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Low Carbon Business Seminar - feedback
Details for BASE 2010 sessions
Three Secrets Book Launch Video
TED: The Science behind a Climate Headline
Low Carbon Business Seminar - 10 March 2010
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Friday, 12 March 2010
Low Carbon Business Seminar - feedback
It was a long trundle on the train down to Birmingham on Wednesday, and a longer one back, for the Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange (bring on high speed rail!). But the environmental strategy session went great. I tried out my business case model on the participants and it did a really good job of getting the message across - if you want the higher benefits then you can't expect a direct ROI (you'll probably get one, but don't aim for one...). The message came back loud and clear from delegates - new business is the priority and you could see the penny drop about investment decisions (more on this in this month's Low Carbon Agenda).In the second half of the seminar we looked at forecasting and backcasting approaches. I challenged the participants to create a vision of their business in 2020 - a tall order - and it really made them think. The best answer was a bit of a cheat as it came from the lady from Hilton hotels and it was pinched from their subsidiary Scandic - "if you stay in our hotel, you footprint will be smaller than if you stayed at home". Genius - relevant, understandable and clear. The great thing is that Scandic have already achieved it.
The other session I attended was about business opportunities in the Low Carbon Economy. It was a good discussion, but I broke my promise to listen 10 times more than talk...
Well worth the trundle!
Labels: low carbon best practice exchange, seminar
# posted by Gareth Kane : 13:06
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Thursday, 11 March 2010
Details for BASE 2010 sessions
The two sessions I'll be giving at Base 2010 show in London 16/17th March:
14:00 Tues Round Table: The Business Case for Sustainability
11.00am Wed: South Gallery Room 6, The Three Secrets of Green Business - presentation and book signing
# posted by Gareth Kane : 13:54
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Three Secrets Book Launch Video
Here's a lengthy extract from the Newcastle book launch for The Three Secrets of Green Business. We'll be upgrading the site this month to find this video and at at least one other a permanent home here. But in the meantime - enjoy!
Labels: gareth kane, three secrets of green business
# posted by Gareth Kane : 07:00
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Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Apologies...
If anyone has seen in the press that I'll be speaking at the Green Tourism event in Durham on 18th March, I'm afraid there has been a mix up - I won't be on the bill as I have to be elsewhere - crossed wires to blame...Labels: seminars
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:08
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Monday, 8 March 2010
People Power
I've just seen a quote on marketeer Seth Godin's blog, attributed to Carnegie:"Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors......Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory."
There seems to be two approaches to sustainability - technology oriented and people oriented - and I always believe that the AND is important - you have to do both (hence my brainstorming tool).
But fundamentally everything is about people. People create technology, people implement technology, people operate technology. When a resource has a cost - that is a societal (peoples') value - you could argue that nature would put a higher value on a kilo of dung than a kilo of gold. So we always have to look at sustainability through the human lens.
I have a saying: the barrier to sustainability is six inches wide - the width of the space between our ears.
Labels: staff engagement, stakeholders, sustainability
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:05
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Friday, 5 March 2010
TED: The Science behind a Climate Headline
This TED talk was given last summer before the CRU/IPCC furore and it gives an insight into how painstaking the science behind climate predictions actually is.
Labels: climate change, ted
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:04
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Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Time for a change...
... if you've squeezed every efficiency out of a system, but you still aren't where you want to be, then you need to change the system!Secret No 3 of The Three Secrets of Green Business is about making a series of huge leaps to align your systems and processes towards sustainability while making continual incremental improvements in between. The latter will only take you so far before you have to make another huge leap.
The key is in making sure each leap will lead to the goal and not up a cul-de-sac. I use 'backcasting' with clients to make sure all leaps forward take you in the right direction.
Backcasting will help you decide what to do. Another big strategic question is what are we not going to do? The best organisations kill off products, services and processes which are holding them back. That takes real guts.
Labels: backcasting, environmental strategy, sustainability strategy, three secrets of green business
# posted by Gareth Kane : 11:17
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Monday, 1 March 2010
Low Carbon Business Seminar - 10 March 2010
It is continuing to be a busy year for events and conferences.Next week finds me at the Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange in Birmingham leading a round table on developing a long term strategy.
The week after I'll be doing a round table on the business case for sustainability and a seminar on The Three Secrets of Green Business (with book signing session after) at the Base 2010 conference in London (if you want a 20% discount, check out TLCA #25).
There are also negotiations going on about another couple of events, but I'm having to balance client needs vs speaking to wider audiences.
Labels: base 2010, low carbon best practice exchange, seminars, three secrets of green business
# posted by Gareth Kane : 09:58
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Friday, 26 February 2010
The Opportunities Pyramid
I've developed the above model to communicate the levels of benefit that "going green" can deliver. Underpinning the whole thing is compliance - if you don't get this right then the whole thing can come tumbling down. One level above that is direct economic benefits - in particular cost cutting but also retaining value in assets and reducing the risk of non-compliance by providing a margin of error.If you raise you sights above this level then you are in a minority, but a very wise minority. The first set of benefits in this rarified atmosphere are internal but intangible - recruiting, retaining and motivating the best staff for the business. Above that is all the new business you will win through beating the competition - as we have seen, companies who focus too much on the cost level (ie expecting a good direct ROI) could miss out on this level of benefits. The business people who understand this will be at a considerable advantage over their less enlightened competitors.
And lastly, at the very top, for a minority of businesses there are some rather large new and emerging markets to exploit.
BTW, in Tuesday's webinar, Deborah was explaining the cost and staff levels and I covered the branding/differentiation and new markets.
Labels: benefits, costs, low carbon economy, markets
# posted by Gareth Kane : 07:00
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Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Tuesday's Earthcast
The Earthcast went really well yesterday with an audience of over 120 from all around the world. Deborah Carlson of the Suzuki Foundation kicked off with the case for cost reduction and staff engagement. I followed that up by looking at new and emerging business opportunities in the low carbon economy. Good questions too - some really stretching my geographical knowledge!If you want to listen to the event again, click here.
Labels: low carbon economy, seminars, webinar
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:25
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Reminder - Webinar tonight
Date: 23 Feb 2010
Time: 5pm GMT
To register click here.
Labels: climate change, low carbon economy, webinar
# posted by Gareth Kane : 06:27
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Monday, 22 February 2010
The True Cost of non-Compliance
I've long written, lectured and broadcast about the true cost of waste. Most businesses simply measure the cost of disposal, but to have something to throw away, you first need to have bought it, processed it and segregated it from non-waste - all of which costs. If it is waste product then you also need to factor in the cost of disruption to the production system to fulfill orders and the opportunity cost of not being able to sell it (or the cost of producing a replacement).There are similar hidden costs to non-compliance with environmental legislation. The full cost can consist of many or all of:
1. Fines - for some companies these can go into 8 figures;
2. Remediation costs - then BP polluted groundwater in Leagrave, the remediation cost 40 times more than the fine;
3. PR/Brand damage - Union Carbide never recovered from the Bhopal disaster and DOW who bought the flailing company out still attracts flack from activists.
4. Disruption to business - Sony had a shipment of Playstations impounded by the Dutch authorities for having too high a level of cadmium. The resulting disruption has been estimated to be between $90-160m.
So, while I'm always urging clients to go way beyond compliance (which reduces the risk of non-compliance by removing hazards at source), I still emphasise - you'd better make sure you stay compliant too.
Labels: beyond compliance, legislation, risk
# posted by Gareth Kane : 09:26
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A highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.
