The WBCSD Executive Team has released its May 2010 Executive Member Update.  US BCSD members can read through the update by logging into our member's side. 

The update outlines a water priority for businesses, welcomes new WBCSD members, and discusses two interconnected issues around government and the Green Race.

Members log in to read the complete update.   

WBCSD's workshop series with the UNEP Finance Initiative about how to best integrate sustainability aspects into investors performance evaluation of companies has concluded and resulted in a report which helps bridge the communication gap between business and the capital markets. 

The document confirms previous assumptions that several communication gaps are at the heart of the issue on valuing corporate environmental, governmental and social factors and sustainability.

The full report can be downloaded on the member's side of our website.

BOOK RELEASE: A book entitled Sustainable Development in the Process Industries: Cases and Impact includes a chapter on By-Product Synergy (BPS) co-written by US BCSD Executive Director Andrew Mangan and Elsa Olivetti from MIT.  Find it here.

Marcel Engel, Managing Director of Development Focus Area & Regional Network for the WBCSD, recently announced the release of the new Regional Network video.

Please have a look at the Regional Network video at: http://www.wbcsd.org/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?DocTypeId=251&ObjectId=Mzc2OTY

The video is based on interviews shot at the Washington Council Meeting last October.  In the near future the WBCSD hopes to update the video with input from regional partners not portrayed in this version of the video.

For general use, there is a shorter version of the video (about 2 minutes), featuring only the generic information on the Regional Network which you can download from the following link: 

http://www.wbcsd.org/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?DocTypeId=251&ObjectId=Mzc2OTY

In the highly debated arena of climate politics Lisa Jackson, current administrator of the EPA, recently answered some questions concerning the regulation of greenhouse gasses in a letter to Senator Jay D. Rockefeller IV indicating that the EPA may be backsliding some on climate regulations.

In her letter she confirmed the EPA’s commitment to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachussets v. EPA and provided details on how the EPA plans to phase in greenhouse gas regulations.  In summary she said the EPA will:

• Not require any new or modified facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before 2011.
• Only require facilities that already must apply for Clean Air Act permits as a result of their non-greenhouse gas emissions to address their greenhouse gas emissions in their permit applications during the first half of 2011.
• Require new facilities that do not currently apply for Clean Air Act permits to address their greenhouse gas emissions in late 2011.
• Likely increase the threshold for permitting substantially above the 25,000 ton limit originally proposed.
• Not regulate small generators of greenhouse gas emissions before 2016.

United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) is teaming with the Ohio State University Center for Resilience (Cfr), in the College of Engineering to perform a "road test" of methods to assess the monetary value of ecosystem services.  The test will focus on two projects in Houston, Texas - restoration of a "brownfield" site to improve stormwater management, and conversion of industrial wastes into feedstocks through a by-product synergy (BPS) network. More.

Climate summit leaves the hard work undone

The International Herald Tribune, December 21, 2009 Monday - The United Nations climate change talks concluded with a statement of intention, not a binding pledge to begin taking action on global warming - a compromise seen to represent a flawed but essential step forward

Read the rest

 WBCSD Council Meeting 2009 - Summary

To set the tone and highlight the theme, WBCSD Chairman Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr. launched the discussions by asking Council Members: “How is business changing for sustainable development?” Sam noted, “It’s not about us, it’s not about my generation, it is really about the next generation of young people”. With those words, the meeting kicked-off with a week that welcomed 450 participants from some 140 companies and nearly 40 Regional Network partners, coming together for 50 separate sessions.  Download the full notes here .

 WBCSD Candid Conversations 2009

As part of the WBCSD annual Council Meeting in Washington D.C., the WBCSD invited a small group of guests from the US Administration, Congress, and leading intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to join with Council Members for some Candid Conversations. The aim was to exchange ideas on some of the key challenges of our time, in an informal context, to better inform the WBCSD’s own strategic direction.  Download the full notes here .

A book entitled Sustainable Development in the Process of Industries will include a chapter on By-Product Synergy (BPS) co-written by US BCSD Executive Director Andrew Mangan and Elsa Olivetti from MIT.  The book is set to be published April 2010.  Check back later for more information on where to find it!

