FTSE4Good not quite so good

BP has been taken out of the FTSE4Good Index, however in contrast to United Parcel Service, DuPont and Bridgestone, it has not simply been ‘deleted’, it has been ‘suspended’. The difference is purely semantic, as, in order to qualify for re-inclusion, BP has to go through the same assessment as the other companies. So, with this ‘unprecedented’ measure following, the index is simply making a point.

Fair enough? Perhaps BP does deserve to be singled out for the failings that led to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. However, by making such a show of suspending BP, the index is also highlighting the problems inherent in its criteria for inclusion. According to David Harris, Head of Responsible Investment at FTSE, the FTSE4Good committee had taken the decision following a review of the number of past events that had taken place and BP’s poor response to their aftermath. Therefore, why is it only now that BP’s inclusion has been called into question?

Perhaps the FTSE4Good committee should also consider suspending and reassessing its own criteria to ensure that it maintains its credibility and continues to contribute to the development of responsible business practice worldwide.

We bonus against sustainability...until it looks like we won't get our bonuses

One of the key questions when it comes to true business sustainability is whether it is part of the way a company remunerates its staff. If all the drivers related to the way you pay and bonus your staff are short term in nature, it is fairly likely that the only results you will see emerging from your staff will be short term. Just take a look at the financial sector if you need a clue to what happens when you reward short termism!

So when you see a company who has incorporated sustainability metrics into the way they reward their staff, it may make you think that they are on the right track. Surely once you have made a public commitment to a metric you should stick by it.

Not so if you are Shell. This is taken from their 2009 Sustainabilty Report:

"Shell uses a number of key indicators to evaluate the company’s overall performance across financial, operational and sustainable development (SD) areas.This evaluation is then used to determine bonus levels for employees, including members of the Executive Committee. Sustainable development accounted for 20% of the scorecard for 2009. As in previous years, safety was the key measure,supplemented by other aspects of HSSE & SP performance.For 2010, an assessment by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes of our performance in sustainable development will account for half of the SD element in the scorecard for members of the Executive Committee.Successful delivery of major projects will be part of the scorecard for all employees, with early engagement with communities one factor considered."

Having just been dumped out of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Shell is now believed to be reviewing whether this is used as a bonus metric, with claims that the rejection from the Index was subjective. I'm sure if they were not out of the Index and the bonuses got paid we would not be hearing complaints about how subjective it was. Rather than kicking up a fuss about how subjective the measure is, surely they should be working hard to get back on the DJSI.

I, for one, would certainly have more respect for Shell's corporate sustainabilty commitments if they stood by them accepting that perhaps this year bonuses weren't going to be as high as previous years, but this has flagged that there needs to be more real focus on the long-term impacts the company has on society and the environment.

Missed our last e-bulletin?

Where's the world's biggest windfarm? Who's the most generous giving nation? What's the future alcoholic fuel source for our cars?

These, and many other questions, are all touched upon in our latest e-bulletin. Missed it? Fear not, you can check out all our previous e-bulletins here.

Fixing the leaks in a global debate

Water is storming its way up the sustainability agenda – and with good reason.

Almost one billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation – that’s well over a third of the world’s population.

Last week, the UN insisted that unless we pay attention to the global water crisis, the Millennium Development Goal for environmental sustainability will be missed.

Surely such water issues don’t have anything to do with soggy Great Britain! Well, they do actually. Water is a local issue on a global stage – affecting our economy, our security, our environment and our global impact. Why? Because it’s not just about the liquid in our taps. It’s about the water used by other countries to produce the goods we buy, the food we eat, the bottled water we enjoy. It takes 3 litres of water to produce your 1 litre bottle of water. No wonder water is being called 'the new oil'. The team at The Story of Stuff have created this brilliant video about the issues.

Raise a cheer, then, for Paris. The city has unveiled its latest tactic to persuade Parisians off bottled water: a public drinking water fountain offering free sparkling water. It's called Petillante - "she who sparkles". Let's hope it sparks similar innovation across the Channel.

Lessons from climbing

We have come to expect the new from California, the exciting from Silicon Valley, the ambitious from the Middle East...but from Leicester in the UK - that hot bed of innovation, technology and finance. Well think again. Leicester is the home of Riversimple, the most ambitious hydrogen car project in the world - why? Because its bottom up - it didn't start with an existing car like BMW, it didn't start with an existing structure like every business, it didn't start with any expectations (because it’s in Leicester, UK) like every other innovation project in the auto sector. And here lies its brilliance and why it is doomed to failure.

The clean sheet has enabled it to redefine the car, not put a new engine in a heavy existing car structure. It has made hydrogen a more attractive solution in the medium term than electric. It has proved that it can work and the pilot phase to be rolled out in Leicester with 30 cars is making it a reality. And it is getting lots of airplay (witness the article in the Wired this month) because it is doing it differently in structure and makeup of the organisation itself and this unfortunately is why it will fail itself but provide the impetus for other companies to succeed through their inspiration.

A friend once told me of a climbing analogy - the key in climbing is to never take more than one of your hands or feet off at any time - and so is true in business. If you try and take all your hands and feet off at the same time i.e. do something totally new in a new way the likelihood of reaching the top is put in peril. Others will take from your inspiration and race past (and sometimes that's job done). But if you want to succeed with your breakthrough invention it sometimes makes sense to do it within the existing structures of business so that there's never more than one hand off the wall at any time. Then you can race to the top. Good luck Riversimple.

The future of art

You've heard of Speed-dating, well now comes Speedarting.

This initiative, which launched yesterday, is trying to demoncratise the buying and selling of art. By making buying art more accessible to the everyday punter and by giving up and coming artists a channel to reach potential buyers (beyond the expense and effort the a gallery can require), this certainly has a lot of appeal.

Could this be the new route for more artists to make the jump to a successful future? Could this be a new route for a more accessible way for all of us to own real art? And most importantly, could this be one solution that will help those rising stars inthe art industry survive the inevitable cuts that are no doubt on their way?

The Dung Beetle: A poo-powered eco car

The most recent breakthrough in the drive to encourage sustainable power in cars hasn’t come from the usual Prius or Hybrid, but from a Water company in Bristol. The testing of the new poo powered car has caused quite a stir with the locals, as its being powered by methane from the local sewerage treatment plant.
GENeco, part of Wessex Water, is behind the concept and their experts reckon that the waste flushed down the toilets of 70 homes is enough to power the car for a year. The car still produces C02 (3 tonnes compared to the average cars 3.5 tonnes) but it’s basically carbon neutral as all the C02 would have been released into the atmosphere anyway, in the form of methane.
It’s a clever sustainable idea for utilising the waste product of treating sewerage. In fact, the plant in Bristol produces enough of the stuff to power 9540 of these cars each year. The Dung Beetle is currently only being tested, however if successful, GENeco plans to convert its whole fleet of cars to run on the waste that they treat at their plant.
It’s obviously a great marketing ploy for the company, the tag line ‘powered by your waste!’ quickly connects consumers to the car but the concept behind it really is a right foot forward for businesses who want to become more sustainable. Taking the nasty by-product of its operations and turning it into a carbon neutral fuel, GENeco have created a platform for companies to really start thinking about how they can utilise waste. I am sure other companies will follow suit; Supermarkets could use leftover rotten vegetables to power their home delivery services or pampers could even design a nappy bin that powers a nightlight.
The world is full of ways that companies can take what appears to be waste and turn it into something positive, and who would have thought, that it would be a car powered by poo that led the way!