, institutions and experts. It is a clear demonstration of the society we could create if sectors, companies, scientists, politicians and civil society worked together towards a common goal. In essence, they are all about positive communications and workable solutions that will...
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By: Cynthia Curtis
As vice president and chief sustainability officer, Cynthia oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Cynthia also meets with customers looking to use IT management solutions to further their sustainability...
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Published:
June 21 2012, 09:31 AM
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Cynthia Curtis
While there has been plenty of inspiration to go around in Rio, the Corporate Sustainability Forum is focused on business after all. The good news is that there is plenty of opportunity for businesses in two of the key Corporate Sustainability initiatives that Rio+20 is focused on - doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and the UN Secretary General's initiative to provide Sustainable Energy for All: Here are some highlights from the session I sat in focused on the energy efficiency challenge. Energy Efficiency This session moderated by Paul Simpson of the CDP ( Carbon Disclosure Project ), the discussion was focused on utilizing energy efficiency as a lever to create a Win/Win/Win for investors, businesses and consumers....
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By: Cynthia Curtis
As vice president and chief sustainability officer, Cynthia oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Cynthia also meets with customers looking to use IT management solutions to further their sustainability...
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Published:
June 20 2012, 12:11 PM
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Cynthia Curtis
I've been down in Rio for a few days now, and I'm finally able to take a few minutes to put down some thoughts. First of all, it's beautiful. Second, while I've spoken on a couple of panels (more on those later), I've also been busy attending some of the tremendous corporate sustainability focused sessions throughout the city. In the opening event of the Corporate Sustainability Forum at Rio+20, the distinguished environmentalist Robert Swan, the only man to walk on foot to both the north and south poles, was inspiring. It is worth it to take 20 minutes and watch his opening keynote below. As he mentioned, "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."
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By: Cynthia Curtis
As vice president and chief sustainability officer, Cynthia oversees the CA Technologies Office of Sustainability and is responsible for global sustainability strategy and initiatives for the company. Cynthia also meets with customers looking to use IT management solutions to further their sustainability...
Read More..