Restore America's Estuaries has convened a panel of nationally recognized experts to explore the role coastal wetlands play in sequestering greenhouse gases. US BCSD member Conservation Capital will be one of three project partners. The panel's goal is to develop a national greenhouse gas offset protocol for wetland restoration projects. Marine and tidal wetland soils remove vast amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the most significant greenhouse gases, from the atmosphere.  

A group of U.S. scientists (including Joseph Fiksel of OSU) have published an article recommending fundamental changes in the EPA's approach to environmental protection.

See the press release from the Woodrow Wilson Center: "Scientists urge EPA to adopt systems thinking" here.

The full text of the article is available here.

 CHICAGO – Veolia Environmental Services North America (VESNA), the North American waste services division of Veolia Environnement (VE-NYSE), today announced the launch of www.environmentalPassion.com, a web portal tied to the company’s ongoing brand awareness campaign. The portal is being supported by an interactive widget, online advertising and truck graphics.

Download the full press release HERE .

A team in Buenos Aires is working on integrating a new green industrial paradigm.  The approach will be based on models such as the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (based in the UK) and US BCSD's By-Product Synergy.  Read on. 

The Regional Network is an alliance of some 60 CEO-led partner organizations around the world, united by a shared commitment to promoting the business contribution to sustainable development in their respective countries and regions.

Geneva, 6 August 2009 - America's Climate Choices, a group of experts brought together by the country's National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to guide the US response to climate change, has released a new video outlining how the process will proceed.

The video takes an in-depth look at the process through which these experts will come to consensus, and highlights how crucial the choices we face now will be for decades to come.

Geneva, July 2009 -  The WBCSD has launched its latest Regional Network brochure, highlighting the work of its 60 partner organizations around the world. US BCSD projects focused on climate change, energy efficiency, water and ecosystems services are featured in the brochure, titled "Thinking Globally, Acting Locally."

The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) is bringing the best minds in business together in Austin to share how sustainable or “green” business practices are not only good for the planet, they are good for a company’s bottom line.  The US BCSD spring meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Austin.  More.

Energy industry professionals will gather on April 16, 2009 in Houston, Texas to discuss information on trends that are affecting the energy sector, domestically and internationally.  A discussion on current trends in the gas market, oil and gas tax issues, and a panel discussion on the business case for sustainable development are just a few of the topics being presented at this years' event.  More. 

If you think conversations about ecosystem markets are often quite technical or complex, you're not the only one. More.

Chicago Public Radio recently interviewed US BCSD's Andy Mangan on By-Product Synergy for their show Worldview. The interview is part of a week long series titled "The World's Waste" and aired Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

To hear the interview, click here.

At the Poznań Business Day hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka described a "Clean Energy New Deal" that positions energy efficiency as a top priority... Read More.

The Green Brownfields Initiative (GBI) brings together public and private sectors to transform inactive industrial sites and other brownfield properties into productive green space for the people of the Greater Houston-Galveston region.

The GBI Stakeholders Advisory Committee has reviewed the list of potential brownfield sites that were identified from the comprehensive GIS database. The potential sites will be ranked based upon the following criteria: ecological uplift potential, size, importance of the site to local conservation leaders, and the potential for partial development and public access. The task force will select one or more of those sites for a pilot project depending on the cost and input from our stakeholders.

With the UN reporting that over 50 % of the population is now living in urban centers, sustainability efforts are focusing sharply on cities worldwide. Ethisphere, a quarterly dedicated to promoting ethical business leadership, published an article in their September edition entitled "Global Sustainability Centers: The 20 Cities of 2020".

Using a very comprehensive rating system and enlisting experts such as our very own Executive Director, Andy Mangan, they outline the sustainability plans and policies of some of the most notable sustainability centers in the world. Read the article at this address. 

From 5 to 14 October, US BCSD representatives will be attending the world's largest and most diverse conservation event will be taking place in Barcelona. It's the World Conservation Forum and Congress organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a conservation network that brings together 83 states, 110 government agencies, more than 800 NGOs and 10,000 researchers/scientists in a rare worldwide partnership.

