SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights July 8, 2013

Top Story of the Week

President Obama – Promises on Climate Change

In our featured news story this week is a report from BBC / USA & Canada on President Barack Obama’s speech at Georgetown University.  The president focused on climate change and reminded his audience that during his January State of the Union speech he promised to address the issues.  Coming:  actions to be taken by Executive Order (if the Congress will not act).  The USA intends to lead the global efforts to address the challenges of climate change.

“When it comes to the world we leave our children (the father of two said), we owe it to them to do what we can. “  The actions are said to include more regulations for coal-fired power plants (40% of US plants are coal-fired), and renewable energy projects.  You can read more in the top story and watch a video of the president.

Obama Lays Out Climate Action Plan  (Text/Video) 
(Thursday - June 25, 2013)
Source: BBC News – US President Barack Obama has laid out a package of measures aimed at curbing climate change, including limits on emissions from power plants. He also unveiled plans for an expansion of renewable energy projects, improved flood resilience and calls for an international climate deal. Administration officials had earlier rejected the idea of a "carbon tax". President Obama pledged in his inaugural address in January to act on climate change in his second term.

Executive Perspective: President Obama’s Plan to Cut Carbon Pollution      
(Wednesday - June 26, 2013)
Source: Reuters - We have a moral obligation to leave our children a planet that’s not polluted or damaged, and by taking an all-of-the-above approach to develop homegrown energy and steady, responsible steps to cut carbon pollution, we can...

Sustainability in Focus

Sustainability gets the green light      
(Friday - June 28, 2013)
Source: Politico - Consumers eat it up. For some, the focus is the environmental impact of what they eat. Others feel it’s more important to patronize local businesses and producers. And there are those who are concerned with eating more...

VW’s Vision Of Ecological Sustainability Takes Shape In Tennessee      
(Friday - June 28, 2013)
Source: Gas2.org - Volkswagen AG’s vision of ecological sustainability is taking shape amidst the lushly forested, green hills of the Tennessee Valley. Serving as a proving ground and model for increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions...

Middle East sustainability must not be lip service   
(Thursday - June 27, 2013)
Source: Gulf News - We recently presented the findings of our latest research on sustainability in the Mena real estate market at the Change Initiative in Dubai and at Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, two excellent champions of sustainable development...

The Strong Link Between Brand Strength and Sustainability   
(Wednesday - June 26, 2013)
Source: Triple Pundit - In a previous post, we laid the foundation for comparing a huge database on brand strength with the world’s largest database on corporate sustainability. Our analysis follows for a strong correlation between the Brand Finance...

One-Click Sustainability: How Convenience is Taking a Maturing Market to the Mainstream     
(Tuesday - June 25, 2013)
Source: Triple Pundit - Many of the most celebrated green technologies still struggle to deliver an ideal experience for consumers. Even as e-waste grows at nearly three times the rate of traditional waste, recycling old cell phones can be quite an... 

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links.  Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of July 8, 2013