From Cleanbiz.Asia: The obsession of many ethnic Chinese for shark fin soup, primarily consumed as an ostentatious display of wealth, is the main reasons that many shark species have become a global endangered species. Pollution and habitat loss have also contributed to the problem which has led to about a third of ocean-going sharks being placed on the internationally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

Read the Full Story (it’s good)

From GHGprotocol.org:

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions. The GHG Protocol, a decade-long partnership between the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, is working with businesses, governments, and environmental groups around the world to build a new generation of credible and effective programs for tackling climate change.

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Check out this WRI & WBCSD video on the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Protocol.

Very nice!

CLICK TO find out more about how you can understand, quantify, and manage your organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions, and get in step with your carbon footprint.

By Jochen Kleef, on Ecopoint Asia:

Last week here in Hong Kong, UK officials shared the latest efforts by their Government to shift their economy away from coal and oil towards a more transparent, and in the long term, sustainable model: the low carbon economy.

In contrast to HK, the UK has fully embraced the move towards a different economic model thereby preparing the country for a future of limited resources where everything has to be more efficient and smarter. In doing so, the Government takes on a leadership role that is visionary, and backs this vision with the necessary legislative steps to turn the vision into reality.

Read the full story on Ecopoint Asia

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Work for a sustainability Business in Asia?

• Get listed on the Business Directory
• Post Jobs on EcoJobs

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Ecopoint works with professionals from around the region, locals and expats, to build bridges and identify new opportunities. This site is here to help you cut across social and cultural boundaries, and progress your new green deal. It’s about forming a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural “virtual” team of some of the best minds in the space. Find the right firm to get things done; locate the right technology for the job.

Start browsing the Ecopoint Business Directory today, or add your business to the database.

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WHAT: Moving Planet is a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis. Come on bike, on skates, on a board, or just on foot.

WHERE: Youth Park, Orchard

WHEN: 24th – 25th September 2011

TIME: 10am – 10pm

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More Information here.

See you there!

From ISO:

ISO has just released a new brochure in preparation for the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development in 2012 on how voluntary ISO International Standards, developed through the strength of consensus among stakeholders from business, government and society, have provided tools for translating the global desire for a sustainable world expressed since the Earth Summit in 1992 into practical actions that achieve positive results.

The brochure provides a concise description of ISO and how it works, and concrete examples of achievements by the international community, who will be represented at Rio+20, working within the ISO system. The examples illustrate how ISO standards serve as tools in the three dimensions of sustainable development.

Examples include the following:

• In the environmental dimension, the ISO 14000 family of standards for environmental management which translates into action ISO’s commitment to support the objective of sustainable development discussed at the first Earth Summit
• The ISO 14064:2006 and ISO 14065:2007 standards which provide an internationally agreed framework for measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and verifying claims made about them (Brief note: We provide ISO 14064 standard, and there is a grant for this for Singapore SME’s).
• More than 650 International Standards for the monitoring of such aspects as the quality of air, water, soil and nuclear radiation. These standards are tools for providing business and government with scientifically valid data on the environmental effects of economic activity. They may also be used as the technical basis for environmental regulations
• Other environment-related work includes standards for designing buildings, or retrofitting existing ones, for improved energy efficiency
• In the economic dimension, ISO standards provide solutions and achieve benefits for almost all sectors of activity, including agriculture, construction, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, distribution, transport, healthcare, information and communication technologies, food, water, the environment, energy, quality management, conformity assessment and services
• In the societal dimension, ISO standards help governments, civil society and the business world to translate societal aspirations, such as for social responsibility, health, and safe food and water, into concrete realizations. In so doing, they support the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

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Read the brochure in it’s entirety [.pdf]

Happening LIVE now. Watch here!

From Ethical Corporation:

“Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, releases its 2011 online Sustainability & Responsibility Report. The 2011 online Sustainability & Responsibility Report highlights progress and aspirations across the company’s key sustainability impacts and our value chain.

“Paul Walsh, CEO, said, ‘Our sustainability performance demonstrates an inherent strength in our business and an enduring model for value creation, and I am sure that our focus on our social and environmental impacts gives us a competitive edge.’

Highlights include:

Alcohol in Society

Supporting, either directly or indirectly, more than 240 programmes to address alcohol misuse with focus on top 40 markets (by value).

Water

Launching Safe Water for Africa an innovative programme in partnership with the Coca-Cola foundation, WaterHealth International and the International Finance Corporation to expand sustainable access to clean water across the continent with an initial focus on West Africa.

Environment

Securing new supply arrangements to ensure that 52% of our electricity now comes from low-carbon sources.

Against a backdrop of increased production, Diageo made progress in all but one of their ambitious environmental targets.

For the first time Drageo set out their sustainable packaging targets against a 2009 baseline.

Community

The Arthur Guinness Fund signed a three-year partnership with Ashoka, a leading association of social entrepreneurs, to help delivery a €3 million project.

Since the launch of Diageo’s Learning for Life skills and capacity building initiative in 2008, 50,999 students have graduated. In 2011, Diageo ran 52 projects in 15 countries.

Our People

In seven of their key markets, Diageo was rated by the Great Place to Work Institute as one of our top employers.

Governance and Ethics

All employees worldwide completed an online Compliance and Ethics Business Code of Conduct training module.”

Johnny Walker? Good.

Baileys? Good.

Guinness? Good.

Sustainability and Responsibility? Excellent.

Good job Diageo. Well played, Sir.

From guardian.co.uk:

“They are more used to coming up with wild and wonderful recipes for their clientele in the world’s leading restaurants. But now a gathering of top chefs has come up with a plan to save the planet, one dinner at a time, with an open letter to the next generation of cooks signed up the likes of Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal.

“The so-called G9 meeting of nine of the world’s top chefs, took place in Lima, Peru, at the weekend, where they tried to define what they believe should be the role of those who follow in their footsteps.

“The chefs jointly serve on the international board of the Basque Culinary Centre, which is setting up a training centre in northern Spain – home to Michelin-star winning chefs such as Juan Mari Arzak, Martin Berasategui and Andoni Luis Aduriz.”

This is cute – a publicity stunt for the above-mentioned culinary centre, sure – of the top chefs in the world. Between “Adria, Blumenthal and Rene Redzipi, they have won the coveted San Pellegrino world’s best restaurant award every year for the past seven”, so aspiring chefs are likely to listen to a little of what they say.

The open letter covers four main areas:

1. Nature
2. Society
3. Knowledge
4. Values

It’s not extensive, but it certainly is pretty idealistic. So whether you can whip up a mushroom risotto with truffle oil with your eyes closed, or whether you can’t make an egg sandwich to save your life, take a read of the open letter.

1. What Sustainability Reports say about the state of Business

2. Will CFO’s ever “Get” Sustainability

3. Quality vs Fluff: Building Blocks for GRI Report Assessments

4. SGX listed firms get sustainability Guide (with guide embedded)

5. The Future of CSR Reporting: Coca Cola Releases Video Report

+1!

6. Integrated Reporting: can it solve the sustainability information gap?