Together with other partners such as the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) , WBCSD will launch the “Buy, Sell, Trade, (Partner and Advocate)!” game – a role-playing exercise that aims to demonstrate the benefits of making ‘deals' that make economic sense because ecosystems are conserved, and the services that they ecosystems deliver – like food, freshwater, climate regulation – are properly valued. As an active participant of the WBCSD working group, the US BCSD has collaborated with the design and testing of the game. It was recently presented by David Carroll of US BCSD’S member organization LaFarge at their Summer Members Meeting and the US BCSD is excited to participate in the unveiling of the game at the World Conservation Forum as well.

The Council's afforestation project, responsible for tens of thousands of acres reforested in the Mississippi River 100-year floodplane, is emerging as a high value climate change sequestration opportunity. “Of all the options for responding to climate change, forest-related mitigation measures are, in the short to medium term, among the most practicable and cost-effective," according to a new report. Read the report at this address.

Powerful business leaders from all over the United States toured Holcim's Devil's Slide Cement PLant to see how waste from other industries is used in cement-preserving raw materials and creating less waste.  They saw how the company converts industrial waste such as diapers, tires, and unrecyclable plastic into an alternative fuel to fire their cement kiln while saving nearly a million dollars a year.

The tour was part of the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development’s meeting in Salt Lake City ¾ bringing the best minds in business together to share ideas on how sustainable or “green” business practices are not only good for the planet, they are good for a company’s bottom line. Joining the group were news crews from CBS, Fox, and NBC. Watch the report at this address.

Recycling and Waste Management News and Information outllined the partnership between UK-based International Synergies and the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD). The article highlights the goal of the partnership to share resources and expertise on By-product Synergy.

To read the article, click here.

Econsense, a partner organization of the WBCSD, has launched a Climate Policy Map. The Climate Policy Map includes a Map Creator to create maps on climate policy by combining multifaceted information on climate policy with data of energy supply and socioeconomic factors for 14 countries and regions of the world, Fact Sheets that summarize information on climate policy regarding a country or a specific issue, and information related to the Legal Basis of national climate policies. For more information and to use the online tool visit www.climate-policy-map.com.

The WBCSD has published a Case Study on the US BCSD By-Product Synergy Program as part of the Collaborative Action for Energy Regional Network Case Study Series.

The series of cases studies focuses on the experiences of WBCSD Regional Network partners and member companies in working together with government authorities and local organizations to overcome obstacles to reducing energy intensity in their regions.

Download the Case Study or Visit the WBCSD Website.

The first-ever state level BCSD has been established with the formation of the Ohio BCSD, a partner of the US BCSD. The organization will head the launch of an Ohio By-Product Synergy program, led by Executive Director Mike Long. The Center for Resilience at Ohio State University has been working with the US BCSD and other groups in Ohio to implement the BPS program. Joseph Fiksel, Executive Director of the Center for Resilience at, and several OSU faculty at the Center for Resilience have developed the Eco-Flow™ tool to evaluate business opportunities and assess the benefits provided by a BPS network.

The Business-to-Business Workshop on By-product Synergy Opportunities was held on April 29, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio as the inaugural meeting of the Ohio BCSD. The Workshop was attended by 50 people, representing companies across Ohio as well government agencies, non-profits, and other interested parties. The speaker for the event was Kimberly Gibson, Deputy Director for Energy and Transportation, Ohio Department of Development, who spoke on “Collaborating for Success in Ohio – the Importance of Industrial Innovation”. The purpose of the workshop was to share information about by-product synergy initiatives in Ohio and elsewhere, and to lay the foundation for Ohio businesses to collaborate in expanding the practice of BPS.

Learn more at the Center for Resilience Website

Reforesting the Mississippi River valley for high dollar carbon credits could lead landowners to partner with large greenhouse gas emitters in the coming years, according to a new business model developed by a cross-disciplinary team of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sustainability Lab.

The S-Lab team worked with US BCSD to re-examine the Business Council’s 15-year-old afforestation initiative in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, which has helped reforest more than 100,000 acres. The program initially relied on marketing to the timber and pulp industries, but with those industries less engaged, the MIT team redesigned the project based on the potential for marketing carbon sequestration credits.

Read more about afforestation or download the complete report (Members Only).